Being a Mom isn’t easy as it is, let alone after an injury. Personal injury cases can add a lot of stress to one’s life. Combine this stress with childcare, work, and putting food on the table, and it can be an impossible task.
If you are a Mom and have been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, then you could be entitled to compensation. In order to claim this compensation, you will have to jump through a number of hoops.
This article will tell you what they are and how you can manage a personal injury case while being a parent.
Medical Help
The first thing that you need to do is to seek medical help, no matter what type of accident. Some injuries don’t appear immediately. This is often the case with whiplash, which is common in car accidents. If you do not seek medical help, you risk developing serious injuries or complications. If you do not think that immediate medical attention is warranted, then you should at the very least visit your physician the next day so that you can get checked out. There is also another reason why you need to visit a doctor, which we will explore more later.
Report the Accident
If you have been involved in a car accident, you need to report it. The police will ask you to report any accident, no matter how serious it is. If the accident is very serious, then you will need to call the police on the scene. Reporting an accident is very important. If you fail to do so, you could get into a lot of trouble. Some of the punishments for not reporting an accident include a fine, arrest, and even imprisonment if the accident is severe enough. You should call the police on the scene if the other person appears to be drunk or has tried to get away.
Medical Evidence
The reason that you need to contact a doctor, or visit the hospital, in addition to getting your injuries treated, is to acquire medical evidence. Medical evidence of your injuries is very important. If you do not have any of this evidence then when you do approach a lawyer, you may struggle to convince them that your accident took place the way that you said it did. If you can’t convince your lawyer, then you definitely won’t be able to convince the insurance company of the person responsible for your accident.
Other Evidence
You also need to acquire other evidence which includes video or photographic. This kind of evidence should ideally be taken on the scene of the accident. Photographic and video evidence that the accident did indeed happen and that you were injured will make it easier for you to claim compensation. The insurance company with whom your lawyer will be dealing will have no grounds for denying your compensation if you plainly demonstrated that it wasn’t your fault and was the fault of the other person involved. Try to get their face, license plate, and contact information captured in the video, as well.
Legal Aid
After any accident, you must contact a lawyer. Wherever your accident takes place, be it in Novato, California, or Paris, France, you should contact a lawyer. You might ask yourself, is it worth hiring a Novato personal injury lawyer in California, or a lawyer in Paris? The answer is a resounding yes. A lawyer will help you to get the compensation that you deserve and will manage every aspect of your case, allowing you to focus on looking after yourself and your children. If they need your help, they will get in touch with you and arrange an appointment. Otherwise, they will do everything themselves.
Arrange Childcare
As a Mom, your children are likely the most important thing in your life. If you are seriously injured after an accident, it’s better that you arrange alternative care for them. If you are very badly beaten up, it’s better your children don’t see you and are elsewhere until you recover. Seeing their mother injured will only upset them. However, if they are teenagers, it is most likely better that they stay around and nurse you back to health. If they have other obligations such as school or work, then you may have to have a friend come over to do this, or your partner.
Missing Work
You may also need to phone in to work, to tell them that you won’t be able to come in. Some people, after an accident, do not contact their employers and instead seem to disappear. This can get you into a lot of trouble and can result in you being fired. Although work is most likely the last thing that you want to think about after an accident, you need to get in touch with your employer and tell them that you won’t be coming in, just so that you can ensure your job’s still waiting for you when you return. You might also want to ask your employers if you can work from home.
Recovery Time
You need to take time to recover. While your lawyer handles your case, you should put your feet up and get over your accident. If the accident has taken a significant toll on your mental health, as they often do, then you should try to get in touch with a therapist, or at the very least your physician. Your local physician should be able to refer you to a psychiatrist or therapist. It’s very important that you address your mental health. If you allow yourself to go untreated, your symptoms can worsen and affect you for a long time into the future. Your mental health is the most important thing, so be sure to take care of it!
Return to Normalcy
Once you have received compensation and feel better, your children are back with you, and you feel your spirits are high, you can return to work, and return to normalcy. You must make sure that you do not rush your recovery. If you try to rush it, then you won’t fully recover, and will ultimately end up in a worse situation than you were, to begin with. Recovery takes time.
Accidents can be hard to deal with, especially when you are a parent. If you have been involved in an accident, be sure to follow this article’s advice: make sure that you fight for your compensation, don’t allow the person responsible to get away without paying for their mistake, and allows keep your mental health at the forefront of your obligations!
