Everyone makes mistakes. They’re a normal part of life, and they’re how we learn valuable lessons from experience. When it comes to personal injury claims, however, mistakes should be avoided at all costs. In this post, we’ll discuss five common mistakes we’ve seen personal injury victims make over the years and explain how to avoid them.

As you’ll learn in more detail in our last tip, handling a claim on your own is one of the biggest — and potentially most consequential — mistakes you can make. An experienced personal injury attorney can not only make your life easier by handling correspondence with the insurance company and other parties, but they can also increase your chances of a fair and just settlement. Contact the Fairell Roy & Associates office to learn more about how our dedicated personal injury attorneys have helped people just like you secure the compensation they deserve.

Obviously, this mistake doesn’t apply to people who have suffered major personal injuries that require hospitalization. But many personal injury cases such as pedestrian, car, and bicycle accidents may not leave a person feeling as if they need immediate medical attention.

No matter how minor an accident may feel, it’s very important to seek medical attention following an injury not just for your own health, but for the sake of your personal injury case, too. Many injuries such as whiplash and internal bleeding, for instance, appear in the hours or days following an accident. By the time you know you need to seek medical attention, your injuries may have gotten much worse. Moreover, failing to have “unseen” injuries documented until days, weeks, or even months after the accident opens the door to the opposing party arguing that you sustained them elsewhere.

This is one mistake that far too many make following an accident, and unfortunately, it’s one that can seriously affect your case in a negative way.

It’s perfectly fine to exchange information with another driver and provide law enforcement with your contact information and any other details they need, but you should avoid saying anything about your injuries, who was at fault, or anything else that could jeopardize your case before an investigation can be performed. You can never be sure of all the relevant factors that contributed to the accident, and premature claims could, and most likely will, be used against you.

On a related note, avoid posting about your case on social media platforms. Social media platforms provide us with an opportunity to keep our friends and family members informed about what’s going on in our lives, and many of them may be understandably concerned about how you feel after an accident.

Keep in mind that just as statements made at the scene of an accident can be used against you, posts, photos, and videos can be as well. Insurance companies, attorneys, and other parties know how to search for evidence on social media, and far too many people have inadvertently hurt their personal injury cases just by posting the wrong photo or update.

Additional reading : How Social Media Can Hurt Your Personal Injury Case

Many people believe that they will have to spend hours of their life in court if they decide to pursue a personal injury claim. After sustaining an injury, paying medical bills, and dealing with the other serious repercussions of an accident, it’s understandable that jumping through hoops in the legal system is the last thing they want to do.

It’s possible that your case may need to go to court, especially if your personal injury attorney believes that going to trial gives you the best possible chance of receiving maximum compensation. The benefit of working with a personal injury attorney is that even if you do need to take your case before the court, you’ll have a dedicated advocate in your corner every step of the way. From managing the paperwork and making phone calls to telling your story before a judge, there’s actually very little you will have to do on your own if your case does go to trial.

The personal injury attorney you choose can make or break your case. It’s important to find an attorney you can trust, and more importantly, who has experience with cases like yours and a track record of success. During your consultation, be sure to ask about previous cases and the outcomes the firm was able to achieve. After your consultation, look for online reviews to make sure that other people have had positive experiences working with the attorney. If you don’t feel like the attorney is a good fit, it’s worth looking elsewhere.

As you’ve likely gathered, there are a number of mistakes that are far too easy to make when dealing with a personal injury case. In fact, we plan to write an entire series detailing the mistakes you can make in different kinds of personal injury cases. Come back to our blog in the coming weeks and months for more resources!

At Fairell Roy & Associates , we understand just how important it is to find a great personal injury attorney following an accident. We take a caring and empathetic approach with all of our clients, prioritizing prompt and frequent communication while fighting tirelessly for the best possible outcome. You don’t need to take our word for it, though, as we make all of our testimonials easily accessible so that you can see what other people who have been in similar situations have said about working with us. You can also read all about our attorneys and why they’ve dedicated their lives to fighting for people just like you.

No matter what kind of injury you’ve sustained, the Fairell Roy & Associates team is here to help — contact our office to schedule a consultation.