A somewhat exotic story, which came to a happy ending this week, points to the critical need to be properly prepared in the event of a physical injury, especially where a compensation claim is expected in the future, in order to cover the legal aspects - and to do so in immediate consultation with an attorney specializing in the subject.
Family A from Jerusalem went on a vacation between seasons, after much preparation - and settled into a B&B with a pastoral view and a private pool.
Immediately upon arriving at the luxurious B&B complex, the family members jumped into the water and splashed around for fun. After a few minutes, the youngest son, Shimon, complained of a cut on his leg, and indeed, the father of the family noticed a blood stain in the pool.
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Since it was a deep cut that also involved nerve damage and required evacuation for medical treatment, the father of the family spoke while at the B&B with attorney Benjamin Arbiv, who specializes in personal injury, and the latter instructed him to document the cause of the cut, in order to prevent a legal hearing during which the owner of the place and the insurance company would claim that the cause of the cut was some object brought by the family members.
For this purpose, the father obtained a GO PRO camera and was able to film the problematic location that caused the injury in the water.
In the next stage, the family members contacted the Arbiv Law Firm to formulate the medical damages, in which they estimate the damage and examine the broader implications with doctors in the field.
Since it was a cut with nerve consequences that caused numbness and other medical aspects, the child was taken for tests and it turned out that there was indeed nerve damage - beyond the scar left at the site.
In light of the complete and 'incriminating' documentation, the insurance company understood that they would be required to pay and reached an agreement to pay compensation in the amount of approximately 120,000 shekels.
In addition, since each child is insured with student insurance that always covers them, they will receive additional compensation at a rate of 51% of the damage, in the amount of approximately 21,000 shekels.
It is worth emphasizing this aspect that many are not aware of: In every case of injury to a child up to the twelfth grade, there is student insurance that covers the child 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including during vacations and not just during school hours - allowing a claim to be made, in addition to the claim by the person who caused the damage himself. This does not contradict or offset each other, unlike claims by the National Insurance Institute, where there is a great possibility of offset, since the National Insurance Institute has the right to return for compensation it pays for damage caused and may return the claim to the person who caused the harm or damage to pay him what he paid to the injured person.
Attorney Arbiv concludes: "Sometimes the moments and hours after the injury are critical. In order to ensure that the rights of the injured person are properly preserved, the evidentiary infrastructure for the future compensation claim must be established. It is true that the injured person himself is not always capable and able to handle this. But those family members who can, should check that there is orderly documentation of the cause of the injury and, as much as possible, obtain evidence and infrastructure that will prevent unnecessary arguments in the future, with an emphasis on medical records.".
