How Can You Find Out if Another Party is Negligent?
You do not need to decide if the above-listed criteria apply to your situation on your own. In fact, you may not have all the information necessary to do so.
Accidents and injuries often happen in a matter of seconds, and the injured person is frequently distracted by their pain. It may not be clear what happened or who is at fault.
For instance, let’s say you slip and fall in a convenience store and hurt your back. How did you end up on the floor with a back injury? Did you slip or trip on something?
It’s very common for people with these types of injuries to tell us they really don’t know. They remember walking, and the next second, they were on the floor and in pain.
Knowing who might be at fault can also be tricky. In some cases, multiple parties could be liable. If someone is injured in a golf cart accident, for example, liable parties might include the cart’s driver, the cart’s owner, the owner of the property where the accident happened, a repair company that worked on the cart, or the cart’s manufacturer.
The injured person usually doesn’t know which of those parties, if any, are responsible for their injuries.
Because it’s often challenging to identify the cause of an accident or injury and the potentially liable party or parties, we recommend speaking with a personal injury lawyer. A seasoned attorney and their legal team can investigate the incident if needed and determine if someone else is at fault.
Is It Too Late to File a Personal Injury Claim Now?
Sometimes, people start to think about filing a claim after some time has passed. Maybe their medical bills were manageable at first, but they later learned they would need more surgery, therapy, or other treatments, increasing their costs.
Or, perhaps they thought an insurance company would handle these bills. Now, they’re wondering if they can still seek compensation from an at-fault party.
In Illinois, the statute of limitations for filing personal injury claims is generally two years. However, there are exceptions in certain situations.
For instance, in some medical malpractice cases, you may have two years from the date you discovered the injury or should have reasonably discovered the injury. For most other personal injury claims, such as car accidents, it’s safest to assume you must file your lawsuit within two years of the incident. Contact a Waukegan car accident lawyer to help with your claim.
It’s essential to act quickly, as your legal team will need time to investigate your case and gather critical evidence. Over time, some types of evidence can become more challenging to obtain—witness memories may fade, video footage can be erased, and other key details might be lost.
To strengthen your case, we strongly recommend contacting an attorney as soon as possible after your injury.
Finally, if you have already filed an insurance claim, you should still consult an attorney before accepting a settlement offer. Once you have settled with the insurance company, you can’t seek more compensation even if you have more damages.
However, if you have not yet settled, we may still be able to negotiate a better deal.
What Happens if You Are Injured at Work?
Most workplace injuries are not eligible for a personal injury claim, but a personal injury attorney can still assist you.
With few exceptions, Illinois requires most employers to provide Workers’ Compensation insurance, even if the organization only has one employee. It doesn’t matter whether you are full-time or part-time or when you started working for the company—your workplace injuries should be covered by Workers’ Compensation.
Even if you are injured on your first day on the job, you can still file a claim.
How Is Workers’ Compensation Different From a Personal Injury Case?
Workers’ Compensation does not require you to show that your employer, or anyone else, was negligent.
This leads some workers to believe that recovering Workers’ Compensation benefits should be easy, but in many cases, it isn’t.
The insurance company can’t deny your claim based on fault, but they can deny it for multiple other reasons. Here are a few examples:
- One very common situation occurs when the insurance company denies a claim because they don’t think the injury happened at work. It’s helpful to document and report your injury as soon as possible after it happens, but even so, you may still face this challenge.
- The insurance company can deny a claim if they think your injuries should have healed by now or that you’re malingering.
- Being at fault for your injuries should not exclude you from a Worker’s Compensation claim in most cases. However, if the insurance adjuster thinks you injured yourself intentionally or because you were engaging in horseplay, they can reject the claim.
- Sometimes, the insurance company will reject a claim because they believe the treatment was unnecessary or excessive.
- In Illinois, you have the right to choose your doctor for a Worker’s Compensation claim, but with some restrictions. If your employer has a Preferred Provider Program (PPP), you are allowed to choose two doctors from this list or pool. If you want to use a doctor outside of the PPP, you must opt out of the program in writing. However, if you see a physician outside of the PPP program without opting out first, sometimes the insurance company may reject the claim (although exceptions allow you to do so in certain situations).
As you can see, Workers’ Compensation claims can become challenging, and many people receive rejections when they need help with medical bills and lost income. If you believe your claim was unfairly denied, please contact a personal injury lawyer for a free case review.
In some circumstances, we may be able to appeal the rejection and recover the benefits you deserve.
Where Can You Get Help From a Waukegan Personal Injury Law Firm?
At The Personal Injury Lawyers™, we are dedicated to addressing your questions, explaining your legal options, and striving to secure the maximum compensation for your injuries. Founded by attorney Robert S. Fakhouri, our firm is committed to advocating for injured individuals and their families, and we’ve achieved millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts.
Please reach out to us at 312-999-9990 for a free consultation to discuss your case and explore your options.
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