Initial Steps
in Making Your Claims
Preservation of evidence for your case
Accident report/incident report
Medical information for your claim
Lost earnings information for your claim
Recorded statement
Conclusion
Preservation of evidence for your case
After an accident the very first and most important requirement
(from the point of view of making a claim) is usually to
preserve whatever evidence is available regarding the accident.
This usually involves keeping, saving, storing and preserving
whatever evidence it is possible to obtain
and photographing and videotaping all evidence that may for
some reason be perishable or subject to change. It also
involves locating and interviewing witnesses to the accident
and others who may be familiar with the conditions which
gave rise to the accident.
All
products- such as appliances, furniture, containers, medications,
food, etc.- involved in the accident should be saved. Specific
examination and testing is often required. The vehicles
involved in a severe collision should be saved for inspection
by experts. The cause of a motor vehicle accident can often
be determined by an expert's inspection of the vehicles
involved. A dangerous condition which gives rise to the
accident should be photographed and/or videotaped as soon
as possible. Otherwise it may change or be changed before
the necessary evidence to pursue the claim has been gathered.
Interviews should be conducted promptly- before memories
fade or subsequent events corrupt the memory's recall. Identifying
and locating witnesses and obtaining accurate recall of
the events surrounding the accident becomes progressively
more difficult with each day that elapses after an accident.
Delay may prove to be very costly. So please don't delay.
Proper preservation and documentation of the evidence related to
your claims may require experienced investigators and even
the involvement of trained scientists and engineers. These
expenses can be fairly steep. They are particularly steep
for a family already dealing with the financial burdens
of a fatal accident.
If you retain this office on your case, we will be happy to
assist you in keeping, saving, storing and preserving evidence
and in photographing, video-taping and otherwise documenting
facts and circumstances related to your claims. These costs
will be advanced by us for your case.
Accident report/incident report
After an accident it is important to begin to record all information
relevant to that accident. In a car accident, drivers exchange
names, addresses, phone numbers and insurance information.
If the police are called, a lot of additional information
is usually recorded in the police report. In a slip and
fall accident, the injured person- or his representative-
should file an incident report as soon as possible with
the owner of the premises where the accident occurred. This
report should indicate the approximate location, the date
and the time of the injury and a very brief statement (one
sentence) of what happened. Similar incident reports can
be generated for dangerous product claims, maritime claims,
and other claims. The existence of an incident report can
be helpful in answering an insurer's first concerns regarding
an accident- did this accident really happen and was my
insured involved?
Medical information for your claim
As soon as reasonably possible after a fatal accident, the death
certificate, the medical records and any coroner's
report should be obtained. This will help to create
certainty as to the cause of the death and demonstrate to
the insurer that the death was truly a result of this accident.
Be aware that there are some
doctors who bias their opinions in favor of insurance companies.
You will want to avoid having such a doctor involved in any claim.
Lost Earnings information for your claim
In order to make a lost earnings claim, it will be necessary
to obtain the earnings records and Social Security earnings history
for the decedent. The initial earnings
loss can be proven by payroll records, a letter from the
employer or other appropriate documentation. For a wrongful death
claim in Hawaii, an economist is generally needed to demonstrate loss
of future earnings.
Recorded statement
Most insurance adjusters will be persuaded by favorable recorded statements
in their evaluation of a claim.
These statements are often important in determining liability and
also for proving up damages. However, giving such a statement to
an insurance adjuster without
the advice and assistance of an attorney carries significant
risk. Most claimants are well advised to obtain the services
of a competent and experienced personal injury attorney
to protect their legal rights before proceeding with such
an interview.
Conclusion
In short, there are many steps to be taken to establish a personal
injury case once a wrongful death has occurred.
Evidence must be preserved, photographs and videotapes
must be taken and witnesses must be located and interviewed.
Other basic investigation must be undertaken and information
must be gathered. Within a short period of time, much evidence
(and perhaps evidence crucial to the case) will be lost.
To obtain a satisfactory resolution of the case later, the
proper groundwork must be laid at the earliest possible
date.
Contact us now at Wrongful Death Lawyer Hawaii for a free evaluation of your case.
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