Small Claims Court

The injury claim

Going to small claims court in an injury claim scenario is a bad idea. A very bad one. As I write this website I have insisted that you do not need a lawyer for many things. In certain circumstances, you can handle the matter yourself.

However, this is one where I believe you must have one (which will not be going to small claims court).

Injury claims have many aspects to them, from medical bills, to medicine, loss wages, loss of business income, loss of quality of life, pain and suffering etc.

The list goes on. Visit out injury section to see what claims you can make. It is very difficult to bring these cases on small claims because it can take weeks to go through all the paper work and medical records.

A small claims judge might only have 30 minutes to see your evidence and hear both parties. This is not enough, especially if you are arguing self employed income and other issues.

Also, most of the time, medical testimony is necessary to show injury. It can be difficult to prove this if you do not know how to interview a witness or how to try to introduce written reports into evidence.

Pain and suffering assessments are even harder to make without legal training. It is very difficult to argue this in front of a judge.

Consider talking to an attorney at least before attempting this. Below is a form for a free evaluation of injury claims. They can tell you if you should consider going to court yourself or not.

The ONLY reason why you consider going to court is to get a medical bill paid (i.e. Emergency Room) when you know that you will not need further medical assistance (even then, you never really know).

Usually this is paid by your own insurance company under PIP or Medical Payments, but assuming that you do not have this coverage and the other person does not have insurance or the insurance company does not want to pay it, then you could consider this venue.

However, if you went to the doctor, there is a strong possibility that you would be owed pain and suffering, and unless you want to forgo that payment, you are going to need a lawyer.

If you are dealing with an injury claim and you are thinking to take the other person to court, you must talk to an attorney. Most attorneys will give you a free initiation consultation (form below) and will tell you if your case is worth fighting for.  

Traffict Ticket eBook
Speeding Ticket eBook

1. Small Claims Court (Overview)
2. When to go Small Claims Court
3. Important Small Claims Considerations
4. How to argue your Small Claims Case
5. Small Claims Court Legal Argument Part I
6. Small Claims Court Legal Argument Part II
7. Arguing in Small Claims (the Police Report)
8. Small Claims Court and the Auto Damages
9. Small Claims and the Injury Claim
10. Collecting the Small Claims Award
11. Appealing the Small Claims Court decision

Total Loss eBook
Personal Injury eBook