Spinal and back injury claims can be tricky because you have to take into consideration a lot of factors. Spinal cord injuries often result in some degree of paralysis. The spinal injury claims have to consider the injury the person has, the financial ramifications the injury has had to date, and the potential cost of the injuries in the future.
Proving the injury in spinal injury claims is not difficult. The difficult part of these claims comes when the solicitor must prove what the injured party lost as far as future earnings, the pain and suffering they will have had to endure, special medical costs they will now have, medical supplies they will need, and the possibility of future illness because of the injury. Proving all of these things requires a solicitor that is experienced in spinal injury claims.
How Do Spinal Injuries Occur
There are many different causes of this type of injury. The main things that result in spinal injuries are:
- Road accidents.
- Dangerous equipment accidents.
- Slip, trip, and fall accidents. Work related accidents.
- Medical negligence incidents.
What Compensation is Awarded For Spinal Injury Claims?
The compensation for spinal injury claims varies depending on the severity of the injury. Some of the typical types of compensation that people are offered after this type of injury are:
- Reimbursement for any out of the pocket expenses, including expenses for travel to medical appointments, hiring nursing care, etc.
- Loss of wages to date.
- Loss of future wages.
- Pain and suffering.
- Medical care cost.
- Cost of medical equipment now and in the future.
- Home renovations to make things handicap accessible.
- Mental and psychological anguish.
Getting Evidence For A Spinal Injury Claim
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with a spinal cord injury, remember that you need to get a detailed account of the accident from the injured persona as soon as possible. You also need to get the names and contact information of anyone that might have witnessed the accident.
Get the contact information of the person that you believe is responsible for the injury. Save all receipts for care, for the cost of travelling to care, for the cost of daycare to care for small children, for the loss of wages ask your employer for a document showing your loss of income.
Get the medical team that diagnosed the injury to provide you with records showing how they made their diagnosis, and what the prognosis is for that diagnosis. You want to know what treatments are available, and what things the person will likely not be able to do, such as walk, or work, or lift objects, including the lifting of children onto their lap. You want to know what consequences this injury may have for the future of the person, like will they need:
- Medical treatments.
- Medical supplies like crutches, canes, wheelchairs, lift chairs, braces.
- Surgeries they may have to have.
- Will they have trouble taking care of their basic daily needs like bathing, feeding themselves, etc.
Talk To A Solicitor
Once you have the information you need then you need to talk to a solicitor about the injury and what the future holds in store for the injured person. Even if the person responsible is admitting their responsibility you need a solicitor to help you determine what is a fair settlement and what you should be considering.
When we are first injured we see certain things like the mounting medical bills and we are happy just to get those paid. We do not always have the ability to look into the future and see that we may need a lot more money to cover future expenses. A trained solicitor can see our needs of today and our needs of tomorrow and they can help us to make a request for compensation that will be great enough to cover all of those needs.
A solicitor will usually see you for one time for no charge. This is the consultation visit. If the injured person is in the hospital, or cannot travel because of their injury, many solicitors will come to see them. These courtesy visits are usually free of charge.