What Documents to Keep

Every emergency room visit, urgent care trip, primary care appointment, specialist consultation, physical therapy session, diagnostic test, and prescription related to the injury. Keep both the clinical notes (what the doctor wrote about you) and the bills (what was charged and what was paid by insurance). Ask for a CD or digital copy of any imaging — X-rays, MRI, CT scan.

Whatever proves what happened. For a car accident, that's the police report and the crash exchange. For a slip and fall, it's the incident report and any photos. For a workplace injury, it's the written notice you gave your employer. Keep the original and a scanned copy somewhere separate.

If you missed work, keep:

• A letter from your employer confirming the dates missed and your wage or salary
• Pay stubs from before the injury (for baseline earnings)
• Tax returns from the year before the injury
• Documentation of any bonuses, overtime, or commissions you missed out on
• Records of sick leave or PTO used because of the injury

Keep every letter, email, and voicemail from any insurance adjuster. Write down the date, time, name, and claim number of any phone call you have with them. Note what was said. Years later, what was said in week two often becomes important.

Small costs add up: prescription co-pays, over-the-counter medications, medical devices, mileage to appointments, childcare you had to arrange because of the injury, modifications to your home. Receipts and a simple running log are usually enough.