Home TRAVEL TIPS Injured on Holiday in Australia: Here’s How a Skilled Lawyer Can Help...

Injured on Holiday in Australia: Here’s How a Skilled Lawyer Can Help You

Injuries can happen at any time, even when you’re on holiday. If you were injured on a vacation in Australia, then consider yourself lucky. Australia’s personal injury law is very fair. If a person is injured because of another person’s negligence, then they are entitled to compensation, no questions asked.

However, before you can make a claim for compensation, you need a lawyer’s help, especially in a foreign country. Managing your own claim in a foreign country can be very challenging.

This post will tell you how a lawyer can help you to ensure you get the compensation you deserve after an injury.

Photo by Markus Spiske

Acquiring Evidence

After an accident, one of the most important things you need in order to make a claim is evidence. Without it, no insurance company will award you compensation. The type of evidence you need depends largely upon the nature of your accident. In most cases, a medical certificate is sufficient. However, some insurance companies may also request video evidence or witness testimonials. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to get evidence. Fortunately, though, your lawyer will be able to get it for you. That said, it’s important to do your best to find really helpful personal injury lawyers, committed to delivering their clients with the best quality representation. You can tell whether or not a lawyer’s worth using by reading their reviews.  

Gathering Witnesses

The next thing that you need to think about is gathering together witnesses. Again, this is not always something that’s easy for people to do after they have been in an accident. When you are lying on the floor in the street or in the back of an ambulance, the last thing you are probably thinking about doing is collecting the names and contact information of all of the people who witnessed what happened. Fortunately, again, a lawyer will be able to gather witnesses for you, ensuring that you have people that you can call upon to give supporting testimonies. Witness testimonies can be a great way of ensuring that you are awarded compensation.

Making Claim

Obviously, a lawyer will be able to make a claim on your behalf. Many people underestimate quite how difficult it is to make a claim independently. Some even think that they could represent themselves, but self-representation rarely goes to plan. It nearly always comes across as arrogant and unprofessional. Once you have found a lawyer that you want to work with and submitted evidence and a personal statement, they will then ask you whether or not you want to make a claim. If you say yes, they will get the wheels in motion.

Photo by Terry Shultz P.T.

Submitting Paperwork

One of the most complex parts of any personal injury case is the submission of paperwork. If you want to ensure that your claim goes smoothly, then all paperwork needs to be completed and handled expertly. A lawyer will be able to ensure that all of your case’s paperwork is handled in such a way. Again, take time to find a lawyer who’s experienced and who knows what they are doing. The lawyer that you hire needs to be a professional, with good reviews and a long history of winning cases for their clients. Always check out a lawyer’s reviews to find out what they’re like to work with.

Handling Negotiations

It’s not easy negotiating settlements with insurance companies. Insurance companies actually appoint individuals called insurance adjusters to argue people’s settlement amounts down, ensuring people get as little as possible. If you try to go up to an insurance adjuster on your own, you are bound to fail, especially in a foreign country. A lawyer will be able to handle negotiations on your behalf, arguing aggressively and ensuring you get all of the compensation that you need and deserve. They can even negotiate on your behalf once you’ve left the country and returned home.

Managing Payments

If you are in Australia on holiday and get injured, then you will no doubt probably be back home by the time you have won your case. Working with a personal injury lawyer means that you do not have to return to Australia to claim your money, because they can send it to you via bank transfer. Also, any contracts that need to be signed can be handled remotely. Your lawyer will be able to scan them in on their computer when they receive hard copies from the defendant’s insurance company, then send them to you to be signed, saving you time.

Australia is a great place to go on vacation. It’s also a great place to get injured because personal injury cases are taken very seriously. If somebody has injured you, then you will almost certainly receive compensation. A lawyer will be able to help you to get it.