Keeping an Injury Journal After a Car Crash Can Strengthen Your Accident Claim
There’s a lot to keep track of after a car accident, from getting medical attention and filing insurance claims to handling vehicle repairs and taking time off from work. It can be difficult, especially when suffering from an injury, to stay on top of all of these matters, which is why we often encourage victims to start keeping an injury journal after their accident.
What to Include in Your Injury Journal
An injury journal can take a number of different forms from a standard notebook or binder with notes and receipts to a google document or other online file. Whatever it looks like, the purpose of an injury journal is to help victims:
- Document their symptoms following an accident, which may be slow to develop or change over time;
- Keep track of information about insurance or legal claims that they have filed;
- Document how their injury is affecting their day-to-day life, including their ability to work, their sleeping and eating patterns, and changes in mood; and
- Organize important records, like police reports, treatment plans, and insurance policies.
All of these things can benefit a personal injury claim, providing strong evidence of a victim’s losses following a car crash.
How to Keep an Injury Journal
Accident victims who decide to keep an injury journal will want to pick a format for their journal, whether that be a binder or a password protected online system. Once this is in place, injured parties should be sure to:
- Update their journal regularly to track changes over time;
- Stick to the facts when documenting their injuries and losses;
- Supplement their journal with other evidence, like videos, photos, and receipts;
- Take careful notes on how the injury has impacted their life, by including details about doctor’s appointments, extra help that has been required, how much time they needed to take off work, and their pain levels; and
- Talk to their attorney about the most important things to track in the journal.
Keeping an injury journal doesn’t have to be intimidating. In fact, many accident victims find it therapeutic to work through their traumatic car accident experience in this way. Furthermore, having all of this information on hand can make it much easier to build a case against an insurer or at-fault party and can save time in the long run. Rather than having to hunt up all of the documents at a later date, claimants will already have the details they need. It also eliminates the risk of forgetting important aspects of the case, which can happen over time as memories fade and injuries start to heal.
Contact Us by Phone or Online Message
Keeping an injury journal following a car crash is only one of the ways that you can help strengthen your accident claim. To learn more about building a case against the person who caused your own injury and the steps you can start taking now, please call and set up a meeting with one of the experienced Florida car accident lawyers at Boone & Davis today.
Sources:
forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/what-to-do-after-accident/
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.81.html
