When you’ve suffered an accident or an injury, what do you do to get yourself back on your feet?
Whether you choose to address what went wrong through a letter of complaint or a no win no fee claim, there are options for you to put things right again.
The thing to remember, however, is that addressing your health is the most important thing. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident, getting the right treatment should be paramount.
Injury types
Your specific accident could dictate the action you take. Each incident is different, while the blame may also lie at the feet of different organisations or individuals.
For example, an injury suffered in your own home is unlikely to lead to any degree of blame for anyone other than yourself. However, this changes if the reason you suffered the accident was a faulty or defective product. In this scenario, you can make a complaint – and even a legal claim – against the manufacturer.
Meanwhile, the severity of your resulting injury could lead you to make your decision. For example, if you stub your toe on an uneven pavement, you’ll be unlikely to want to take that any further than a letter to the local authority responsible for it. But if you trip over that pavement, fall and break your arm, you may want to take it a lot further.
Taking action
Social media is a great way of drawing attention to something that has gone wrong, while holding someone to account. Businesses and other organisations don’t want negative attention so they’ll typically be eager to nip any problem in the bud.
If you want to make sure someone acknowledges what you went through, why not leave a comment on one of their public profiles? This ensures people will see what you’ve been through, while spurring the organisation into action to help you.
Taking that a step further, you may want to lodge a formal complaint with a company or organisation. This can be done through email or letter or through the company’s official complaints channel.
When you’ve done that and you have not received an appropriate response, the time may have come to pursue legal action. If you think your complaint wasn’t taken seriously enough, a claim against the organisation will force it to really consider what it’s done up to that point.
Going ahead with a claim
If you do choose to go down the path of making a claim, you’ll need a good deal of evidence. So it’s a good idea to keep a log of medical appointments, any expenses incurred – such as travel to and from those appointments – and how you have been affected by the accident. Being able to prove how the injury has caused you to suffer will strengthen your case.
Just as your injury is going to be different to someone else’s, your claims process will be unique. This is why ensuring you appoint a lawyer who works with you to get to the outcome you want is important.
