Is My Accident Considered a Personal Injury Case?

Understanding Filing a Personal Injury Case

When you’re injured by another person’s or company’s negligence, you may be left wondering what your next move should be. By filing a personal injury case, you can seek damages to cover the physical, emotional, and financial consequences you’ve been left with after the accident.

However, you may hesitate to file out of confusion of whether or not your situation is considered a personal injury case. Here’s what you need to know when it comes to personal injury in South Carolina.

What is Considered Personal Injury?

Typically speaking, personal injury law allows you to collect financial compensation when you’re harmed by someone else’s negligence, as long as there is legal liability. Some of the most common personal injury cases include:

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Car accidents can occur at any time and are often the result of another driver operating their vehicle in an unsafe manner (such as texting while driving) or not following the road rules (such as speeding or going through stop signs).

While not all accidents have legal liability — for example, if a car pops a tire and skids causing a crash — it’s worth examining the details of the accident to determine if you may be entitled to damages.

Premises Liability

When you legally enter onto someone’s else property, they have a legal duty to keep the grounds free of anything that can cause harm. Some of the most common reasons you may pursue a premises liability case can include:

Slip-and-Falls: Property owners should keep their space free from anything that may cause you to slip and injury yourself.
Negligent Security: Poor lighting or inadequate locks can lead to devastating results.
Dog Bites: If you’re left with lasting damage from a dog bite, you may be able to hold the owners responsible.

Wrongful Death

If your loved one dies because a doctor did not provide an adequate level of care, you may be entitled to financial compensation. However, it’s important to note that these cases can be tricky since an undesired result of treatment does not constitute malpractice. For this reason, it’s essential to involve an experienced attorney in these cases.

Catastrophic Injury

If you’re left with a permanent catastrophic injury that prevents you from getting gainful work due to another’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. These can be the result of workplace accidents, recreational activities, construction accidents, medical mistakes, and more.

There are three types of catastrophic injury:

Physical: Injuries that cause serious infections, loss of limb, disfigurement, or permanent disability.
Spinal Cord: Injuries that cause paralysis, respiratory and circulatory problems, exaggerated reflexes and spasms, or loss of bowel or bladder control.
Cognitive: Injuries that cause life-long brain dysfunction, abnormal speech, emotional difficulties, or limited arm and leg movements.

What Can I Recover from My Personal Injury Case?

In filing for personal injury, you can typically recover several types of damages including:

Wage Loss: Both as a result of current injuries and the inability to earn a wage in the future due to permanent injuries.
Medical Costs: Both those associated with your current treatment and the cost of future treatments your doctor recommends.
Pain and Suffering: Both past and future physical and emotional anguish you may experience due to your injuries.
Loss of Society: Compensation for loved ones if your injuries prevent you from fully being in a relationship.

When Can I File my Personal Injury Case?

In the state of South Carolina, the statute of limitations allows you to file a personal injury case up to three years from the date of the injury. However, in some cases, such as against the government or any government entities, the statute of limitations could be only 2 years.

Personal Injury Attorney in Columbia, South Carolina

At The Law Offices of Marion M. Moses, LLC, we are dedicated to helping personal injury victims rebuild their lives following serious accidents. We understand that you may have many concerns beyond your physical injuries, including mounting medical debt as well as emotional trauma.

No matter your circumstances, however, we will work tirelessly to hold the parties responsible for your injuries accountable, making sure you understand your legal options every step of the way.