What really counts as evidence in a personal injury case
After an accident, the main priority for most people is recovering from their injuries. Collecting evidence is the last thing on anyone’s mind. Yet this first batch of evidence collected in the days and weeks following an accident can be what makes or breaks a personal injury case in the months to follow.
Some forms of evidence count more than others. Knowing what really matters can help protect legal rights when they’re needed the most.
Medical records
Medical records are the linchpin of every personal injury case. A personal injury claim goes nowhere without solid evidence of injury and, more importantly, without medical records to prove it.
This begins with the first medical professional to attend to the injured party after the accident. Whether a call to an ambulance service or attendance at Accident and Emergency or a local General Practitioner, this first point of contact always creates the first medical record that connects their injuries to the accident.
Injured people who wait too long to seek medical attention create difficulties for themselves. Insurance companies, for instance, are quick to claim that the injuries sustained were not serious enough to require medical attention and therefore are not the consequence of an accident.
Ongoing medical records matter just as much as this first record. Follow-up appointments, specialist visits, physiotherapy, and even prescriptions all help to build a timeline of how a person has coped with the consequences of an accident. Gaps in this timeline create difficulties for cases. If an injured person claims their injuries continue to cause them pain every day yet hasn’t visited a doctor in six months, that presents an issue.
Photographic evidence
Photographs can provide hard, indisputable evidence that other forms of written records cannot match.
Photographic evidence comes in two forms. The first is photographs of the injuries sustained by the affected party. These pictures should be taken as soon as possible after the accident. Bruising, lacerations, swelling, and other visible injuries should be captured before they begin to heal.
Photographs taken at the scene of the accident can also provide valuable evidence if taken soon enough after the accident. Solicitors who handle personal injury cases regularly, such as Andrew & Andrew Solicitors, often advise clients on exactly what photographic evidence to collect and when. Skid marks on the road, obstacles that caused a fall, and lighting issues such as missing traffic lights provide impartial evidence of what conditions may have contributed to the affected party’s accident. Accident scene photographs capture details that vanish over time.
Photographs for long-term injuries should also be taken along the way. Dated photographs of injuries, even months after an accident, can provide impartial proof of how an accident has impacted someone’s life.
Witness statements
What other people saw can make or break a personal injury claim.
Eyewitnesses are invaluable to personal injury cases. Other people who were present at an accident such as a slip or fall carry a lot of weight because they have nothing to gain by lying or exaggerating their statements on behalf of one party or another.
The best kind of witness is someone who saw the accident itself. A member of the public who saw a car run a red light won’t get the same value out of their evidence as someone who saw exactly how a slip or fall occurred but any type of witness will at least provide evidence of injury.
It’s essential for injured parties to collect eyewitnesses’ names and contact details before they leave the scene of an accident. People who said they’re willing to help at the time are often impossible to find later on.
Witness statements should preferably be collected by having witnesses write them down on site instead of relying on their memory months later on.
Official reports
Official records created by either police officers or employers will carry weight because they have been created by others with no vested interest in their content. They are only providing thorough reports according to procedure.
Police reports created for motor vehicle accidents contain details such as road condition and weather at the time of accidents. These reports almost always contain some insight into who is at fault for an accident as well.
The report is created while everything is still fresh in the officer’s mind, making it invaluable for a personal injury case.
When it comes to workplace accidents, incident reports are created on site (if not by staff then by superiors). These official reports document accidents that happened on company property.
In addition, these incidents should also be reported via RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations). This creates an official record of what happened and when. The employer therefore has no option but to create another document that acknowledges that something took place on their property that could have easily been avoided if they had upheld proper health and safety procedures.
There’s only one way this becomes problematic: When these reports are not filed due to staff not taking the incident seriously enough or when one party does not push for documentation being created.
Financial records
Hard financial evidence such as bills and receipts will make it easy for someone affected by an injury to prove that the accident has severely impacted their life beyond just physically or emotionally.
Financial records that need to be accumulated in the aftermath of any injury caused by another party often include medical bills and prescription receipts. It’s important that these invoices are kept as they will be used by both legal representatives when filing an official claim with insurance companies.
These records often extend further into proving financial impact too. Costs incurred as a direct consequence of an accident should also be carefully documented and filed away.
This includes examples such as:
- Travel costs relating to prescription pickups or ongoing treatment
- Lost wage slips
- Documentation from employers stating how many hours have been lost due to incidents caused by another party
Injured self-employed individuals will need business records that prove their income dropped during times when they were unable to work after an injury.
What causes issues with evidence?
The most common cause of problems relating to evidence stems from waiting too long to collect it. People’s memories fade. People move away. Physical evidence such as slip marks or mess disappears over time and injuries heal in ways that become difficult to link back to specific accidents.
There are legal limits within which claims need to be made too. Under most circumstances, these limits require injured parties to file claims within three years after an accident occurred. Waiting until the last minute to file a claim within these limits only serves people when they have strong evidence on hand though,
Evidence from these first few weeks is always used by insurance firms who know how weak or non-existent evidence can be used in their favor to offer lower settlements or even reject claims altogether.
Good evidence from the get-go puts claimants in better bargaining positions with insurance firms.
Strong cases all come down to evidence
Surprisingly good evidence is used in even weak personal injury cases all over the world every day. The difference between cases that make it through court successfully and those who fail is rarely about the magnitude of injuries sustained — it often comes down to how strong the evidence is.
It’s even possible for cases involving relatively minor injuries to be made into strong cases due solely to their thorough collection and presentation of evidence.
Remember: strong personal injury cases aren’t about what happened — they’re about how well injuries have been documented. Adhering closely to a checklist of medically documented injuries tends to lead towards creating strong cases.
The focus on gathering evidence for personal injury claims should begin straight after an accident rather than months down the line when people’s memories have faded and physical evidence has disappeared. Whatever people can capture in these early days has the power to shape their entire case going forward.
