The obvious answer here is to hire an experienced personal injury attorney to file a claim on your behalf. Before this happens, though, there are some things you can do to lay the groundwork for a lawsuit:
Get treated for your injuries. This should go without saying, but often accident victims will brush off a little shoulder pain or a stiff neck and not see a doctor. Huge mistake. What you may think is just a minor bruise or a sore neck from a fender bender can actually be something more serious. If you wind up needing a fair settlement for a whiplash injury, your chances go up if you sought medical attention after the accident.
Hand in hand with the above, document all medical appointments and any out-of-pocket costs you have (even if it’s just for aspirin). Keep a log of your mileage to and from appointments and any time you miss from work due to your accident or for going to medical appointments.
Get contact information from any witnesses. If you were seriously injured in an accident, you obviously can’t ask bystanders or other motorists for their contact information, but if it wasn’t a serious injury accident you should ask any witnesses for their contact information. This will be extremely helpful in your lawsuit.
Take photos of the accident scene. If you’re able, document the scene of the accident with the camera on your cell phone. Get as many shots as you can, including wide shots of the surrounding area—this can be helpful for an attorney to contact any businesses in the area that may have surveillance cameras that captured the accident.
Lawyer up. Get real legal representation and take the first step to winning the compensation you’re owed.