Injuries can happen to anyone, whether on the road, in the workplace, or in a commercial establishment. In fact, about 1 3 million people die every year due to road injuries, while 2 8 million nonfatal injuries occurred in the workplace back in 2019.
If you’ve ever got yourself injured, you’ll have to deal with a lot of expenses for your medical treatment and recovery. The good news though is that insurance exists as a form of protection from financial loss. If you are an insurance policyholder, you can simply submit a claim and seek compensation for your injury-related expenses. However, the claim-filing process can sometimes get confusing.
If you’ve got injured and needed to file a claim, here’s how to proceed:
Why you’ve been injured
Before we tackle the claim-filing process, let’s see why someone ends up with a personal injury. If you want to file a claim with your insurance, below are some valid reasons:
- Road Accident: This is the most common cause of injuries among a lot of individuals, whether a driver, passenger, or pedestrian. This happens when someone gets hit by a vehicle or when drivers have a car collision. You can either file a claim with your auto insurance or seek compensation from the insurance carrier of the third party at fault.
- Work-Related Accident: This typically happens in the workplace causing a worker to be injured due to a handful of reasons. These include the lack of supervision, faulty machinery, and an unsafe working environment. If the personal injury is brought by the employer’s negligence, you can file a claim through the worker’s compensation.
- Slip-and-Fall Accident: This is exactly what it is. If you trip over in a public place or commercial space due to the area’s poor condition, you can file a claim against the property owner. After all, it is their responsibility to keep their premises safe and free of hazards.
- Animal-Related Accident: This sometimes happens when your injury is caused by an animal. The most common example is a dog bite, where the pet owner will be financially responsible for the injury. Then, you can file a claim from the pet owner’s insurance company.
- Medical Malpractice: If you get injured due to the incompetence or negligence of a doctor or other health professionals, you can file a medical malpractice claim. If it’s established that the doctor’s treatments or actions were below the medical standard of care, you can get compensated.
What insurance claim is
An insurance claim is a formal request to seek compensation from an insurance carrier. As a policyholder, you can file a claim for a covered loss, damage, or event. There are basically two types of claims you can submit, as follows:
- 1st Party Claim: This claim is when you file it directly with your own insurance company.
- 3rd Party Claim: This claim is when you seek compensation from another person or business. However, it has to be established that the third party is at fault
How to file an insurance claim
The insurance claim process may vary from one injury type to another, from one insurance company to another. But for the most part, claim filing requires the following steps.
- Report the incident: If you’re injured in a motorcycle accident or in the workplace, you must initially contact your insurance company or that of the at-fault third party. Be sure to inform about the cause of the accident and the severity of your injury. While you’re at it, ask the claim filing process, its timeframe, and the required documents.
- Get a lawyer (if necessary): In some cases, you may need a legal service to file a claim, especially if the fault is hard to establish. If you deem someone as legally responsible for your injury in a road accident while riding a motorcycle, you may need to hire an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer. Your attorney will be working with the insurance company and its legal representative. Whether it’s a formal lawsuit or an informal settlement, your lawyer will represent you.
- File a claim: After contacting the insurance carrier, they will open a claim investigation. However, you must provide pieces of evidence to uphold your claim. These include accident photos, witnesses’ names, and incident details. Once you have all these in place, you can go ahead and file your claim.
Once the investigation is done, you will either receive approval or denial. If approved, you will be issued a settlement check based on the calculated claim value. If denied, you have the option to file an appeal.
The claim filing process can be painless and easy. All it takes is to consider all the valuable information and follow the steps mentioned above. While an injury is something you don’t anticipate, understanding the insurance claim process will be beneficial—just in case you get yourself injured.
