“I Want to File a Personal Injury Claim – Why Do I Have To Give All My Personal Information to the Defendant?”

I am often asked by my personal injury clients why they have to provide so much personal information to the defendant’s lawyers that appears to have little or no relevance to the injuries they suffered in their accident.

Income Records

When you file a claim for compensation for personal injuries, your entire life essentially becomes an open book. If you are looking for compensation for income loss that you say you suffered as a result of your injury, the defendant is entitled to details of all of your income records up to the time you were injured and since you were injured.

Past Medical History

If you are looking for compensation for pain and suffering as a result of your physical injury, the defendant is entitled to information about your medical history to see if there are any pre-existing illnesses or injuries that might impact on the injuries you claim to have suffered in your accident.

Pre-Existing Medical Conditions?

Your personal injury lawyer will want to know whether you have had any similar injuries in the past and so will the defendant’s lawyers. Any embarrassing medical conditions that you have can be handled in a respectful and professional manner. However, it is absolutely imperative that you are honest with your lawyer. You must let your lawyer know of any potential problems that you have had with medical issues in the past. That way, your lawyer can help develop a strategy to address the medical issues and ensure that you receive appropriate compensation.

How to Ruin Your Claim

There is nothing more damaging to a personal injury claim than for the defendant’s lawyers to find out that the plaintiff has lied about or concealed previous injuries or illnesses that have an impact on their compensation claim. Your right to receive full and fair compensation depends a great deal on your credibility. Anything that you do to damage your credibility also damages your ability to receive fair compensation for your injuries.

I have been representing victims of serious personal injuries for 18 years. I wrote The Consumers Guide to Car Accident Claims in Nova Scotia and The Consumers Guide to Medical Malpractice Claims in Canada to help injured victims get fair compensation.

You can get a free copy of either the book by contacting me through this blog, visiting my website at www.apmlawyers.com or by calling me toll free in Atlantic Canada at 1-877-423-2050.