Although proving fault and thus liability is a key component of your personal injury case, you can’t overlook the importance of proving your damages. Far too many car accident victims think that they’ll automatically recover the compensation that they need if they can demonstrate that the other party was responsible for the accident, but that simply isn’t the case.
Instead, you’ll have to work just as hard to prove your damages as you do to prove liability. If you don’t, even a successful claim may leave you without the financial resources that you need to secure stability and needed medical treatment and rehabilitation.
Tips for proving your damages
So, how do you go about proving your damages? Here are some tips that we hope you’ll find useful as you prepare to navigate your personal injury claim:
- Keep your medical bills close: If you win your case, you should be able to recover compensation for your medical bills. So, keeping these records at hand will better ensure that you’re able to recover every penny that has been spent on your accident-related care.
- Talk to your medical provider: Sure, a successful claim may allow you to recover compensation for your incurred medical expenses, but it might also allow you to recover money to help pay for your anticipated medical and rehabilitation costs. To prove those future damages, though, you’re going to need an expert who can testify about your diagnosis, your prognosis, and your need for future care and treatment. Your doctor might be able to provide you with that information, or they might refer you to some other expert who may be able to testify on your behalf.
- Gather your employment records: Pay stubs can help you show the wages that you’ve lost up until this point, but other employment records, such as your job description, can help you better determine if you’re going to be able to return to your job or a similar job given the harm that you’ve suffered. This evidence can then help you show your anticipated lost wages and your lost earnings capacity.
- Keep track of other expenses: You probably have other bills that are associated with your accident injuries. For example, if you have to buy crutches or a wheelchair, make sure that you keep receipts. The same can be said for medications that you purchase and anything else that you’ve had to buy to try to make your life a little easier.
- Keep a journal: While the economic damages that have been forced upon you may be significant, your noneconomic damages may be extensive as well. This includes your pain and suffering, your mental anguish, and your loss of enjoyment of life. Given that these are intangible losses, they can be difficult to prove. But a journal that details, on an ongoing basis, how your injuries have negatively impacted your ability to live a normal and fulfilling life can be powerful.
Know how to craft the persuasive legal arguments that you need on your side
If you want to maximize your chances of winning your personal injury case, you have to know how to persuasively prove every element of it. That can be tricky to do, but you can ensure that you’re advancing your case as strongly as possible by working closely with an attorney who is experienced at handling these kinds of cases. If you think that you could benefit from that kind of advocacy, now may be the time for you to reach out to a personal injury legal team to learn more.
