2 Ways a Personal Injury Lawsuit Can Affect Your Future
Personal injury lawsuit settlements can stem from any number of unfortunate circumstances. A fall at the workplace, neglect, or car accident just to name a few. Depending on which side of the case you’re on will influence the extent and way in which it can affect the rest of your life. Getting sick or injured while on the job is one of the most common origins of a settlement. In 2013 over three million occupational injuries or illnesses were reported by workers that resulted in 917,100 missed days of work. That’s a lot of potential earnings missed out on.
The harmed person/party hiring a personal injury lawyer to represent them is known as the plaintiff. Generally, they are seeking damages or restitution of some sort for the loss of income and injury itself. The defendant is on the other side of the dispute. They are the person, company, or entity at allegedly at fault for the incident. Here are two ways personal injury claims can have long-term impact on your life regardless of which side of the argument you’re on.
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1.) Financial Hardship of Plaintiff: As it pertains to the plaintiff, a personal injury lawsuit means someone sustained a significant enough injury to warrant legal action. When this is the case typically the harmed party will be unable to work while they recover from it. Since a court case can take months, if not years to go through the proper proceedings it can leave you in a difficult position in the meantime. In total medical bills account for about 62% of all personal bankruptcies and you could find yourself in one if you’re left to pay the bulk of your bills while you wait for a settlement.
2.) Financial Hardship of Defendant On the other hand, if you happen to be at fault for someone else’s claim you could be responsible for thousands of dollars owed to them causing your own financial hardships. Fortunately, many times insurance policies will cover your responsibilities in these areas and either way the money if usually paid out in the form of an annuity of some kind so you don’t have to come up with all the money at once.
No matter which side you’re on personal injury incidents can have lasting impacts on your life. This is one of the reasons having quality insurance policies can be of great value, as well as a good personal injury attorney.