How a Car Accident Diary Will Help Your Case
After a car accident, it is vital to collect as much evidence as possible to bolster your claim, and a car accident diary can be one of the most vital pieces of evidence you have. Here, auto accident attorney Jeffrey Scholnick, explains what a car accident diary is, how to create one and how it can help you receive the compensation you deserve.
A car accident diary is a written record created after a car accident that documents the accident, any damages made to your property, the injuries you sustained and the treatment regimen you are following, as well as a detailed account of the healing process. Overall, a car accident diary will help to show how the accident has impacted you physically, mentally and emotionally in the days, weeks and even months after the accident—this ensures that critical details about the accident and your well-being are not left out of your claim. Creating a car accident diary is not difficult, and provided you remain consistent, it can truly make a difference after a car accident occurs.
Immediately after the accident, document everything you can recall about the accident: how it happened, who was involved, where it occurred, what the weather and time of day was and any other details you remember. No detail is too small, and the more vivid your description is, the more useful it will prove. Even consider including a drawn diagram to help illustrate your points. The diary can be handwritten in a notebook or binder, or created as an online document—whatever you prefer, just ensure you keep it in a safe place.
After you have documented the accident, create daily entries detailing how you are feeling physically and mentally. Log important events, such as meetings with your medical care provider, and detail the treatments you are being given. Essentially, log anything that explains how the accident is impacting you on a day-to-day basis. Use a professional tone when creating these entries, and think carefully about how you phrase what you write—if your claim ends up in court, your car accident diary will be “discoverable,” meaning the defendant’s attorney will be able to review it.
It can also be helpful to include pictures of any physical injuries you’ve sustained; continue to periodically take and save pictures of the injuries as they heal. As time goes on, you may not feel the need to create entries daily, but try to create them at least once a week until your case is resolved in a satisfactory manner.
When you make a personal injury claim, your car accident diary will prove extremely useful, providing you with specific details that will give weight to the claims you make in your car accident demand letter—a qualified personal injury attorney can draft this letter for you. Your car accident diary will also prove valuable to the medical care providers who are treating you, as they will be able to detail how you are feeling in their medical records, and treat you accordingly. Insurance adjusters often look to medical records to get a more precise picture of a personal injury claim, so be sure to discuss what you write in your car accident diary with your medical care provider.
A car accident diary is just one of the tools you have available to you to help you receive the compensation you deserve; however, this tool can be used to its fullest potential when you have a legal representative on your side. An experienced personal injury attorney, such as the ones at Scholnick Law, can answer any other questions you may have about creating your car accident diary, and will also be able to help you use it in an effective manner. If you or a loved one has been in an accident, don’t face up against the insurance company alone—contact the personal injury attorneys at Scholnick Law for more information about how we can help.