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Personal Injury
When you've been injured by someone else's carelessness, it's important to take some initial steps toward making sure your injury claim can be settled fairly and as quickly as possible:

• Write down everything you can remember about how the injury occurred, including the names, addresses and phone numbers of potential witnesses, police officers, insurance company representatives ( or company or workers' compensation representatives if it was a work injury)
• Talk to your attorney before making any statements, written or verbal, to insurance company adjusters or representatives
• Let anyone you think may be responsible for the injury know right away that you're intending to file a claim against them
• Take steps to protect any evidence you may need to prove your injury, such as your totaled car, photographs of an accident or injury scene, clothing you were wearing, damaged personal belongings, and so forth

Figuring out who is at Fault
In most cases, in order to collect on an injury claim in Indiana, you must prove the person who caused the injury was "negligent" - careless and neglectful. In Indiana, you must prove:

• The person who caused your injury owed you a duty not to injure you, but didn't live up to that duty
• There was a connection between the other person's duty to you and your injury
• You suffered damages

If you were careless, and your carelessness contributed to your injury, the amount you can recover will be reduced in proportion to your carelessness, under Indiana comparative negligence law. If you were more than 50 percent at fault for your injury, you won't be able to collect from the other person.
Indiana's joint and several liability rules also make any person who was more than 50 percent responsible for your injury liable for the entire amount of your damages regardless of each other person's proportion of fault for your injury.
If you've been injured using a consumer product, the manufacturer of the product may be responsible under a "strict liability" legal theory if the product was unreasonably dangerous. Under Indiana law, you'd need to prove that:

• The seller was in the business of selling the product that caused your injury
• The product was in a defective condition when sold, and unreasonably dangerous
• The product was intended to reach you without substantial change in the condition in which it was sold
• The product wasn't fit for its intended use or a reasonably foreseeable use at the time it left the manufacturer
• The defect caused your injury
• You suffered damages

What Your Claim is Worth
Under Indiana law, the person who injured you will be responsible for:

• Past, current and future estimated medical expenses
• Time lost from work, including time spent going to medical appointments or therapy
• Any property that was damaged, such as your vehicle
• The cost of hiring someone to do household chores when you couldn't
• Any permanent disfigurement or disability
• Your emotional distress, including anxiety, depression, and any interference with your family relationships
• Any other costs that were a direct result of your injury

A lawyer will know what type of expert witness to hire to best prove your damages.
How Long You Have to File a Legal Claim
In Indiana, you only have two years to file a lawsuit against the person who injured you. If your lawyer hasn't been able to come to an agreement with any involved insurance companies, you'll definitely want to file a lawsuit before the two-year statute of limitations runs out.
If you are injured in a car accident in Indiana, or if you hurt someone else or their property, you may soon find yourself in the market for a personal injury attorney.

Despite the fact that you pay insurance premiums exactly so that your insurance company will take care of you if you're in an auto accident, ironically your insurance company might not be your best friend if this happens. This is especially true if blame is unclear or if you might be at fault.
A personal injury attorney can protect your interests until the situation becomes clearer. And, an attorney can ensure you are not victimized by someone else's attorney.
If you are injured, you will have to prove (even to your own insurance company) the extent of your injuries, the necessity of medical care or therapy, and your other losses (such as time off of work). It is to your insurer's advantage to minimize all these costs. A personal injury attorney can help even out the playing field between you, your insurance company, the other party or parties' insurance companies, and their lawyers.

Personal injury lawyers are especially useful in the case of soft-tissue damage which, unlike broken bones, doesn't show up instantly and clearly on X-rays. Although these injuries can be debilitating and chronic if not properly cared for―and sometimes even if they are―many insurance companies (and even some doctors) will suspect fraud if there is reported pain but no incontrovertible proof of injury.
In addition, these types of injuries may not manifest until 24 to 72 hours after an accident, or even longer―and you might have already told your insurance adjuster that you are OK. That's why it's better to avoid asserting "I'm OK" right after the incident. "I don't know" is a better answer, as well as being more truthful. Most people are jolted by an accident and some will even be in a mild state of shock; this is not the time to be doing self-analysis on your injuries.

Even insurance companies often admit that clients with attorneys receive larger settlements and better care than clients without them. It's natural and good business practice that insurers want to settle as many claims as possible as cheaply as possible. The person without a lawyer will almost invariably be offered less. Usually a personal injury attorney who specializes in these types of cases will know better than you what is fair for your situation.
If in doubt, contact a few personal injury attorneys and see what they have to say about your particular situation. Many will give you a free initial consultation.