Every day, people are injured all across the country. They are injured in many different ways and many of them require a trip to the emergency department of their local hospital. Injuries can be sustained from auto accidents, slips and falls, work related injuries, or home accidents. Sometimes the accident is simply that, an accident. Other times, however, they are the fault of neglect of someone else. When this occurs, the injured person may have legal liability to have their medical costs and damaged covered by the responsible party. Sometimes, filing for disability is necessary.
Evaluate the accident situation
Accidents can, and do, occur from a variety of sources. For example, falls account for over 8 million hospital emergency room visits, representing the leading cause of visits (21.3%). Slips and falls account for over 1 million visits, or 12% of total falls. Evaluate your accident situation. Did you slip and fall on a floor that you recently mopped? Well, it is unlikely that you have any legal rights. Did you slip and fall on a store?s wet floor that they failed to notify you of with a sign? You may have legal rights.
Consider your current medical costs
If you have established that someone else is at fault for your accident, consider the cost of your medical expenses. A simple slip and fall that results in a sprained ankle is not likely to occur any additional medical costs. You are not likely to need a short term disability attorney for a case like this. If you fell on a slipper floor, however, and injured your back, you may require additional medical care in the future. A short term disability attorney can help you figure out the likeliness of receiving disability.
Understand where your injury took place
The location of your injury also matters. Were you on private property? You might have to go through your personal insurance company, along with your short term disability attorney. Were you on public property? It is possible that the public property owner will want to settle with you before you even contact a social security benefits attorney or short term disability attorney. It can be beneficial to you if you wait to accept any settlement until you consult with the social security advocacy services.
Did the injury occur while at work, during work hours? You may be liable for workman?s compensation. Approximately 22% of slip and fall incidents resulted in more than 31 days away from work. Your company?s workman?s compensation policy should pay for the medical expenses and any time off of work. Your workers compensation, however, can be negotiated to ensure that all of your costs incurred are covered. A short term disability attorney can help you to calculate your average workers compensation settlement. Sometimes you can even negotiate in your social security disability lawyer fees into the settlement amount.
Will you be able to return to work?
This is an important question when figuring out the amount owed. All of your medical costs should be covered by any settlement received. In addition, any time off of work or future needed time off of work should also be covered. If you injury will require you to file for disability or social security benefits, you may need to services of an attorney familiar with personal injury cases. 6.42 million people received benefits from programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) in 2014.
Injuries and accidents can occur anywhere. They can also be caused by many reasons, with neglect being one of the most common reasons. When you are injured and require medical care as a result of someone else?s neglect, you may be liable to money. This money is meant to cover your medical expenses and any time off of work caused by the injury. The type of attorney that you need may depend on many different circumstances, including the location of the accident, who is at fault, the type of injury, and the amount of medical care and time off of work that is needed.