Was your child recently injured in an accident? This may have occurred in your car as the result of negligence or intoxication on the other driver’s part. It may have been due to an accident that involved the school bus your child was riding in. Regardless of the cause, you need to take legal action right away.
Make Sure Your Child Gets Medical Attention
The first thing you should do after an accident involving your child is to make sure that they get medical attention right away. This is true even if it doesn’t look like your child received any obvious injuries. They may be more injured than at first seems apparent, especially if a concussion is involved.
The major reason to get them medical attention as soon as possible is to make sure that their injuries, however minor they may be, are fully documented by medical authorities. This will make it much easier for you to get a favorable response when you submit your claim to your insurance company.
Get All of the Info You Can from the Other Driver
You also need to make sure that you get all of the relevant info that you can from the driver who caused the accident. This includes their name, license, and especially their insurance info. You want to be able to clearly identify the party who was responsible for the accident and give this info to your insurance company.
It’s also a good idea to collect as much info in the form of eyewitness statements from anyone who may have seen or also been involved in the accident. When police and emergency medical personnel arrive, make arrangements to collect official statements from them. All of this info will be handy when it comes time to file your claim.
File Your Claim with Your Insurance Company
The next step will be to take all of the info you have collected and put it to use by filing a claim with your insurance company. If all goes well, your insurance company will accept your evidence, process your claim, and payout the amount of money that you need to cover your child’s medical bills and other related expenses.
Of course, this isn’t always the case. It must be remembered that insurance companies are in business to take in money via premiums, not to pay it out to anyone who files a claim. There may be a large amount of pushback. Your insurance company may try to say that you waited too long to file your claim or that you filed the wrong type of claim.
In the worst-case scenario, your insurance company may even try to lowball you. They may attempt to add insult to your child’s injuries by offering an amount that isn’t even sufficient to cover a portion of their expenses. Finally, they may even be so bold as to try to deny you any type of payout at all.
If Your Insurance Company Denies You, Take Your Claim to Court
If your insurance company says no, you don’t have to take it lying down. Your best bet at this point is to hire the services of a personal injury law firm. Your lawyer will be the legal ally that you need to represent your case and get justice for your child. The sooner you take this step, the sooner you can get the compensation your child needs.
Make Sure to Sign a Minor’s Compromise Petition
A minor’s compromise petition needs to be agreed upon and signed after the court settlement. This agreement covers a number of issues, including the amount that will go to your child. It also covers where the money will be kept in trust and how old your child must be before they can claim it. In most cases, the legal age is 18.
This petition also covers the amount of money that will go to medical bills, legal fees, and the parents. The rest will be committed to trusting for your child to claim when they reach the agreed-upon age.
If you have any questions regarding this petition or any of these steps, you should contact a personal injury lawyer for more info.
