Personal injury claims rely on lots of paperwork. You can help your attorney by pulling together critical documents and sharing them. These documents help a lawyer judge the strength of your claim, and the estimated value, in a free consultation. These documents will also be part of a demand letter to the defendant.
Call Ball, Kirk & Holm, P.C. to discuss any accident, as well as your injuries. A Waterloo personal injury lawyer will meet to go over your legal rights. If possible, we can negotiate a settlement for you to cover your pain and economic losses.
Call us when convenient. From our offices in Waterloo and Iowa City, we can travel almost anywhere in Iowa to talk. Our clients can always reach us 24/7.
Medical Bills
You can request financial compensation for medical care to treat accident injuries, so we need to prove how much your care has cost you. We recommend saving the following:
- Hospital bills
- Doctor’s bills
- Health insurance statements
- Receipts for prescription drugs, assistive devices, and any services paid for out of pocket
You can put all bills in a big folder and then share it with your lawyer. Those who are feeling ambitious might scan all the documents so you have a digital copy—but remember to keep your paper copies, too.
Medical Records
You can also share whatever medical records you have in your possession. You might have tests, X-rays, or bloodwork done after an accident. Doctors often mail the results to you. Keep whatever records you have in your possession.
It’s okay if your medical records are incomplete. We usually ask our clients to tell us all hospitals and doctors they met with. Then we request a full medical file. Nonetheless, share whatever you have in a consultation.
Accident Report
If you were hurt in a car accident, the police officer should have created an accident report, and you might have a copy. You should hold onto it. This report contains important information:
- Day and time of the crash
- Location of the accident
- Witness identity
- Overview of what people said
- Notes on what the police officer observed
Having a copy of your accident report gives you a leg up in the case. We can rely on this information when searching for witnesses to interview. It’s okay if the police did not give you a copy because we can request one.
Property Repair Bills
A personal injury victim can seek financial compensation for damaged property. Someone involved in a car wreck will naturally want their car repaired—or else replaced if the vehicle is totaled. Ultimately, it’s up to the victim to prove the loss, just as you must prove the full cost of your medical care.
We recommend holding onto all repair bills or the estimate if you haven’t yet had it repaired. (We recommend not repairing your car until you have hired a lawyer who might want to inspect it. Your damaged car might contain important clues.)
Employment Records/Paystubs
An injured victim can also receive compensation for lost wages or income. You’ll need to prove how much you have lost. You can’t simply rely on your memory of what you earned.
Most wage-earning or salaried employees will receive pay stubs. Find the most recent pay stub and share it with your lawyer.
Some people are self-employed or work gig jobs. You can still receive compensation for lost income, but you’ll need more evidence of how much you usually earn. Self-employed people can use:
- Bank records to show how much they were paid;
- PayPal statements if paid using PayPal;
- Any signed contracts with a client for future work.
At least six months of information is best, although we like to see up to a year of bank records if you have worked as an independent contractor for that long.
What Other Documents You Should Create
If you were just injured in an accident, then we recommend that you create some other documents.
Narrative About the Accident
Jot down what you remember about the accident. In particular, what were you doing in the build up to the accident? People’s memories fade after even a couple of months, and you can return to this narrative to refresh your memory of what happened.
Also write down any statements the defendant made to you. For example, after a car accident, the other driver could have apologized or admitted they just left a bar. Their speech could be slurred, or they could be yawning uncontrollably as if they haven’t slept in days. These details are often critical in an accident case. They can show how the other driver was at fault.
Also write a short narrative if you were hurt in any other type of case, such as a slip and fall or premises liability claim.
Pain Journal
Start creating a pain journal to document the physical and emotional effects of your injuries. You can record how you feel every day, including where you feel pain and its intensity. We also recommend that you document your mental state in the weeks and months after an accident. Maybe people feel depressed or anxious.
Try to document how you are feeling every day. This type of contemporaneous record is very persuasive—more powerful than if you just testify about how you felt several months after the fact.
We Believe Our Clients Deserve Fair Compensation for Serious Injuries
Call Ball, Kirk & Holm, P.C. if you were injured in any Waterloo accident. Our legal team has won millions for injured people like you in all sorts of claims, including car accidents, slip and falls, dog attacks, truck accidents, and many more. Our experience is extremely broad, so we can usually help accident victims and their families.
Our consultations are free and confidential, so there is no reason to delay picking up the phone and giving us a call. We are always ready to help our clients, 24/7, and are eager to learn more about your accident and how your injuries are healing.