In any personal injury case, be it a car accident, slip and fall, or any other kind of case, you are entitled to be compensated for all of your damages. This can include many kinds of loss like medical bills, wage loss, or property damage. However, the burden is on you as the injured party to prove each kind of loss. Because of this, it is imperative that you have proper documentation of each of the loss for which you are seeking compensation. Here are some of the typical losses and what documentation you should have for each.
The most common loss in any personal injury case is medical expenses. When you get into a car accident or you get hurt on a store's property, you will likely need medical attention for the injuries you suffer. In order to obtain compensation for these medical expenses, you must provide a copy of your medical records and a bills. Your medical records should make it clear that the treatment you got was necessitated by the accident. It also helpful to get an affidavit of authenticity for these records in case you need to use them in court.
The second most common loss from a personal injury accident is lost wages. Your doctor may have instructed you to stay off work for a couple of days while you get better. In order to obtain compensation for your lost wages, you need a copy of your doctor's note stating you can't work and documentation from your work showing your typical pay rate and the days you missed. Pay stubs often show this information. If not, you might have to ask your employer for a wage loss statement. Again, it helps if these records come with some kind of authentication so they can be used in court if you can't settle.
If you have questions about documentation of a loss, please feel free to contact our firm at any time. We've handled cases with many different types of loss and have experience gathering all kinds of documentation.