Do I Have a Personal Injury Case if I Do Not Feel Hurt?

Any type of personal injury can have a profoundly negative effect on a person’s life. Whether it is something as serious as a car accident or as simple as a slip and fall. A personal injury can not just be debilitating, it can also place a heavy financial burden on the shoulders of the victim. That is because they not only have to deal with the expenses caused by the accident, they may not be able to work for a while either.

That is why they need to contact a personal injury attorney to help them. The attorney can help them to file an injury claim and can negotiate with the insurance company if necessary. But what if the victim of the personal injury case does not feel hurt after the accident, do they still have a case? There are a lot of variables to the answer, which is why you should read more here if you believe you have a personal injury case.

The Elements of a Personal Injury Case

The following elements must be present before a case can be considered a personal injury.

1. The person responsible for the accident owed the victim a duty of care. A duty of care means that someone should behave in the way a reasonable person would in a similar situation, especially if that situation is capable of causing harm to another person.
2. The offender breached their duty of care. This means that the offender exhibited negligent behavior when they should have been more careful. An example is a store owner failing to clean up a spill that could cause customers to slip and fall.
3. The breach of duty caused an injury to someone. While any breach in the duty of care is bad, it only becomes a problem if it actually causes an accident that results in someone getting hurt.
4. The accident led to losses by the victim. That means they experienced injuries or property damage for which they need to be compensated.

As you can see an injury is, naturally, an integral part of a personal injury case. That means you do not have a personal injury case if you were not injured. However, that does not mean you are not entitled to financial compensation if you suffered other losses in the accident.

Factors That Can Affect a Personal Injury Case

Just because you do not feel hurt after an accident does not mean that you are not hurt. The signs and symptoms of certain injuries, such as whiplash, may not manifest immediately after an accident. It might take time before you realize that you were hurt, which is why it is important to seek a medical evaluation after an accident. The physician can detect signs of trauma that may not have shown up yet. This is important because you need to be able to prove that the accident caused the injury otherwise the insurance company will try to claim that the injury was caused by something else so that they can reduce or deny your claim.

Compensation For Non-injury Losses

If you were uninjured in an accident caused by someone else, but you suffered damage to your property, then you can get compensation via the insurance claims process. Your attorney can help you navigate this process so that you can get the compensation you need.

Contact an Attorney If You Have Been in an Accident Caused by Negligence

Even If you do not feel hurt, you should still seek medical attention and contact an attorney after an accident that was caused by someone else. That is because injury symptoms could be delayed and you will need to prove that they were caused by the accident. If you were not injured but experienced property damage, then you will need an attorney to help you file an insurance claim. That means an attorney is a valuable ally no matter what happens after an accident.