An actionable personal injury occurs when a person is injured because someone else was careless or negligent. The injury may be to your body, your mind, or your emotions. A personal injury can occur when someone is injured in a car or truck, a motorcycle, a bicycle, a boat, or someone else’s vehicle on someone else’s property, at a store or place of business. You may have also heard of a wrongful death case. A wrongful death case occurs when someone dies as a result of someone else’s carelessness or negligent actions.
The key ingredient to a personal injury or wrongful death case is that someone or something else cased the accident or injury. Now, just because you are injured, and it wasn’t your fault does not mean that you have a personal injury case that can be won. There are many factors that courts and juries consider, so it is always best to seek that advice of an attorney if you think you might have a personal injury case.
A personal injury case must involve an injury to your person. If someone else causes an accident and your high heel breaks or your watch is broken, but you are not hurt, then you do not have a personal injury case, but you may have a property damage claim.
Here are some examples of how a personal injury may occur.
Example 1:
Suppose you are walking down the aisle of a store and a large container falls on top of you. You fall and you break your arm and your eyeglasses break also. You may have a personal injury claim against the store for the broken arm and a property damage claim for your broken eyeglasses.
Example 2:
Suppose you are driving down the road and someone else pulls out in front of you and cases a wreck. If your car is damaged but your body is not hurt, then you do not have a personal injury claim, but you may have a property damage claim. If on the other hand, your car is banged up and you are also injured, then you may have both a personal injury claim and property damage claim.
Example 3:
Suppose you are waiting to cross the street. When the light changes to “walk” you start walking across the street. If a vehicle fails to yield to you crossing the street and hits you, then you may have a personal injury claim. If your watch is also broken as a result of the car hitting you, then you may also have a property damage claim.
Many personal injury lawyers do not handle property damage claims. If you have no personal injury, either your insurance company or their insurance company will usually take care of the property damage claim. If both you and your car have suffered an injury, then you have both a personal injury and property damage claim. If my firm agrees to represent a client for their injury case, we will handle all aspects of the injury claim and also help our client(s) with their property damage claim, for FREE.
Disclaimer: This information is NOT legal advice. The South Carolina Supreme court requires that I inform you that what is written is not legal advice. I am not your lawyer until you and I enter a written agreement for me to be your lawyer. I know the arguments the insurance company will make – and so should you – even before you file your claim. I can offer suggestions and identify traps, but please do not construe anything written in this blog to be legal advice about your case, as each case is different and an attorney can only give you quality legal advice when he or she understands the facts involved in your case.
