It’s difficult to understate how dramatically a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can change your life. TBIs can leave you temporarily or permanently paralyzed, impact your memory, and make it more challenging for you to meet your everyday needs. Even if you’re dealing with a minor TBI, the inconvenience can still leave you with losses you don’t know how to contend with.
What can you do in the face of a TBI wrought about by someone else’s bad behavior? When in doubt, hold that negligent party accountable for your losses. You can connect with a traumatic brain injury lawyer in South Bend to discuss how to file a personal injury claim against the party responsible for your accident.
Our South Bend personal injury lawyers are ready to help you fight for the TBI compensation you deserve.
Your Life Can Change Dramatically After a Traumatic Brain Injury
Your brain isn’t supposed to take direct damage. Concussions, contusions, hematomas, and other injuries can do more than take you out of work for a few days. If someone’s negligence results in you suffering a TBI, you may have to contend with mobility issues, paralysis, memory loss, and a limited ability to meet your day-to-day needs.
How do you get your life back on track after this kind of loss? When in doubt, call on the community around you. Medical professionals can outline your plan for recovery. Friends and family can step up and help you meet your daily needs. An experienced traumatic brain injury lawyer in South Bend can advocate for your right to a TBI settlement in and out of court.
You’re not alone when you’re contending with a TBI. There are people who care about you and experts willing to lend their experience to your recovery. Once you have the right team on your side, it’s only a matter of time until you’re back on your feet.
Your Case Will Get
The Attention It Deserves
How to Take Legal Action After a Traumatic Brain Injury
Many of today’s TBIs result from negligence. If you can prove that negligence contributed to your recent accident, you can argue that you have the right to file a personal injury claim for loss-related damages. That claim allows you to demand financial compensation for your TBI, its treatment, and related expenses.
You don’t have an indefinite amount of time to act on your losses, though. Indiana Code section 34-11-2-4 gives you no more than two years to compile a comprehensive personal injury claim. This means that you have two years to:
Gather Evidence of Liability
You need to know who to blame when you move to file a TBI claim. Returning to the accident scene to find evidence can help you and an attorney hold the right parties accountable for your accident. The evidence relevant to your case may include the following:
- Video footage of your accident
- Photos from before and after your accident
- Statements from expert witnesses, including emergency responders
- Medical records
- Bystander statements
You must meet Indiana’s burden of proof if you want a TBI case to move forward. If you don’t have the evidence needed to make your case, you may struggle to fight for compensation.
Estimate the Value of a Traumatic Brain Injury Accident Claim
You must establish an estimate of your case’s value if you want to argue for your right to TBI compensation. Fortunately, our team can help you do the math needed to build your case.
We can break the TBI losses you integrate into your claim down into two categories: economic and non-economic. Your economic TBI losses generate bills, invoices, and other tangible costs. These tend to include the following:
- Emergency medical care
- Long-term treatment
- Lost wages
- Property damage and restoration
Your TBI accident’s non-economic losses can include your reduced quality of life, increased stress, and emotional distress. While these losses don’t generate bills, they do have a tangible impact on your life and thereby generate value. A South Bend, IN, traumatic brain injury attorney can calculate that value and integrate it into your request for damages.
There is no fee
unless you win
The Pros and Cons of Filing an Insurance Claim
While you can file a personal injury claim after a TBI, you may also file an insurance claim with a liable party’s provider. If you file an insurance claim and personal injury claim concurrently, note that the damages you receive from one party may affect the award you receive from another.
That said, insurance claims adjusters aren’t keen on helping you financially recover from a TBI. Most providers will do everything in their power to either deny your claim or minimize the damages you can receive. That’s why it’s in your best interest to have a South Bend, IN, traumatic brain injury lawyer on call when you first meet with an adjuster.
Our presence can minimize an adjuster’s bad faith behavior and preserve your right to the most possible TBI compensation.
Book a Free Traumatic Brain Injury Accident Case Evaluation With Vaughan & Vaughan
You don’t have to let a traumatic brain injury dictate your financial health. If you find yourself struggling to make ends meet after a TBI accident, let the experienced attorneys with Vaughan & Vaughan know. We can connect you with a South Bend traumatic brain injury lawyer who can outline your right to a fair TBI settlement.
Our team boasts several decades of combined legal experience helping survivors like you overcome the financial stress of a personal injury accident. If you’re ready to get back on your feet, reach out and book a free, no-obligation case evaluation with Vaughan & Vaughan. Contact us online or by phone to kickstart your personal injury case.
