Many people seek compensation for injuries sustained or damage incurred during an accident where they were not at fault. Traditionally, compensation will be paid by an insurance company after due diligence has been performed, and checks have been made to ensure validity. However, did you know that you may be able to seek some form of compensation if you are actually responsible for causing this accident?

Fair or Unfair?

On the face of it, this would appear to be unfair, because if a person has been responsible for causing injury or damage due to their negligence, they should not be compensated for this action. Sometimes, however, there are mitigating circumstances that may alter the perception.

Mitigating Circumstances

What would happen, for example, if the person who caused the accident did so due to a circumstance beyond their control? For example, they may have been overcome by a medical condition and were rendered temporarily incapable, causing the crash. In this case, they may be able to seek some form of redress for their own costs or injuries but will need to take the right form of action first.

Getting Evidence

In an event like this, a police officer will inevitably attend the scene. You should make them aware of the circumstances and give them the full details so that they will hopefully agree with you that this was inevitable. If their official report reflects this, you may be able to get some statutory benefits to help you as you recover.

Lodging a Claim

Before you can lodge any claim, you must get the accident report from the police and then send it to the state insurance office. They may agree to give you compensation for some of your injuries or medical expenses, together with some money to help you deal with lost wages. If you did receive any injuries at the scene which were subsequently treated by a doctor, get this information as well and send it to the state insurer at the same time. This will give them additional information to help them with their deliberation.

Dealing With Problems

It's not unusual for the state to push back or even to deny any benefits at this stage. If you run into this problem, however, you should not give up; instead, work with a lawyer to represent your case. This should be enough to get an approval so that you can use these funds to help you with your recovery.