07 Oct Neck and Back Injuries
Necks and backs are easily the most vulnerable places to get injured after an accident. No doubt, this is because the neck and back are made up of delicate bones, ligaments, muscles, blood vessels, and tissue. These types of injuries can make it difficult to stand, bend, or sit. In more severe cases, neck and back injuries can cause permanent disability and affect your ability to walk or engage in life activities.
The first step is to get immediate medical treatment as soon as you suffer a back or neck injury. Even if you only feel a slight pain, you should still get medical attention. This is because recoveries from severe injuries may take months or even years. Some do not even wholly recover. Even at that, the recovery process may require several visits to the hospital, surgeries, medications, and physical therapy. Among other inconveniences, all these equate to a large sum in medical expenses.
If another person’s negligence caused your neck or back injury, you should not hesitate to enforce your rights and contact a Florida personal injury attorney. Our skilled and experienced team of attorneys will offer an evaluation on whether or not you have a claim. Our personal injury lawyer will also help you seek compensation to cover your pain and suffering, lost income, medical bills, and other losses.
Your rights after a neck or back injury
There are more than a thousand ways to sustain a neck or back injury. The common accidents where these injuries occur include:
● Car accidents
● Truck accidents
● Pedestrian accidents
● Bicycle or motorcycle accidents
● Falls from heights
● Slips and falls
● Sports injuries
● Construction accidents
● Defective products
● Premises liability
In all the above instances, negligence plays a significant role. If the injuries you sustained to your neck or back were caused by the negligent act of another person, you can file a claim against them and recover financial compensation.
Proving negligence in a neck or back injury claim
In Florida, “negligence” occurs when a person, company, or other legal entity fails in their duty of care to you or fails to act when they should to the extent that such actions resulted in an injury to you. Duty of care generally covers:
● The duty to act reasonably towards another person;
● The duty to keep your property free of hazardous or harmful conditions;
● The duty to drive cautiously and not put other drivers or pedestrians at risk;
● The duty to sell products that are safe when used in a foreseeable way, among others.
There are five primary elements to establish negligence in Florida. You have to prove that:
● The defendant had a duty to either act or not act in a specific way;
● The duty of care was breached;
● The breach of duty resulted in your injury.
● The defendant should have reasonably foreseen that their action or inaction could injure you.
● The neck or back injury resulted in loss or actual expenses like medical costs, lost wages, pain, and suffering, and other compensable damages.
Our experienced personal injury lawyer has access to investigators and means to gather the necessary evidence to establish your claim. Get in touch with us here or call (863) 455-4811 as soon as you can.
Compensation in neck or back injury claims
As earlier said, neck and back injuries can result in many financial losses. If your injury was due to another person’s negligent act, you might be able to recover monetary compensation from them. Asides from negligence, there are also some other instances where you can recover compensation even though the other party was not ‘negligent.’ Workplace accidents fall under this category.
The law is there to protect you and ensure that you get compensated for all your losses, especially financial losses (past, present, and future).
Types of damages you can recover
This is how damages generally work: you typically get compensated to the full extent of your loss or expenses. As commonly said, the compensation seeks to make you ‘whole’. The damages you may be entitled to will cover both economic and non-economic damages, as well as punitive damages (in some cases). Economic damages will cover your financial expenses and loss. These include:
● Lost wages, (past, present, and future);
● Medical treatment (surgeries, doctor or hospital visits, ambulance transportation, pain medication, etc.);
● Rehabilitative or other physical or occupational therapies;
● Diminished earning capacity;
● The financial cost of maintaining daily life activities (for instance, nurse, housecleaner, transportation costs, etc.), and so on.
While economic damages can be calculated or generally computed, there are some other losses that we can’t put a dollar value on. Non-economic damages will cover those other losses and try to compensate you adequately. These losses may include:
● Pain and suffering
● Loss of consortium
● Loss of enjoyment of everyday life or happiness.
In addition to economic and non-economic damages, you may also be entitled to punitive damages. As the name implies, punitive damages seek to punish the party responsible for your injuries. These are often awarded when the other party’s actions or inactions were especially egregious or malicious.
However, it is difficult to calculate the exact compensation you deserve for your back or neck injury. The attorneys at Sara Jones Law, P.A have the means to do this and have successfully represented injury victims in Lake Wales and other parts of Florida.
How a personal injury attorney can help
Neck or back injuries are difficult, not just to the victims but also to their loved ones. It is most likely that unanticipated medical expenses would also arise. Even in this challenging moment, you may also have to deal with the nuances of insurance companies that will try all they can to diminish your loss or injury and reject your compensation claim. Some may even offer insulting compensations that don’t cover your expenses or loss.
Things could go pretty worse if you don’t have an experienced and skilled personal injury attorney to stand toe-to-toe with the persons responsible for your injury. A skilled lawyer at our firm will help you:
● Talk to the other party’s insurance company
● Gather, organize, and present relevant evidence to prove your claim
● Negotiate medical bills and treatment options with care providers to defer till you get your compensation
● Interview and depose witnesses
● File necessary paperwork and prepare documents
● Negotiate the best settlement for you
● File a lawsuit and represent you in court, if the need arises
● Settle outstanding debt with medical providers out of your final compensation
Statute of limitation for filing a claim
Florida law requires you to file a claim or legal action not later than four years after the injury. The four years required is no doubt higher than most states where the limit is only two years. Nonetheless, delay defeats the purpose. The earlier you get in touch with us, the easier it is to gather evidence and file your claim. Even more so, it is advisable to file a claim when the medical expenses are yet to become overwhelming and unbearable.
Get in touch with us immediately
If you or a loved one suffers a neck or back injury, you should not hesitate to enforce your rights and contact a Florida personal injury attorney. Our skilled and experienced team of attorneys will offer an evaluation on whether or not you have a claim. Our personal injury lawyer will also help you seek compensation to cover your pain and suffering, lost income, medical bills, and other losses. Call us today at (863) 455-4811 or get in touch with us online here.
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