After an auto accident injury, your life tends to get complicated and busy with appointments for your injury and trying to deal with any damage sustained to your property. With all of this, you may find it difficult to keep tabs on everything you need if you’re going to file a personal injury claim. Take a look through these four additional resources to find the ones that are most suitable for your case.

1. Your Camera

It’s a little too late at this point if you have already been in an accident and sustained an injury. However, you may have more footage of your accident than you realize. If you have just had your accident, use your phone’s camera to take pictures of all possible physical damage. This includes your vehicle and any visible injuries you’ve sustained or any treatment for the injuries you’ve sustained, such as bandages, braces, splints, or casts. Be sure to request footage from dash cams and body cams from responding officers. If you have a dash cam of your own, keep the footage from the accident.

2. Support Groups

Sometimes it’s helpful to connect with others who have been through similar situations. The following are some ways of finding and connecting with those individuals.

SupportGroups.com

This is a classic place to start for anyone searching for a support group, with over 200 groups to choose from and over 500,000 members all supporting each other. For car accident victims, there is a support group for people who have sustained a brain injury. The site is free to join, and you can join whichever groups will help you, whether it’s related to your auto injury or not.

Biker Down

Anyone who’s part of the biker community knows there’s a special bond with other bikers. That’s why a general support group may not fit well for someone injured in a motorcycle accident. Biker Down helps meet the emotional support needs of bikers and their families after they’ve sustained injuries or lost their lives in a motorcycle accident. They also provide financial assistance and medical equipment to help cover the vast needs that arise after an accident.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

M.A.D.D. is an organization dedicated to raising awareness of drunk driving and providing support for those who survive a drunk driving accident. They work tirelessly to educate students, drivers, and the general public about the full impact of drunk driving. If you’ve found yourself the victim of a drunk driving accident, they can connect you to a variety of resources, including legal and financial assistance.

3. Brain Injury Resources

Brain injuries are unfortunately common among auto accident injuries, and are difficult because they’re not as overtly visible as other injuries. These resources will help you learn to cope with the lasting effects of your injury and connect you with other resources you may need.

Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado

This is a vast resource for people recovering from brain injuries of all kinds, including motor vehicle accidents. You’ll find a variety of educational materials for understanding brain injury as well as connections to various forms of support ranging from the traditional support group to peer mentorship and more. You’ll also find informational resources you may need, including financial help, research studies, and even a preferred attorney directory. For people who are suffering from a brain injury, this is truly a single hub for many of the resources they may need over time.

MINDSOURCE – Brain Injury Network (formerly Colorado Brain Injury Program)

MINDSOURCE is part of the Colorado Department of Human Services and seeks to assist anyone living with a brain injury, their support network, and their communities. The organization specifically manages the Colorado Brain Injury Trust Fund and the federal traumatic brain injury grant. It also provides training about brain injury for public and private organizations. MINDSOURCE delivers the vast majority of direct brain injury support through the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado.

4. Checklists

When you’ve had an auto injury, it’s helpful to have some guidance on what to do next. Use these checklists to help capture necessary information and keep things organized as you prepare for your personal injury claim. Enjuris has provided a variety downloadable documents to help you navigate getting all of the documentation you need.

Documents & Evidence

Whenever you’re dealing with legal situations, it’s always best to have as much supporting documentation as possible. The Documents & Evidence Checklist will help you remember everything you need from the time of the accident through when you file your claim. It covers everything from police reports and 911 call recordings, to video and photos taken at the scene, medical reports, and even the clothing you were wearing at the time. This document helps ensure the integrity of all potentially relevant evidence until you consult with a personal injury attorney.

Post-Accident Report

Do yourself a favor and do not answer any questions at the scene of an accident. Your adrenaline starts pumping when you’re involved in an accident, and you may not remember things correctly. Rather than making inaccurate statements, let the officers know that you are happy to cooperate with their investigation once you’ve consulted with your attorney, whether you think you’re at fault or not. This prevents you from saying something that could insinuate fault, making filing a claim that much harder.

Rather, as soon after the accident as you have a clear head, fill out the post-accident report to document what happened. If at all possible, complete the document at the scene of the accident, collecting everything from the other driver’s insurance information and the responding officer’s information to key information about the accident such as road markings, driving conditions, and description of vehicle damage.

Post-Accident Journal

In addition to the post-accident report, keep the journal for the next month, or longer if directed by your attorney. This is a great way to catch any injuries that you may not have noticed right away but were accident-related.

Damages Worksheet

The stronger your evidence, the more likely you’ll get the compensation you’re owed. Using the damages worksheet helps you track all of the related expenses for the accident, from medical and prescription to property damage repair costs. Rather than guessing at what you’ve incurred when you work with an attorney, you’ll simply pull out this document that you’ve kept along the way and the related receipts, reducing your overall stress so that you can focus on the work of healing.

You don’t have to try to navigate the world of a personal injury claim on your own. Call to schedule your initial consultation with the personal injury experts at Matlin Injury Law.