What You Need to Know About Claims Involving Catastrophic Injuries

If you or a member of your family suffered injuries that are severe enough to be catastrophic in Texas, your life changes drastically, and you usually need to take things one day at a time. It’s hard to contemplate the future.

Unfortunately, there are steps you need to take and situations you need to understand in order to be prepared for the future, even when you don’t want to think about it. That’s where an experienced personal injury attorney can be extremely helpful. There are many tasks a dedicated attorney can understand on your behalf or assist with to ensure that the future is as stress-free as possible. Here are some key considerations to be aware of when dealing with a catastrophic injury, along with examples of the assistance a knowledgeable team like ours can provide.

You Won’t Have Time to Wait and See What the Full Level of Recovery Will Be

In a perfect world, after suffering a catastrophic injury in a car crash, workplace accident, slip and fall incident, truck collision, motorcycle accident, or other situation, the victim and their family would be able to focus solely on physical, mental, and emotional recovery. They would work only towards improving health and trying to regain abilities that have been lost. It’s an extremely challenging process, and it deserves full attention and considerable time.

Unfortunately, pressures of the outside world make it impossible for accident victims and their families to do this. There are bills to be paid, and worries about meeting regular needs. Insurance investigators and attorneys will be pestering you for information. This means that while the personal recovery process is underway, someone must also be working on the financial recovery process.

That someone can be you, or you can turn the work over to a dedicated personal injury attorney who can be working behind the scenes to ensure that you have peace now and the resources you need for the future.

Insurance Companies May Offer a Quick Settlement

The insurance companies representing the party responsible for causing your injuries, such as the car insurance company of the driver who hit you in a bicycle accident, may try to “help” you by offering money right away to help pay your bills. They may tell you that you don’t need a lawyer because they’re already offering compensation without the need to file a lawsuit. However, they are likely to be offering far less money than the claim is worth, and once you accept anything, you will lose the right to seek additional compensation if it turns out your long-term needs are greater than you realized.

Attorneys who work with victims of catastrophic injuries know that there are a whole host of factors to consider for the future, such as:

• Ongoing fees for extensive medical care
• Rehabilitation costs
• Expenses to hire caregivers and assistance in the home
• Modifications to the home
• Special vehicles and other equipment

Additionally, the accident victim is likely entitled to substantial compensation for the intangible effects of the injuries. This includes pain and loss of abilities, which may be permanent. The amounts provided for these aspects of an injury are often far higher than people expect. 

Catastrophic injuries change the course of life for not just the victim but also family and friends. It is essential to ensure that the amounts provided, whether through a settlement agreed upon out of court or through a verdict in court, are sufficient to meet all future needs and to compensate for all future losses, including the loss of enjoyment of life.   

Someone Will Need to Act Quickly to Secure the Financial Future

When dealing with a catastrophic injury, the medical and emotional recovery process will continue for a long time. The financial recovery process may also take considerable time, as it is essential to ensure that compensation is both full and fair. However, it is important to act quickly to start the process. Very often, the accident victim is unable to act, so family members must take charge.

In most cases, even when an accident victim suffers life-changing injuries or even death, it is still necessary to prove that someone else’s wrongdoing caused the injuries. You need evidence to demonstrate causation, and the most reliable evidence is only available for a limited time. It is critical to start gathering evidence as soon as possible after an accident. This may include photographing the accident scene, locating and interviewing witnesses, and obtaining subpoenas to retrieve video footage from security cameras.

Your lawsuit must be prepared and filed before the statute of limitations expires, thereby preserving your legal right to compensation. For most accident cases, the lawsuit must be formally initiated within two years of the date of the accident. But if you wait a long time to get started on the claim, the evidence available to you may be very limited, and it may be hard to demonstrate liability. If you can’t prove that someone’s irresponsible behavior caused the injuries, then no matter how severe those injuries are, you won’t be able to receive compensation.  

Fortunately, an attorney can work on gathering evidence and preparing the legal claim. An attorney can even handle questioning from investigators and insurance representatives so that the victim and family can be left to focus on recovery in peace.

If Catastrophic Injuries Lead to Death, Your Legal Claim Could Change

Catastrophic injuries affect the human body so severely that they can lead to premature death. If that happens within a relatively short period of time after the injuries occurred, your legal claim for damages could be very different. Family members may end up filing a wrongful death claim, or a personal injury claim filed on behalf of the victim may need to be changed to a wrongful death claim.

Fortunately, family members do not need to worry about the differences in procedures, because a knowledgeable attorney can handle those issues on their behalf. With a wrongful death claim, the statute of limitations is usually two years from the date of death, but it can be different in some situations.

DeKeyzer Law Fights for Justice for Victims of Catastrophic Injuries

Catastrophic injuries can affect the brain, spine, or other parts of the body in devastating ways. Money cannot repair the physical damage, but it can provide resources for the victim and family to live a secure life going forward. It can also provide a sense of justice that can make a significant emotional difference for everyone involved.

At DeKeyzer Law, we’ve seen the destruction caused by catastrophic injuries, and we know how to help victims and families accurately assess their needs for the future so that we can calculate the full amount of damages that is appropriate for the case. That way, the victim and their family can evaluate the settlement offers received and decide whether to accept an offer or proceed with the case in court.

To learn more about the assistance we can provide after a catastrophic injury, please contact us online or call us today at 713-904-4004.