How to Determine if Your Injury is Worth Pursuing Legally

If you’ve been hurt and are wondering whether to take legal action, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. One of the best ways to determine if you have a lawsuit worth pursuing is to speak with a personal injury lawyer. Still, it’s helpful to keep some other things in mind that can help you make this determination. Here are some things to consider when you’re trying to decide if you have a viable claim:

Severity of your injuries

How badly someone is injured has a direct effect on the value of an accident claim. If you have small injuries, like cuts, bruises, or mild sprains, it can be hard to convince an insurance adjuster or jury that a large payout is necessary. These minor cases tend to settle for smaller amounts, even if you were not in the wrong.

On the other hand, more severe problems, such as fractures, emergency surgeries, disabilities, or persistent pain, can greatly increase how much your case might be worth.

What this means is that if you have very minor injuries that either don’t require medical attention or are fully covered by your health insurance policy, the economics of a claim may be limited.

If you’re more injured or have out-of-pocket expenses that aren’t covered, then you’d want to consider a claim.

Is there proof that you are injured?

Describing your pain or saying a doctor checked you cannot stand alone as proof in front of an insurance adjuster or the court. You need actual evidence of your injuries and medical visits. This means getting your medical records, copies of any imaging you had done and what the results were, photos, and sometimes written statements from medical professionals. The more evidence you have that you are injured, the more likely you are to be able to obtain compensation from the at-fault party.

Evidence of liability—who is at fault, and can you prove it?

Another primary consideration in whether you should pursue a claim is whether someone else caused your injury, and if so, can you actually prove it? It’s not enough to just say “I’m injured and X caused it.” You have to prove it.

This means obtaining and using police reports, pictures of the scene, statements from bystanders, videos, or expert analysis by professionals like engineers or accident reconstructionists. It’s not uncommon for arguments over fault to occur—this alone doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue your claim. You just need to make sure there’s evidence of another party’s wrongdoing.

Causation—did the incident cause these injuries?

Just being hurt after an accident is not enough. You need to show that the injury itself occurred because of someone else’s behavior. You also need to be able to connect your injury to the accident.

If you dealt with back pain or knee troubles in the years before an accident, insurance companies may argue that any symptoms after the fact are not the result of the new event. These types of pre-existing injuries can make it more difficult to file a successful claim, but not impossible.

Do you have financial or other damages?

It isn’t enough to say the accident changed your life. For courts or insurers to award payment, you have to provide evidence of your losses. This often includes showing hospital bills and proof that you’re losing out on income as a result of your injuries. It could also include repair bills for vehicles or other property damaged in the accident.

In some cases, you may have a claim for non-economic damages, which are those that can’t be quantified by using receipts.

Examples include pain and suffering and emotional distress. Notes from a mental health professional and testimony from friends who have witnessed a change in you since the accident can help prove these damages.

Does the other party have insurance? How much coverage?

In most accidents, the money you recover for your damages won’t come directly from the responsible party—it will come from their insurance company. If an at-fault driver either doesn’t have insurance or their policy provides a very small amount of coverage, you may be able to recover under your own UM/UIM coverage (or PIP benefits) under D.C. law.

If you sue the at-fault party directly, will you actually be able to recover any money?

When there isn’t enough insurance, you could then decide to sue the at-fault party directly. While this sounds great in practice, it doesn’t always work out the way victims want it to. This is because even if you win, you might not actually recover any money. Not everyone who causes harm has the savings, property, or income to pay a legal judgment. If a person has so few assets or money that they are “judgment-proof,” you could spend a lot of time and effort filing a lawsuit just to end up with nothing anyway.

Are you within the statute of limitations?

Another major consideration is whether you are within the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit. If you were injured some time ago and have just now begun to consider this route, you need to make sure you haven’t missed the deadline. In Washington, D.C., most injury claims have a deadline of three years from the date of the accident (with some exceptions that could shorten or extend the deadline). You should reach out to a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to determine if you’re within this time limit.

So, when should you pursue a personal injury lawsuit?

Deciding whether to pursue an injury claim can be confusing, especially when you’re already dealing with pain, bills, and missed work. Here’s an overview of when it likely makes sense:

• You have significant medical bills from the accident that aren’t covered by your insurance
• You’re out of work because of the accident
• Your injury has led to long-term difficulties in your day-to-day life
• The insurance company is refusing to offer you a fair settlement
• The other party refuses to accept that they did something wrong, but you can prove they acted negligently

When is it not worth it to pursue a claim?

Despite the hardships an accident can cause, there are situations when an injury claim might not be worth your time or stress.

• Your injuries are extremely minor and caused little to no disruption in your life
• The expense and effort of legal action outweigh any possible recovery
• Proof that someone else caused your injury simply isn’t there
• You waited too long, and the legal time limit has passed

Getting fair treatment can be tough after an injury, but you don’t have to handle it alone. Our team has decades of experience with these types of cases and can help you decide what the next steps should be. Contact Nace Law Group to see if you have a legal path forward. Every initial consultation is completely free, so there’s no reason not to reach out. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer.