If you suffer injuries and economic damages in an accident caused by someone’s negligence, you may have a valid personal injury claim. And an experienced Bluffton personal injury lawyer will help you obtain financial compensation for your damages.
However, not all accidents are personal injuries and not all claims are paid in full. Let us understand how this form of legal relief works in South Carolina.
What Exactly Represents a Personal Injury Accident?
Many people confuse the term personal injury with bodily injury. The fact is that all personal injury incidents result in bodily injury. But not all kinds of bodily injury give you the right to file a personal injury claim.
The most common examples of personal injury accidents include:
- Car accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Truck accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Dog bites
- Injuries caused by a defective product
How to Know that Your Accident Represents a Personal Injury
As we stated at the beginning of this article, not all accidents give you the right to seek compensation. You will have to prove the four core elements of a personal injury case;
1. Duty of Care
First of all, the person who caused your accident or injury must owe you a duty of care. It is implicit in motor vehicle accidents, because the traffic laws establish the general duty of care for all drivers, riders and pedestrians.
However, in a medical malpractice case, for example, you must prove the existence of a patient-doctor relationship in order to have a valid claim. If you follow the general tips shared by a healthcare blog and your condition deteriorates, the blog author did not have any duty of care towards you, so you do not have a valid claim.
2. Breach of Duty
Next, a plaintiff must prove that the other party breached their duty through negligence and caused the accident. Here are a few examples of negligent breach of duty:
- Distracted driving or speeding leading to a car accident
- Failure to repair an uneven floor, causing a trip and fall accident
- Failure to comply with dog leash laws, leading to a dog bite
3. Causation
In order to file a personal injury claim, you will have to prove that the accident resulted in injuries. This is why a Bluffton personal injury lawyer advises going to the nearest hospital for treatment immediately after the accident.
It is the only way of conclusively proving that your injuries were caused by the respective accident, and not by another incident, which happened later. Also, even if you do not experience pain or discomfort, you may have sustained severe injuries with a delayed onset. These injuries may not have symptoms immediately, but they get worse if you ignore them.
4. Damages
Last, but equally important, you must be able to prove that the accident resulted in economic damages. This is the whole point of personal injury law – offering victims compensation for their financial losses. It is not about establishing the other person’s guilt and punishing them.
You must produce supporting evidence justifying your economic damages:
- Medical care bills and receipts
- Estimates for repairing or replacing damaged property
- Pay slips showing your weekly wages to estimate lost wages while you were recovering from your injuries
- Any other bills and receipts for costs directly related to the accident (for instance, taxi fare to travel to and from medical appointments)
Schedule a Free Case Review with an Experienced Bluffton Personal Injury Lawyer!
You may be convinced that you have a valid personal injury claim, but you will have to prove it in order to win compensation. This is what an experienced Bluffton personal injury lawyer can help you with. The attorney will listen to your description of the incident and analyze your evidence carefully.
If you have a valid case, we will represent you on a contingency fee basis. Also, as a new client, you benefit from a free case review, so call us today at 843-865-8624!
