How to Document Your Injuries for a Personal Injury Claim

You can never predict when an accident may occur. Seeking justice and compensation for your injuries, loss of consortium, and pain and suffering after you've been hurt due to someone else's carelessness is often crucial to reclaiming your life after an accident.

Gathering supporting evidence is an important part of every successful personal injury lawsuit. However, determining the required documentation for your specific circumstances might be difficult or confusing.

You may be entitled to compensation for past and future medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering, and emotional anguish, but the extent of your losses must be proven with the use of proper documentation. This includes things like documentation of lost income and how the injuries have changed your life, as well as medical records and invoices for treatment and any out-of-pocket costs linked to the accident.

Keeping a careful record of your losses can aid your attorneys as they determine the amount of compensation you are entitled to. In the meantime, read on to learn more about the importance of documenting your injuries and other losses after an accident in Texas.

Documenting Injuries and Damages For Personal Injury

Damages may be broken down into various categories under Texas law, but real damages and punitive or exemplary damages are where things get interesting. Actual damages, also known as compensatory damages, are recompense for actual losses suffered by the victim or the victim's family.

In contrast, punitive damages, sometimes known as exemplary damages, are not meant to compensate a victim but rather to punish the person found at fault.

Regardless of the various damages sought in a claim, documenting your injuries and losses is vital.

Economic Damages in Texas

Economic damages in Texas are meant to recompense the victim or victims for quantifiable economic or monetary loss and are outlined under the Texas civil code. Typical types of economic damages recoverable and evidence in a Texas automobile accident lawsuit are as follows:

• Medical expenditures, like hospital bills, receipts from doctor's visits, expenses from treatment facilities (including minor costs associated with parking, for instance), prescriptions, physical therapy, assistive medical aids, and other costs. These damages include both past and future medical expenses.
• Property damage, such as damage to a car and any contents within, like your cell phone or eyeglasses. Much of the evidence for property damage comes from body shop and repair shop receipts.
• Loss of income for work missed as a result of an auto accident. This includes any paid leave, like vacation time, that you had to use while seeking treatment for your injuries and/or following through on vehicle repairs, which you can show using paystubs and related work documentation.
• Loss of earning potential or capacity for future earnings. For instance, if your accident-related injuries impact your day-to-day life for weeks, months, or even longer, it will likely reduce your earning potential.

Other possible financial losses you might be able to claim in a car accident case include towing and storage costs, if applicable, money for the loss of use of your vehicle or other property used for work, and more.

No matter the type of accident you endured, keep in mind that the statute of limitations to file an injury claim in Texas is two years, starting from the date of your accident. An attorney will help you follow these deadlines and ensure you have the proper documentation prepared before filing.

Non-Economic Damages in Texas

Non-economic damages are not monetary and are thus more difficult to measure. This is another area in which a skilled personal injury attorney can strengthen your case and help you get fair, full compensation. The most frequent non-economic damages recoverable in a personal injury lawsuit include, but are not limited to:

• Pain and suffering
• Disfigurement
• Mental or emotional trauma
• Amputation or loss of a body part
• Loss of enjoyment (symptoms of depression, in other words)
• Loss of consortium for your partner, a child, or another family member.

A Texas personal injury lawsuit would have no limitations on economic and/or non-economic damages. The only exception is if the motorist is a government official or government employee.

Documenting Damages For Pain and Suffering

Oftentimes, Texas courts award financial compensation for past, present, and future medical expenditures, loss of income owing to missed time at work, property damage, and "pain and suffering."

Pain and suffering refer to noneconomic damages, and Texas law does limit this type of compensation depending on the accident's nature. Pain and suffering can also be known as "quality of life damages" under Texas law.

A victim of personal injury may be eligible for compensation in the form of noneconomic damages if the incident in question affects their normal day-to-day livelihood. In addition, the state of Texas considers physical, mental, and emotional harm to be compensable losses that might be sustained as a consequence of an accident.

For example, a victim can emphasize the significance of their accident, detail their experience, and illustrate how their injuries have upset the balance of their lives through journaling for a claim for pain and suffering to succeed.

When it comes to describing pain and suffering, it is typical for victims of accidents to feel overwhelmed, and most people do not have knowledge about the nuances of non-economic losses like pain and suffering. For this reason, it is essential for victims to retain the services of an experienced personal injury attorney.

Contact the Rasansky Law Firm in Dallas

Over the course of our 27 years in practice, the accident and injury lawyers at Rasansky Law Firm have handled hundreds of personal injury and wrongful death cases in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Although we concentrate on personal injury cases, we also deal with a wide variety of other legal concerns.

No matter your accident's specific details, we pledge to serve you and your loved ones with the utmost care and consideration.

We are able to investigate the details of your accident, help you document your injuries, gather evidence of your losses, and advise you on your legal options. Call (214) 617-1886 to contact our Dallas personal injury lawyers and set up a free first consultation today. We will spare no effort to pursue full and equitable recompense for you and your loved ones during this difficult time in your life.