Whatever the circumstances, the impact of a significant brain injury can be a frightening and bewildering experience for those affected and the people close to them. Besides the health implications, many people can also find themselves faced with financial problems that would have been inconceivable just hours before.
If you suffer an acquired brain injury here are a few practical suggestions you might want to consider:-
- After a traumatic accident it is important to understand what happened and gather evidence, especially in the event of a potential claim. This might include photographs of a road layout, faulty signage or missing ladder rungs. It is understandable that you or your family might not want to revisit the scene, particularly as life becomes overwhelmed with more pressing worries, but it important to ask someone else to gather this information or instruct a solicitor who specialises in brain injury as quickly as possible so that evidence is not lost. You might not feel ready to pursue a claim, and that can wait, but do not lose the evidence that might make or break your claim in the future.
- Make notes but do not disclose them to anyone. As soon as you are able, make a record of anything you can remember about the accident or the lead up to it. If you or your family make or receive telephone calls, make a record of the date, time and who the call was from together with a brief note of what was said. Store every piece of correspondence received by email, text or letter. It may be time consuming but could greatly help any claim in the long run. NB. These notes are for your own records and should not be shared with anyone. If the brain injury occurred at workplace for instance, your employers will probably want to take details of the accident from you often with genuine reason. However, it’s also worth bearing in mind that the responsible parties in accidents will have their insurance companies and/or solicitors, and they may try to contact you to obtain information about the accident that they later try to use against you. It is best not to speak with anyone directly but to appoint your own specialist solicitors; anyone who contacts you should speak to them. Never sign anything without checking with your own solicitor.
- Whatever happened, do not apologise or get angry. You did not ask to be injured andyou did not want to be injured, and it is better not to enter into a conversation that could be construed as an admission of liability. By the same token, while there may be clear liability for an accident by another party, very few injuries arise from an act which the person intended to cause harm so try not to get angry. It is understandable but not helpful.
- Keep a record of your expenses. From the date of your accident keep records of everything. It is easy to forget extensive parking fees, over the counter medications such as sleeping tablets, hospital TV and phone cards, bus and taxi fares, and takeaways that you would not normally have but become essential due to numerous visiting appointments or fatigue. All of these things can leave you out of pocket and may form part of a potential claim.
- Do not automatically accept the first offer. It is likely that you will have been through a difficult financial period following your accident. The idea of a quick and seemingly large settlement might look like a solution but in fact fall way short of your long term needs following a brain injury and lead to problems in the future. Any offer needs to be considered carefully in light of the expenses both past and future and you should not be bullied in to settling for a figure that is simply not enough.
Your solicitor should be able to provide you with some general advice to help make this period a little easier. They should also try to obtain interim payments to ease the burden in the short term while they negotiate a final figure that will leave you more secure in the long term.
The Brain Injury Group is a network of specialist brain injury solicitors and support services. It has the strictest qualifying criteria in the industry and can match you with a specialist solicitor in your area who can also introduce you to local support services.
These points were provided by Davey Law, a member of the Brain Injury Group.
