If you’ve been victim to an accident, you may be able to file a personal injury claim. However, not everyone wins their personal injury cases. Some people can end up losing their case, resulting in even more pain and suffering than they were already experiencing. If you’re thinking about pursuing a personal injury claim, it’s important to know the reasons why you can lose personal injury cases to ensure that you are as prepared as possible.
#1. Minimizing Issues
People tend to fall on two sides of the spectrum – either dramatizing issues or minimizing them. When taking legal action, both tendencies can get you in trouble and cause you to lose personal injury claims. If you’re trying to brush something off and say it’s okay and leave out how much the accident impacted your life, financially, through loss of enjoyment in life, in medical procedures, and more, this can result in you losing your case.
It’s very important to be honest about the situation and not minimize (or dramatize) what happened to you and how it’s affecting you.
#2. Not Seeking Legal Representation Soon Enough
If you don’t seek legal representation or advice soon enough after the accident, you could end up losing a personal injury case. You know how “anything you say can and will be held against you”? It’s true. Many people forget about this when they are involved in an accident and can make missteps that can cost them their case, such as apologizing when they didn’t do anything – but the apology can be taken as admission of at least partial fault. More on this below.
There’s also the statute of limitations. You only have so much time after an accident occurs in order to pursue legal action. If you wait until that time passes, you won’t be able to pursue your claim.
#3. Contributory Negligence
It’s possible to both be a victim to an accident and to have your own negligence or assumption of risk having contributed to the accident in some way. Multiple parties can be at fault for an accident, including a victim. If you shared fault in the accident, the amount of damages you may receive can go down and you may end up losing your personal injury claim.
If you think you shared fault in the accident, it’s important that you tell this to your lawyer. Your lawyer needs you to be completely honest with them in order to represent you the best that they can. The other party will likely bring your part in the accident up in their defense and both you and your lawyer need to be prepared for that in order to give you the best shot possible at recovering damages.
#4. No Experts
In personal injury claims, there’s often a need for expert witnesses to provide testimony in order to prove negligence. If there are no experts who can speak up for you, this can cost you your case.
#5. Lack Of Proof
Even if the other party was entirely to blame for the accident, the court needs proof beyond reasonable doubt in order for you to win a personal injury case. If you don’t have proof, you can lose your case. You need as much evidence as possible and the more documentation there is, the better. This includes pictures of the scene of the accident, police reports, witnesses, medical documentation, and more.
#6. Misstatements
If you’re asked a question in court or by an authority, it can be tempting to answer even if you don’t know the answer. Many people make the mistake of speculating. Don’t do this. If you’re asked a question about something and you don’t know the answer, just say that you don’t know. Speculation can end up weakening your case and even lead to you losing your personal injury claim.
#7. Hiding Past Issues
This is another point where it’s essential that you’re completely honest with your personal injury attorney. The other party will likely bring up whatever they can in order to weaken your case. Your attorney needs to know about anything that can weaken your case, such as if you had a previous injury, if you were fired from jobs, and other past issues that can paint you in an unflattering light or cause confusion about your case. By telling your attorney, they’ll be able to prepare responses for if these things should come up in court, rather than being caught off guard.
#8. Social Media
It can be so tempting to post about an accident on social media – but if you have any intention of pursuing a personal injury claim, you should not do this. If you posted something like, “got in an accident, but don’t worry – i’m ok!”, this can be used against you. Remember – anything you say can and will be held against you, even if what you said was online.
Do You Want To Pursue A Personal Injury Claim?
If you want to pursue a personal injury claim, contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible for a consultation. They will be able to tell you whether or not you have a solid case and if so, provide you with fair representation so that you can receive the compensation you deserve.
LeBaron & Jensen is here to help. Contact us to schedule a free case consultation today.
