How to File a Personal Injury Claim with a Fort Wayne Personal Injury Lawyer

April 3, 2025

Whether because of reckless driving, unsafe property conditions, or preventable construction site errors, it seems like accidental injuries are always right around the corner in Fort Wayne.  Fortunately, you may have grounds for a personal injury case if you have been hurt in the Fort Wayne area through no fault of your own, and you could tip the odds in your favor by partnering with an attorney.  Let your friends at Hensley Legal Group explain how to file a personal injury claim with a Fort Wayne personal injury lawyer. 

Identify the Responsible Parties 

Though every Fort Wayne personal injury claim is unique, the process of filing such a claim rarely varies.  Any personal injury case needs to demonstrate both negligence, which is the failure to exercise care to avoid inflicting harm, and damages, which are the losses arising from that negligence.  Essentially, if you sustain physical damages as a result of a defendant’s negligence, you could file a personal injury claim demanding financial damages from that defendant. 

As such, you must begin the claims process by identifying the defendants responsible for your injuries, but this may not be so easy in light of how vast the list of candidates could be.  In some instances, multiple individuals, entities, and government agencies could share different degrees of liability simultaneously, and you could be forever barred from full fiscal recovery if you don’t go after them all within the time allotted by law, known as the Statute of Limitations.  

This can be a tall order for a rookie plaintiff, but it won’t be for a seasoned Fort Wayne injury attorney, who can carry out a thorough investigation to unearth every defendant who injured you before the Statute expires. 

Yet identifying the responsible parties is only part of a personal injury claim, which further requires plaintiffs or their lawyers to… 

Evaluate the Damages 

You may or may not have been injured before, but you probably haven’t had to evaluate your injuries economically before.  However, you will not be able to gauge the fairness of an insurance company’s offer unless those injuries are accurately assessed, and your current injuries may constitute a mere fraction of your total damages.  

For example, some injuries may not have obvious symptoms, there may be long-term medical complications that could develop later, and your non-monetary damages might end up being more detrimental and more enduring even if they don’t have a price tag attached to them.  Consequently, agreeing to a settlement that does not take the entirety of your losses into account could leave you stuck with the bill when it ultimately arrives – something that your attorney wouldn’t ever permit. 

A Fort Wayne personal injury lawyer will have the skill to figure out what your injuries are really worth and will strive to equal or exceed that amount, a key reason why injured victims receive 3.5 times more on average with attorneys than they do without them. 

But before you can receive anything whatsoever, you will still have to… 

Establish a Viable Claim 

Upon determining the underlying causes of your accidental injury, the defendants who played a role in it, and the damages you incurred because of it, you can finally establish a viable claim.   

This can be done by sending formal notification in writing to the defendants and possibly alerting their insurance carriers as well.  The notification will state why you are seeking damages and request that future communications be directed to the lawyer representing you in this matter.   

Once this task has been properly performed, your claim will be officially filed, and your attorney will be free to commence trying to get you maximum compensation your damages, be they short-term, long-term, monetary, or non-monetary in nature. 

A personal injury claim can often be a sufficient means of obtaining what you deserve, though your lawyer also has the option of filing a lawsuit, which may grant you greater legal protections while giving you the chance to bring your case to trial. 

If this additional step is taken, your Fort Wayne personal injury attorney will be sure to select the correct venue for the suit, as it could be dismissed if it is not filed in a court with the authority to issue a binding judgment against the defendants. 

Reach Out to Our Fort Wayne Personal Injury Lawyers 

Hensley Legal Group has been standing up for hardworking Hoosiers just like you since the firm first opened its doors in 1998.  If you have been seriously injured by the thoughtless acts of a thoughtless actor, reach out to our Fort Wayne personal injury lawyers to learn how you can become whole again. 

You can schedule a no-cost consultation with a dedicated Fort Wayne personal injury attorney by calling us at (317) 472-3333, chatting with us online, or filling out our contact form today.