What To Do After a Personal Injury: The First 7 Days

The first seven days after a personal injury are about caring for yourself while protecting your claim. Get medical attention, document your injuries and what happened, preserve physical evidence, obtain any police or incident reports, track your expenses, and be careful what you say to insurance companies. You don’t need to have your entire case figured out in the first week, but the steps you take now can affect what evidence is available and how your claim develops.

Use the Super Lawyers directory to find a personal injury attorney in your area who can help you with your claim.

Day 1: Get Medical Attention and Document the Injury

Your health should be your top priority after a car accident, slip and fall, or another incident that causes personal injury. If someone needs immediate medical treatment, call 911 from the accident scene so they can be transported to the emergency room. Even if you “feel fine,” consider getting a doctor to check you out. You may not have visible injuries, but the full severity could be internal.

When seeking medical treatment, tell the doctor clearly where and how the injuries happened. Medical records can become important evidence concerning the nature and extent of an injury, treatment, prognosis, and related limitations.

While at the scene, start documenting. Take pictures and videos of the incident scene, property damage, and injuries. Take clear, well-lit images. Take zoomed-in photos of the damage and zoomed-out photos to capture the entire scene.

As soon as you can, write down everything you remember from the day of the incident. Record what happened before the incident, during the incident, and afterward. Try to remember as much detail as possible, including the weather, scene conditions, and what people said.

Day 2: Preserve Physical Evidence

It can be tempting to clean up and move forward. However, preserving evidence is your best option right now. Instead, preserve your physical evidence. Anything can become evidence depending on the incident.

You could have a broken bicycle after getting hit by a car. Your motorcycle could have property damage after a motorcycle accident. Your clothing could be bloody or torn. For defective-product claims, keep the product, packaging, instructions, warnings, and receipts when available.

Some evidence may not be in your possession. Contact local property owners and ask about security footage. This could include homeowners or business owners. If it was a traffic incident, traffic cameras in the area may have captured it.

Keep yourself organized by creating an accident folder. Then, create subfolders to organize your digital evidence. This is also a good time to create folders for medical documents, receipts, invoices, and bills.

Day 3: Get the Police or Incident Report and Identify Witnesses

Depending on the incident, there may be a police report, company incident report, security report, or another authority-prepared report. Contact the appropriate agency and request a copy of the report.

This is also a good time to verify witness contact information. You will need this information later to locate them and gather witness statements. Try to gather each witness’s name, phone number, and email address.

Day 4: Organize Medical and Financial Records

Personal injury cases can get complex fast. Staying organized is crucial to ensure you pursue all available legal claims. If your injuries are severe or catastrophic, your treatment can generate a significant number of medical records.

Over time, you may also miss work, which can create a more complex financial situation with lost income, medical bills, and household expenses.

Day 5: Be Careful with Insurance Companies

If your policy requires you to report an accident or injury, do that promptly. Your insurer may need basic information to start the claims process, even if someone else caused the injury. Just remember that reporting the incident is different from answering every question an adjuster may have about fault, your medical history, or the value of your claim.

An insurance adjuster may ask what happened, whether you were injured, and how you are feeling. Stick to what you know and avoid guessing about fault, future treatment, or the extent of your injuries. Be especially cautious about giving a recorded statement, signing a broad medical authorization, or providing medical information unrelated to the incident.

During the first week, you may not know the full extent of your injuries or what treatment you will need. Liability may also still be under investigation. An early settlement may not account for future medical expenses, lost income, or other damages, so understand what you are agreeing to before accepting an offer.

Day 6: Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer

You do not need to have a lawsuit ready to file before talking to a lawyer. A personal injury attorney can review what happened, explain your legal rights, identify potential sources of insurance coverage, and tell you what evidence to preserve. That early advice can also help you understand issues such as comparative negligence and whether your claim could include non-economic damages.

Bring whatever you have so far: reports, photos, medical records and bills, insurance information, witness details, lost-wage records, your notes, insurer correspondence, and any physical evidence. You can always provide additional documents later.

Day 7: Organize Your Claim and Protect Your Next Steps

Once you decide to move forward with your personal injury claim and you hire an attorney, you need to provide them with everything you have. Your lawyer needs this information to do their job effectively.

They will contact the insurance company on your behalf to begin negotiations and potentially work towards a settlement agreement. If that isn’t successful, they will also need everything you gathered to prepare for a trial.

Each state has a statute of limitations. This is the time you have to file your lawsuit. Waiting too long can mean you missed your opportunity to seek compensation. Waiting also reduces the amount of time a lawyer has to work on your claim. Evidence also only lasts for so long. The longer you wait, the harder it can become to gather evidence and find your witnesses.

What Not To Do During the First 7 Days

While these steps are a good start, avoid several things in the days and weeks after an accident. Don’t post about your accident, injuries, or property damage on social media. Don’t delete anything that could be considered evidence of the incident. Don’t throw away any damaged property.

Avoid discussing the accident, as it can lead to you accidentally admitting fault or guessing about what happened.

Talk to an Attorney

The first seven days can make a difference long after they’re over. You do not have to navigate all of that alone. A personal injury lawyer can review the facts, identify potential sources of compensation, explain your legal options, and help protect your interests as the claim moves forward.

If you are ready to discuss your situation, use the Super Lawyers directory to find a personal injury lawyer.