5 Tips For Managing Your Expense Records During A Personal Injury Case
Whether you're trying to win compensation after a car accident or need help to deal with the consequences of a dog bite, records of your expenses are crucial. The court won't meet your demands for awarding a specific amount of money unless you have hard proof that the injury really cost you that much. Use these five tips to make sure you're building a complete portfolio of expense records as you prepare for your personal injury case.
Request Letters From Work
Don't just assume your pay stubs or tax records will be enough to prove your last income due to the injury. Request letters on the company masthead from your boss, manager, and the payroll department at your employer. Each letter should outline how much money you receive on a weekly or monthly basis, how long you were away from work, and whether you're still employed or no longer work there due to your medical complications. If you're having trouble contacting your employer because they let you go in violation of your state's employment law, let your lawyer handle the requests instead of just skipping this crucial form of documentation.
Collect Medical Receipts
If your health or car insurance company is footing the bills for your emergency room trips and your physical therapy, it's easy to forget to collect receipts. Unfortunately, many insurance companies provide hard-to-decipher payment records that don't include the co-pays, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket expenses you were responsible for paying. Get separate print outs every time you visit a healthcare professional for treatment related to the injury, including the following:
- Therapy sessions for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety
- Physical therapy to restore your ability to function
- Acupuncture and massage, as long as the providers are licensed according to your state's requirements.
Remember Travel Expenses
Your personal injury claim expenses go beyond just what you're billed from the emergency room and your lost wages. Add up the gas costs and plane fares from your travel related to the case, including trips to the doctor, lawyer's office, and scene of the injury to collect evidence. It's best to keep these trips separate from other errands and tasks so you can prove each expense deserves to be included in the final award amount. Taking a quick vacation while you're already traveling to see your lawyer will make it harder to convince a judge to take your travel expenses seriously.
Photograph Everything
Police investigators tend to take fairly good photographs at the scene of an accident, but you're on your own when getting visual documentation of other types of personal injuries. Start taking photos as soon as you physically can to capture as much evidence as possible that would affect the amount you receive. For example, photographs of your injuries can prove that your medical expenses were warranted, no matter what an expert witness for the opposing side might claim. You can also make backup copies of your expense records and receipts with a decent digital camera to prevent any accidental or purposeful destruction of evidence from ruining the case.
Estimate Future Costs
Finally, get professional help from a disability lawyer when trying to estimate the long-term impact of the injury on your future earning power. Your personal injury attorney can provide you with a recommendation, or they may already have the extra expertise needed to handle this task for you. A professional projection of lost income and ongoing medical treatments is far more compelling than a few numbers you've added up on your own. The projection needs to take inflation and other factors into account to be accurate over a period of decades for you to get enough money to cover your actual future expenses, especially if you are completely or partially disabled by the injury. For more information, see a website such as http://caminezlaw.net.