4 Questions You Must Answer Yes To In Order To Have A Personal Injury Claim

You have suffered an injury but do you have the right to sue? Here is a look at four things you must be able to answer "yes" to in order to have a legitimate personal injury claim. 

Have you suffered damages due to the incident?

Obviously, the first thing you must answer "yes" to is having sustained some type of damages. Physical injury is the most common type of damage in a personal injury claim, but other damages can be present as well, such as lost time from work, psychological damage, and costs incurred due to an incident like medical bills. 

Is there a person or entity that showed some kind of negligence to cause the event?

You can't just file a personal injury lawsuit because you get injured; there has to be some kind of negligence involved on the behalf of a person or entity. For example, if you get bitten by your own dog, the only person negligent would be you. However, if your neighbor's dog comes on your property and bites you, the neighbor would be the negligent party. 

Can you offer evidence to support a lawsuit?

Even if something happened that caused you injury and there is someone who is obvious to blame, you will have to be able to provide evidence for your case. Without the proper evidence, you may not be able to file a lawsuit because there is no way to prove the incident happened or that anyone was involved. For example, if you were involved in a car accident on a country road but never called the authorities and no one ever filed a report with their insurance company, you would have a hard time proving anything if you filed a legal claim. Nevertheless, if you feel you do not have enough evidence to support your claim, it is a good idea to discuss the situation with a personal injury attorney in case they see some evidential opportunity that you don't. 

Does your injury fall into the general personal injury categories?

There are primarily types of personal injury categories, including: 

• Car accident cases 
• Premise liability cases (slip and fall, chemical exposure, etc.)
• Medical malpractice cases
• Defective product cases 
• Animal attack or dog bite cases 
• Assault and battery cases 
• Workplace accident cases 

Personal injuries do tend to fit into one of these categories. If you are unsure of whether your injury fits into any of these, talk to a personal injury lawyer about your situation to find out if you have a claim.  

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