What steps should I take to protect my rights after getting hurt on someone else’s property?
The steps you take after suffering an injury on someone else’s property can make a big difference in your ability to recover compensation.
Follow these tips to help protect your rights.
Seek prompt medical care. No matter how “minor” you think your injury is, always visit the emergency room, your regular doctor, or an urgent care clinic as soon as possible, and no later than within 24 hours of getting hurt. Many severe, even life-threatening, injuries do not display obvious symptoms right away, but require immediate medical attention to prevent a health catastrophe. In addition to protecting your health, getting prompt medical care also ensures the existence of medical records that prove the connection between your injury and the incident on someone else’s property that caused it. Your lawyer will need those records if you later take legal action for compensation.
Consider calling 911. Summoning EMTs and police to the scene of an injury on someone else’s property might make good sense, depending upon the circumstances. Call 911, for example, if you need emergency medical care, or if it seems potentially important that the police write a report of the incident. Use your best judgment.
Take pictures/video and collect contact information. Take pictures of everything related to how you (or your loved one) sustained an injury. In a premises liability case, pictures really can speak a thousand words. Get images of your injuries, the accident scene, and any other items or surrounding areas that might have played a part in how you or your loved one got hurt. There is no such thing as too many pictures. Also, make sure to collect the names and contact information of anyone who saw what happened. These people may have valuable information to provide to your lawyer when it comes time to prove the property owner’s liability to you for damages.
Contact a lawyer right away. The sooner you have a lawyer gathering evidence, talking to witnesses, and pursuing compensation on your behalf, the better your chances of recovering every dollar of compensation you deserve.