Staying Organized After Your Accident
It's easy to feel overwhelmed after an accident. If you were hit and hurt by a careless driver, you might need to take action to preserve your legal rights to compensation. The way you handle your personal injury issues can have a great deal of influence on the outcome of your case and the amount of your compensation. The more organized you are, the better your chances of being paid the full amount to which you are entitled. Read on for some tips on taming all the paperwork that comes along with an auto accident, an insurance filing, and a personal injury claim.
Assemble Some Organizational Tools
You probably already have some of the below items in your home. If not, using online shopping sites should provide you with the remainder, and this method of buying helps you rest your injuries.
A notebook or journal – You can use a spiral lined notebook or a bound journal. Keep the size small and lightweight so you can be sure to have it with you at all times after your accident. If you use no other organizational tool but a notebook, you will have made things a lot easier on yourself and contributed to your case in a major way. Accidents, like all stressful events, have a way of affecting your cognitive functions. That means your memories of the accident might come and go periodically. As you recover, you will most likely regain your cognitive skills as time goes on. Put your notebook to good use by:
1. Noting events about the accident, your injury, your medical treatments, and your recovery.
2. Note the mileage, expenses, and details about travel to medical appointments. For example, you might note the mileage between your home and the pharmacy, the amount of tolls paid, public transportation costs, and more.
3. Begin a pain journal. More and more legal experts are advising accident victims to keep these types of notes that focus on the way your injury has affected your life and your family. This form of record-keeping ties directly to your pain and suffering compensation. Keeping a journal may also provide you with some therapeutic value. It should be mentioned that smartphone apps that allow you to record your thoughts and reminders are extremely helpful, especially for those with mobility issues due to the accident.
Expandable file case – You may be stunned at how quickly your accident-related paperwork piles up. This manner of organizing things gives you a place for all those claim statements, correspondence, medical receipts, repair estimates, and more. Be sure to get some labels to identify the folders. File cases with handles are handy – you can just grab and go when it's time to speak to your personal injury attorney.
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