How Keeping an Injury Journal Can Help Your Claim

What does it take to get the compensation you deserve after a personal injury? In general, you want to focus on getting as much evidence as you can. This doesn’t just mean photos, video footage, and eyewitness testimony. It can also mean your own personal experience of the crash and how it has affected you. A personal injury journal is one way to track the effects of the accident.

Having the right attorney on your side is crucial when it’s time to fight for the compensation you deserve. Let us advocate for you against the insurance companies. Schedule your free consultation by calling Bailey Javins & Carter at 678-981-5370.

What is an Injury Journal?

A personal injury journal is an easy way to keep track of your injury and the multitude of ways it changes your life. You may think that this is unnecessary, especially in the early days when everything is still fresh. However, you’d be surprised at how quickly memories fade.

This is especially true with traumatic memories like car or truck accidents, as the brain tends to try to protect us from the most harmful parts of those memories. When those memories do start to fade, you’ll have a hard time recounting them to the insurance company to explain why you deserve compensation.

How an Injury Journal is Valuable

Insurance companies will do everything in their power to avoid paying you a fair settlement after an accident. In many cases, their tactics work. Victims don’t know their rights and accept a low settlement, simply because they’re afraid of losing even that offer. When you can prove that their client has harmed you and caused you serious injuries, you stand a much better chance of getting what you are owed.

An injury journal provides important details that back up your injury claims. You must be able to prove that the accident has caused you measurable losses and harm. You might say, “The injury has affected me in many ways,” and the insurance company will wave you off. But if you can show them a log of times you have had to call off of work because of your pain levels and the number of times you’ve had to hire a babysitter because you can no longer pick up your own children, that is much harder to deny.

What to Include

An injury journal should essentially be a timeline of your accident and how it affects you throughout the healing process. Start by writing down the details of the crash itself. Include everything you remember, even if you’re not sure it’s relevant. Don’t forget times, road markers, other vehicles you saw, weather conditions, and road conditions. Write down what happened after the crash, whom you talked to, and where you sought medical care.

You should also use this journal to keep track of your accident-related medical care. Keep track of your appointments, the doctors you see, and what happens at each appointment. You can also mark down any prescription medications you take and therapies you try for your injuries.

An important part of your journal is your pain levels. Part of your settlement may be for pain and suffering, but that can be hard to claim if you don’t have proof of your suffering. You may want to jot a few notes on your pain levels each day and sum it up with a pain rating from zero to ten. This can show whether or not certain behaviors trigger higher pain levels if your pain levels are decreasing or staying the same, and if you rely on prescription medication to keep your pain under control.

Any time you have to make changes in your life because of the accident, mark it in your injury journal. Write down when you call out of work because of your pain, when you must have a laundry service come get your clothes because you can no longer get to the washer and dryer, and when you can’t attend an event for your children.

While this may be extra work on top of an already busy time in your life, it can be extraordinarily helpful when you seek compensation.

File Your Personal Injury Claim Now with Bailey Javins & Carter

The team at Bailey Javins & Carter is ready to advocate for you as you fight for compensation. Ready to take the first step? Contact us online or call 678-981-5370 to set up your free consultation.