Lifestyle

5 Important Steps to Take if You’ve Suffered a Personal Injury

Published

9 months ago

June 28, 2022

According to the National Safety Council, 2022 saw over 55.4 reported injury cases in America, resulting in slightly over a trillion dollars in treatment costs. These numbers may sound like statistics until you get injured in an accident.

The good news is that you may be able to recover compensation, especially if your injury resulted from someone else’s negligence.

However, what you do from when you get injured to the time you recover from your injuries can profoundly impact your life. Here are some of the most important steps you can take after an accident to minimize its impact on your life.

1. Seek Medical Attention

Your health should be your priority after an accident that results in an injury. You may not know whether an accident has resulted in an injury by what you feel. Therefore, it is always important to assume that you are injured even when you can’t feel it, especially after a high-impact accident.

Some injuries such as concussions, whiplash, and other internal injuries may not be apparent immediately after an accident, even when they could be severe. If you don’t get medical help at the scene, make sure you see a doctor for a medical examination.

Getting medical help immediately after an accident not only helps hasten recovery, but the medical records you obtain can become critical evidence when determining damages in a claim.

2. Gather Evidence

You do not have to be a detective to gather evidence from the scene. With the available resources, such as a smartphone, you can gather the relevant details of the accident to help your lawyer build your case. The first step in evidence gathering is documenting the scene by taking photos of things.

Some critical things to capture may include property damage, the hazard that caused the accident, your injuries, and any object that can help identify the location, such as a building or landmark. Besides pictures, you can record video footage.

3. Collect Witness Testimonies

Having witnesses to an accident on your side can give your lawyer an easy time when determining liability. If other people were present at the time of the accident, you could ask them to be your witnesses in court.

If a witness is willing to help, collect their recorded or written testimony. Do not forget to get their contact information for ease of locating them. Collecting the responsible party’s information is also important because it will help you know who to list as the defendant in your claim.

4. Consult a Local Personal Injury Lawyer

Once you have all the necessary evidence, it is important to seek the help of a skilled personal injury lawyer. Besides evaluating the validity of your injury claim, a lawyer can help you prove liability, handle settlement negotiations and even represent you in court if your case goes to trial.

However, to increase your chances of a better outcome, you will want to choose a skilled personal injury lawyer from your local area. For example, if your accident happened in San Diego, you may want to let a local personal injury attorney such as www.wyattlawfirm.com handle your case.

The best thing about hiring a local lawyer is that they have an in-depth understanding of local personal injury laws and court procedures. They are also familiar with the personalities of the local administrative authorities and judicial staff and can use that to your case’s advantage.

5. Remember to Report the Accident

After an accident, especially on a public road, police will almost always show up after you or someone else makes the 911 call. However, if the accident occurs on private property or business premises, you might want to report it to the property owner, business owner, or their representative.

Reporting an accident is important because it helps create a record of the accident with the relevant authority. After doing everything within your means, you can leave the claims process with your attorney as you focus on healing and navigating life after an accident.

Lifestyle

Who Should Consider Buying a Universal Life Insurance Policy?

Published

9 hours ago

March 24, 2023

Michelle Langton

Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance policy. That means it covers you for life and comes with a cash value growth component. Once you build enough cash value, you can withdraw from or borrow against it. You also receive the full value minus surrender charges if you surrender the policy. Universal life insurance also lets you increase your death benefit or decrease your premiums, providing you with more flexibility.

All these features make universal life insurance a good potential investment for many types of people. With that in mind, this article will cover several circumstances where getting a universal life insurance policy can be helpful.

1. Those who need lifelong coverage

Universal life insurance offers lifelong coverage as long as you stay current on your premium payments. That means, unlike with term life insurance, you don’t need to worry about your policy expiring.

Another benefit to lifelong coverage is that you can lock in your premiums for the rest of your life. Life insurance premiums rise with age, but once you buy life insurance, your premiums remain fixed unless you adjust them within your policy.

2. Parents with multiple children

Raising a child can cost an average of almost $13,000 per year. Plus, parents may have to save money for each child’s college education. This can make it challenging for one parent to raise multiple children if their partner passes away — even if both partners earn incomes.

Universal life insurance can help alleviate these worries. If you pass away, your partner will receive a substantial death benefit to replace your income, pay off debts, and set aside money for the future.

Thanks to the cash value, universal life insurance can also help you raise your children even if you don’t pass away. Over time, your cash value may grow quite large. You can withdraw from or borrow against it at favorable terms and low rates. This offers you the funds to pay for family expenses and potentially cover your children’s college educations. Finally, if you ever need to change coverage to save money on premiums or up your death benefit, universal life insurance lets you do that.

3. Those who want to build wealth

A universal life insurance policy’s cash value can offer a source of wealth for policyholders. As mentioned, you can withdraw from it when it grows large enough, although you must be aware of any tax consequences. Y ou can also borrow against it at low rates. However, you must make sure the loan balance doesn’t grow larger than the cash value, or the policy could lapse. Finally, if you decide you no longer need life insurance and surrender the policy, you can receive all of your cash value minus surrender charges.

In any case, this cash value can offer a significant source of wealth when used wisely. You could use the proceeds to refinance or pay off debt, supplement your retirement funds, make large purchases, travel, and more.

The bottom line

Universal life insurance can fit many people’s needs. It offers lifelong coverage, which allows you to get a policy early and lock in premiums without worrying about coverage expiring.

Families with many children can find it useful as well. You can rest assured that your partner and children will be protected if you pass away. Plus, you can use the cash value to help cover childcare costs and future expenses, like education.

Finally, anyone who wants to build wealth could find universal life insurance helpful. You can withdraw or borrow from the cash value to travel, pay off debt, boost your retirement funds, and more. So, consider looking for universal life insurance if any of these describe your situation and financial needs.