Anyone who has had the misfortune to experience a personal injury in Oregon may be eligible for compensation by filing an Oregon personal injury claim. There are several types of accidents when personal injuries commonly take place such as auto accidents, slip and falls, motor cycle accidents, truck accidents and many more.
As long as you can prove the other driver or entity was at fault you should be entitled to file a personal injury claim in Oregon to cover the financial loss from your injury. This usually consists of the full cost of medical treatment, the cost of repairing your auto (if applicable), any lost wages and an amount to cover pain and suffering which often exceeds the value of the medical treatment.
However, you may require some personal injury help to help to ensure you get your personal injury compensation entitlement.
How Do I File a Claim in Oregon?
Before making the decision to file a personal injury claim you must ensure you have sufficient evidence to support your claim which proves you weren’t the cause of the accident.
In Oregon, the statute of limitations needs to be considered in personal injury cases as there is a time limit depending on the type of injury that affects how long after the injury you have to go to the civil court and file a lawsuit. If you fail to file your lawsuit before the window closes, the Oregon civil court system will probably refuse to hear your case.
The statute of limitations in Oregon is as follows:
- physical injuries: 2 years
- medical malpractice: 2 years from the injury or when the injury was first discovered.
- wrongful death: three years
How Do I Prove Negligence in Oregon?
Proving negligence in a personal injury claim may depend on the evidence you provide. These are the different types of evidence you should consider using:
- the police report about the accident;
- eye witness reports;
- photos taken at the scene of the accident;
- photos taken off nearby security cameras, if available;
- receipts from medical treatment;
- your physician’s report indicating your diagnosis and expected recovery time.
In some personal injury cases, the person or business that you are filing a claim against may argue that you are to some extent to blame for the accident that took place that led to your injuries.
In Oregon in these sorts of cases the state follows a “modified comparative negligence’’ rule which means that the amount of the personal injury compensation awarded to you will be reduced by the amount that is equal to your percentage of fault.
However, if it is found that your proportion of the blame exceeds 50% you are unlikely be eligible for anything from the at-fault party. Here is an example of how Oregon civil law works:
If you were driving an auto and the car behind rear-ended you at a red light because one of your brake lights malfunctioned, in the civil court the jury may decide you were 10% at fault for the accident, and the other driver was 90% to blame. If the value of the claim comes to $20,000, under Oregon's modified comparative negligence ruling, your compensation will be $2,000 dollars less than your claim.
What Kind of Compensation Can I Receive in Oregon?
There are two main types of compensation in Oregon which are economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages cover the following:
- medical treatment expenses,
- property damage,
- loss of wages.
Non-economic damages cover the following but are limited to $500,000:
- pain and suffering,
- emotional stress,
- disadvantage caused by disfigurement or physical impairment,
- loss of companionship if it is a wrongful death claim.
How Do I Get Personal Injury Help in Oregon
One of the key features of winning a successful personal injury claim in Oregon is ensuring the evidence you provide proving who or what caused your accident cannot be disputed by the insurer of the person who caused your injury.
It is important to get personal injury help in Oregon and a personal injury attorney has the experience to assess and win a favorable personal injury claim on your behalf. The attorney will carefully go through all the evidence and provide all the personal injury help in Oregon by putting in all the effort required to get the personal injury compensation you deserve.
Additional Resources
Personal Injury Claims in Oregon
Accident Resources in Portland
