After a personal injury, you may worry about getting compensation for your medical bills, lost income, and other expenses. You know what happened, and you have the injuries to prove it—but how do you get the insurance company to believe you enough to offer a fair settlement?
One or two strong eyewitnesses can do a lot for your personal injury case. While people who were with you at the time of the accident can be helpful, it’s even better if your eyewitnesses are completely separate third parties whom you do not know. Either way, it’s important to talk to an attorney about how to use this evidence for your claim. Call The Stein Firm to set up a time to talk to our team now.
Your Case Depends on Evidence
Every personal injury claim depends on evidence. No insurance company is going to offer a fair settlement—or more likely, any settlement at all—if you don’t have the evidence to back it up. This comes in many forms, including photographs of accident scenes, your retelling of what happened, the other party’s point of view, and medical reports. An eyewitness’s report is another valuable form of evidence.
Your Retelling May Not Be Enough
When you first talk to an eyewitness, you may find that what they observed is nearly identical to what you experienced. You might wonder why you even need their input if it doesn’t differ from yours. Remember, the insurance company is naturally going to be wary of your retelling. They know that they’ll have to pay up a sizable settlement if your story is true. Since they think victims have an incentive to embellish the truth, insurance companies will need other evidence before they’re truly convinced.
Eyewitnesses May Have Extra Information
In some situations, eyewitnesses provide valuable information that you didn’t have before. For example, consider a car accident. You know that you saw a driver swoop across three lanes of traffic before slamming into the side of your vehicle, so you suspect that they may not have been paying attention.
An eyewitness stops at the scene of the crash to tell you that they were behind the other car earlier and saw them swerving in and out of traffic erratically. Furthermore, when the driver initially passed them, the eyewitness spotted them looking down at their cellphone. Your attorney can use that information to show that there was a pattern of unsafe driving.
Eyewitnesses Can Corroborate What You Experienced
Even if an eyewitness doesn’t have extra information to provide about an accident, their retelling can strengthen your claim. The insurance company is unlikely to take your word at face value—they will be looking for inconsistencies and other possible explanations for your injuries.
If an uninvolved third party observed the exact same things you did, however, it is a lot harder for them to find fault in your retelling. The eyewitness does not have a financial interest in pinning the accident on the other person—they are just explaining what they saw.
Talking to Eyewitnesses After an Accident
If you want to use an eyewitness’s observations in your personal injury claim, it’s important to talk to them right away after an accident. Get their contact information at the scene of the accident and keep it safe. You should then hire a personal injury attorney right away and give them the eyewitness’s contact information.
Their memory of the incident won’t last forever, and if you wait weeks or months to start your injury claim, they may not remember enough to be helpful. The sooner you start your personal injury claim, the sooner your attorney can start building your case and making full use of all of the evidence you have gathered.
Start Your Claim with The Stein Firm
If you’ve been left injured due to someone else’s negligence, why should you be left suffering the financial consequences on your own? With a personal injury claim, you can hold the negligent party accountable. The Stein Firm will help you fight for the compensation you deserve. Call usor send us an online message to schedule a consultation. We are ready to go to work for you!
