The whole world of personal injury can be confusing to many people especially if you are not familiar with the process that goes with it. Being the injured party, in this case, can be an overwhelming and stressful situation and there will be many forms and documents that you need to fill out. A Statement of Damages is one of the many documents that you will have a chance to encounter especially in the personal injury world. The main question is, will you have to list all the medical bills to date for every defendant or only the primary one at fault in filling out a Statement of Damages?
What is a Statement of Damages?
A Statement of Damages is a list of all particulars of the types of damages claimed which includes the summary of the Plaintiff’s damages, injuries, and treatment. The main purpose of this statement is to give the defendant a special notice of damages sought by the plaintiff which are different from settlement conference statements.
The form divides damages into general, specific, and punitive damages. The form will have to be personally served to the defendant. A Statement of Damages is important because it gives the defendant one last chance to respond to the allegations and complaints and to avoid potential consequences.
The plaintiff must wait 30 days after filing and serving their Statement of Damages before the court can enter the default.
If you are a defendant who was served with a complaint or cross-complaint you should request a Statement of Damages especially if it involves a personal injury claim or wrongful death.
How to properly fill out a Statement of Damages?
The form itself can be viewed as very simple often comprising of a few pages of information that you need to fill out. To best fill out the Statement of Damages, consulting with a personal injury lawyer located in Central Florida is recommended so that the form will be filled out correctly. In doing this, you will avoid any errors and delays that might sprout from these errors.
Should I list medical bills to date for every defendant or only those primarily at fault?
If you are a party to a lawsuit that has multiple defendants, filling out the Statement of Damages can be confusing especially if only one main person is at fault and the rest are just accessories. It will get tricky if you are listing medical bills because some defendants will be held responsible for specific medical bills and not all of them.
The best way to do this is to assume that all defendants have equal responsibilities in the damage and the total amount of medical bills is from the injuries or damages that you received from all of them. By looking at it this way, you are not piecemealing the whole medical bill total which can be difficult and you are treating all the defendants as equally responsible for the damages.
With multiple responsible parties, it is quite impossible to divide the damages between the different parties because it is hard to figure out whether one person caused more damage than the other. It turns very complicated because you cannot exactly pinpoint that what one person did to you can turn into a specific medical bill especially if you are dealing with multiple defendants.
If you are still unsure of how to do this or do not want to guess, you can consult with a personal injury lawyer and get their advice on this situation. A personal injury lawyer can assess the whole scenario and guide you from a legal standpoint.
In filling out a Statement of Damages, personal injury lawyers will evaluate your case and interview you to make sure that they are getting the facts straight. This ensures that the form will be error-free when the time comes to serve it to multiple defendants.
If you need a personal injury lawyer – contact Jordan Law in Orlando today!
There is nothing more stressful than undergoing a personal injury because it can affect you physically, financially, and mentally. If you or your loved one need a personal injury lawyer, contact Jordan Law in Orlando today!
Our team of legal experts is on standby ready to help you with anything that you need. Regardless of your situation, we can extend a helping hand to you and offer you our knowledge and expertise. We understand that your situation is unique, what sets our firm apart is that we don’t apply a one-size-fits-all approach to all our clients. We will sit down with you to get to know you so that we can best be equipped to help you.