What is the Jet Ski Injury Claims Process?

If you get hurt in a serious accident, you need the support of a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer immediately. This is the only way for you to increase your chances of getting the compensation needed to attend to all of your medical care needs and to forge a path forward. 4 so many people who have suffered in a jet ski accident, life is never the same. Attempting to recover compensation from an insurance company is not necessarily easy, and this is why many of these victims have to bring their evidence and medical records to the offices of an experienced jet ski injury lawyer for a consultation. 

File a Report 

Contact the boating police or the local police as soon as possible after the jet ski accident has happened. This gives you a chance to share your side of the story and it provides early documentation about how the accident occurred. You might be shaken in the moment immediately after the accident, but being able to articulate what happened will prove helpful in the future when you need to get a copy of these reports to provide it to the insurance company. Furthermore, when boating police arrive on the scene sooner rather than later, they can document things from their perspective as well. 
 
Any witnesses who were in the area can also prove helpful for your case if you were able to get their contact information. If you are struggling to keep things straight in the immediate aftermath of your jet ski accident, ask the boating police if they can assist you with documenting everything properly. Police can also help to diffuse escalated situations on the water, such as when the other party who caused the accident is alleging that it was your fault or is angry or upset on the scene. These emotions can only serve to make things worse and more difficult for you when you're already coping with an injury, but having the calming presence of a police officer can diffuse the situation. 
 
You might assume that you do not need to report a boating accident, but there are specific laws in place that dictate when a report must be filed. A boating accident report needs to be filed immediately if someone is killed, there are damages to the vessels or property that is in excess of $2,000, there's a complete loss of a vessel, someone is injured badly enough to need medical care beyond first aid, or someone disappears or dies in the accident. Even if the circumstances don't apply, it can be very helpful to get a boating accident report filed as quickly as possible so that the facts of the case are clear. Things may become more fuzzy or difficult to remember in the days and weeks following the accident, at which point you're boating accident report could become critical for retelling the story. 
 
If you’re not sure who to call, reach out to the Coast Guard to notify them of the accident. They can help you take additional steps once they have been informed. 

Get Medical Attention

While getting medical attention is not necessarily required for you to recover compensation in a jet ski injury claim, it is crucial for laying the groundwork that you've been significantly injured in an accident due to another person's negligence. This will become important for presenting to your insurance company as well as in court if you do move forward with a legal jet ski injury claim. 
 
One of the tactics most frequently used by other parties in these cases is to allege that you never sustained injuries at all where that the injuries you have proposed are not as serious as you claim. As a person who is suffering from these injuries and has had to adapt your life significantly because of another party's reckless actions, this can be devastating to learn. But it is far better to be prepared in advance when working with a jet ski injury claims lawyer who is familiar with these tactics and is prepared to respond. Having strong medical records and illustrating that you have attended numerous medical appointments and had to undergo additional therapies, treatments, or getting medications only serves to strengthen your case. 
 
It is true that your doctors will keep records of all of your visits as you attend these appointments, but you should also keep individual notes about your treatment plan and how you're feeling on a day-to-day basis. This is especially true if the conditions from your jet ski injury claim are severe and are impeding your ability to live your life. If you are unable to go to work, if you are helping with consistent daily pain, or if you are no longer able to do activities that were accessible to you prior to the accident, this information can all be used to help illustrate the accident impact on your life in court. 

File an Insurance Claim 

If you owned or operated either one of the vessels involved in the accident, you will need to contact your insurance company. You might need to turn to that insurance company to recover compensation for your damages. In the immediate days and weeks after the accident, you might not have a full picture of how the accident has affected your life. You might need more time to go to doctor's appointments and make notes about how your life has been affected. It is strongly recommended that for this reason, you do not sign anything or agree to any settlement terms with any insurance company until you have had the opportunity to speak to an experienced lawyer. 
 
Most people get extremely frustrated when they realize that the insurance company is not on their side. Even if you filed an injury claim with your own boaters insurance company, it can be difficult to recover compensation even if you feel that the facts of the case are relatively clear. Having an attorney who has negotiated with and communicated with adjusters from insurance companies can make a world of difference when this is essential for recovering the compensation you need following a boating accident. 
 
Most boating accident injury victims do not have experience with the jet ski injury claims process. They might have provided documentation and medical records to their insurance company multiple times only to find out that their calls are going unanswered or that the insurance company is claiming they never received this information to begin with. In any of these situations, it is helpful to have the guidance of an experienced jet ski injury claims process lawyer to step in on your behalf and work with the insurance company. As an injured victim, you likely have enough to worry about with attending your medical appointments and figuring out how to get back to work. You should not also have to worry about how to make things work with the insurance carrier and this is a key role that your personal injury lawyer can play in your case.
 
During this phase of your case, it is common to wait until you have communication from the other parties. If you feel that your claim is being neglected, do not hesitate to involve your jet ski injury claim lawyer. It can take anywhere from a couple of months to several months for your case to be resolved, but this can be extended by many months or even years if you need to file a lawsuit. Many insurance companies have a vested interest in closing out these cases as soon as possible, and might therefore come to the table with a settlement offer to pay you in a lump sum. While this can seem tempting in the moment, you need to know the extent of your injuries and your likely expenses so that you can make an informed and confident decision about whether or not to accept the settlement offer. When you have chosen to work with a boating accident injury lawyer who has a broad background in this area, you will feel more confident about making the right decision for your family. 

File Suit

In the best-case scenario, you will be able to resolve your boating accident case promptly. It could be the case if the insurance company responds to you and gives you a full and fair settlement out the gate, but this rarely happens. It is more often the case that your boating insurance does not cover the full scope of your injuries. When you have sustained injuries as a result of another party's negligent actions, you might need to turn to the courts to seek the compensation you need. When the insurance company is not offering you a fair settlement and when you need to be able to put this unfortunate chapter of your life behind you, you need a jet ski injury claim lawyer who is prepared for this type of case. 
 
Even once the claim is filed in court your lawyer can attempt to resolve things in settlement hearings. Many other lawyers and insurance companies don’t want to go to court and deal with the uncertainty of those outcomes, so make sure you choose a jet ski injury lawyer who is ready to work in either the settlement or court forum to resolve your claims.