The summer holiday season might be over, but if you’ve been hurt while on holiday things may not be as settled as you think. Holiday accidents are on the rise and getting a claim taken care of can be harder than it looks.

What happens when you’ve been involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault? What happens when you can’t work? A lot of people assume that everyone is off work in the summer months, but that isn’t the case. Even if you’ve managed to get some holiday time, you’re still going to have to go back to work eventually. State short term disability is very small, leaving you with big gaps in income. Your creditors might understand that at the beginning, but chances are good that they want their money sooner or later…and usually sooner than later!

So make sure that you’re arming yourself with the best knowledge from the beginning. If you have already written down the facts of the accident and gotten a police report, you’re one step closer to getting your money. But one thing that I see constantly when I talk to people dealing with personal injury issues over the summer is that they don’t get a solicitor on the case immediately. They feel that the solicitor is going to take too much money and give them a really hard time. That’s not the case at all! You want to be able to get your case resolved. If you try to go in as a regular person, you’re not going to meet with another regular person. Most likely you’re going to meet with the insurance company’s solicitors, and that’s not something that you want to deal with all on your own.

The reality is that solicitors aren’t bad people. They’re advocates for you and your issue. They want to get the matter resolved. In most cases, this means determining the best amount of compensation given the problem. If you’re sick, can’t work, and you need weeks upon weeks of physical therapy before you can get back to work, now is not the time to delay. You have to make sure that you’re getting someone that can help you.

Yet there’s another side to the story that doesn’t always get mentioned: getting the right person form the beginning. It’s important that you interview your future solicitor the way that an employer would interview you. They’re trying to figure out who is going to give them the best level of service.

Talk to a solicitor and let them know what you’re thinking about doing. Go over the facts of the case. Most of them give you a free consultation, so it’s not like it’s going to cost you anything to figure out where you stand. With so much at stake, it only makes sense to do what you can, when you can.

It’s discouraging to have to wait so long to be paid from an accident that wasn’t your fault. But as long as you’re sticking to the facts of the case and keeping good records, you should be just fine. Another point to remember is that the solicitor is not free. While they take on your case for no upfront fee, you will still need to account for the solicitor to be paid out of the winnings. They have to do a lot of preparation and take time out of their day to take care of your case. Don’t begrudge them getting their money!