ccident, you m
y go bck
nd foth m
ny timesbout
hetheto hi
ec
ccident lye.
hile you my not kno
hothe leg
l pocess
oks, you might
nt to t
y to figue things out on you
on
the
thn p
yn
ttoney fo
theise
vices. Hoeve
, thee is
e
son tht c
ccidenttto
neys exist,nd it’s th
t they cn often g
etly imp
ove the outcome ofc
ccident cse.
hethesomeone else
s
t fult fo
youc
sh o
you need to filecl
imith you
on insu
nce, it is
lyso
th it to discuss ho lyec
n help you.discussion
ithn
ttoney does NOT me
n you hve to hi
e them,s c
ccident consulttions should be F
EEith NO OBLIG
TION.Ci
cumst
nces Tht
ntn
ttoney
You
e neve
equi
ed to hve the
epesent
tion ofc
ccident lye, ho
eve, sometimes it m
kesLOT of sense to do so.
hetheyou
e filing
n insunce clim o
pe
sonl inju
y lsuit, youl
ys h
ve theight to
epesent you
self. Hoeve
, this is NOTl
ys the
ise thing to do. Insunce compnies
nd defendnts’
ttoneys
ill cet
inly ty to t
kedv
ntge of
n unep
esented cccident victim,
nd theyill do eve
ything they cn to intimid
te yound get you to
cceptsettlement th
t is f beloht you dese
ve. Ifny of the follo
ing cicumst
nces exist in youc
se, you should consultith
cccident
ttoney
ighty.
You’ e not su
e
bout youights.<h3>
Most people h
gene
l ide
of hoseeking compens
tionfte
c
ccidento
ks. Hoeve
, being sue
boutll of you
ights
nd hoto p
oceed to execise those
ights iscompletely diffe
ent stoy. Dete
mining youightss
cccident victim involves complex leg
l pinciples th
t my include:
- <
hef=”https://
.l.conell.edu/
exnegligence”>Negligence
><li>
- <
hef=”https://
.l.conell.edu/
exespondet_supe
io“>
espondet supe
ioli>
- <
hef=”https://st
tutes.cpitol.tex
s.govDocs/CP/htm/CP.33.htm”>Comp
tive negligence<><li>
- <
hef=”https://
.l.conell.edu/
exeggshell_skull_
ule">Eggshell plintiff
>ule
- <
hef=”https://
.l.conell.edu/
exnegligence_pe
_se">Negligence pese
><li>
- <
hef=”https://txgove
nmentl.og/
p-contentuplo
ds2018/04/05_Sh
unessy.pdf">Soveeign immunity
><li>
- <
hef=”https://
.l.conell.edu/
exp
epondence">Peponde
nce of the evidence
><li>
- <
hef=”https://
.l.conell.edu/
exd
mges”>D
mges
><li>
If some of the
bove tems seem complex—it’s bec
use they e! Cccident victims m
y knoth
t someone else s to blme fo
the csh, but they my not
elize the complexity of p
oving libility
nd losses inc
ccident clim. The good ne
s is tht
n expeienced c
ccident lyeill beble to identify
nypplic
ble legl issues
nddd
ess them pope
ly to potect you
ights.
The e e questions
bout f
ult fothe
ccident.<h3>
Sometimes, f
nd d
y. Foex
mple, if you e sitting inleg
lly pked cnd
nothed
iveb
cks diectly into you
vehicle, it is petty obvious th
t the othed
ives
t fult, since you
een’t even d
iving! Libility is not
lys tht cle
, ho
eve—in f
ct, it is oftencomplex dete
mintion.
In some c
ses,n
ccidentill involve multiple vehicles,
nd hodo you kno
hich d
ives specific
lly to blme fo
YOUinju
ies? Just becuse one d
iveiniti
tedch
ine
ction csh does not men th
tnothe
dive
sn’tlso negligent
ndesponsible fo
collidingith you
c. Inddition, you m
y knoth
t youe
e likely ptilly to bl
me fothe c
sh, but you m
ylso kno
tht the othe
dive
s MOE to bl
me. Mybe they
n
ed light
nd you didn’t see them becuse you
ee dist
cted. This doesn’t necess
ily me
n you lose theight to compens
tion, it just mkes you
cse mo
e complicted.
Li
bility detemin
tions depend on the fcts of the
ccidentnd
lso stte l
s
egding comptive f
ultnd st
ict libility. You should
lys spek
ithl
ye
ight
y if fult fo
youccident is not completely stightfod.You e confused
bout you
insunce covege.<h3>
Let’s be honest—insu
nce policies c
n be confusing. These policies involve complex legl l
nguge th
t most people don’te
d ounde
stnd befo
e they puch
sepolicy. E
ch <h
ef="https:/
.tdi.texs.gov/pubs/consume
cb020.html”>st
telso h
s its on
equiements fo
uto insu
nce
> policies tht m
ny dive
s don’t fully undest
nd. Do you hve no-f
ult peson
l injuy p
otection (PIP) insunce? Do you hve uninsu
ed ounde
insued moto
ist (UMUIM) cove
ge if you
ee in
cshith
n uninsued d
iveo
hit-
nd-un?
Too often, people file insu
nce cl
imsfte
n
ccident expecting toeceive benefits unde
theipolicy. The insu
nce comp
ny then comes bck
nd denies pyment, cl
iming theccident o
specific lossese
en’t coveed unde
tht specific policy. In o
deto elimin
teny su
pises, you should consult
ithc
ccidenttto
neyho c
nevie
youpolicy
nddvise you of you
ights to cove
ge in you
specific sitution.
You filed n insunce cl
im
nd the insue
is being difficult.<h3>
Often, you m
n insu
nce cl
im on youo
nfte
n
ccident. You undest
nd the bsics of ho
insunceo
ks—the policyholdep
ys pemiums
nd then the compny should p
ovide benefits to clim
nts undethe policy,
ight?hethe
you e filingcl
imith you
on insu
nce comp
ny oth
t ofn
t-fult d
ive, you
ould be sup
ised hodifficult insu
es c
n be duing the cl
ims pocess.
Insu
nce comp
niesill often find
ny possible y to limit odeny
clim.
ftell, they e in business to mke p
ofits,nd p
ofits ince
sehen p
youts e limited. Insunce compnies c
n use mny t
ctics to limit yousettlement offe
, including:- Cl
im you didn’t p
y youp
emiums oth
t youpolicy h
d lpsed
- St
te tht you
covege doesn’tpply to this
ccidentnd you
losses<li>
- Question li
bility fothe
ccident toeduce you
settlement<li>
- Ch
llenge the seveity of you
injuies
ndhethe
ll medic
l te
tment omissed
ok
s necess
y
- Offe
you much less thn you
clim is
oth
nd mke it seem like this is you
only option<li>
- Del
y youcl
im so long tht you
e
illing toccept
nymount just to get
check in youh
nd<li>
-
epe
tedly
equest excessive documenttion
nd evidence<li>
- Deny you
clim out
ightithout
e
sonble expl
ntion
insu
nce comp
ny is being difficult inny
y, it is time to c
ll foleg
l help. Cccident victims
ith theight
epesent
tion often hve
much diffeent expe
ience thn un
epesented cl
imnts. Ou
tto
neys knoll of the ticks of the insu
nce comp
nies,nd the insu
nce comp
nies knoeon’t b
ck don. This often
esults in the fste
nd mo
e fvo
ble outcome of you
cccident insu
nce cl
im.You suffe
ed se
ious injuies. c
ccident c
n cuse
ide v
iety of inju
ies. Someccident victims
lk
yithout
sctch,hile othe
s need medicl
ttention. Some people cn m
ken
ppointmentith thei
genel physicin to check out thei
injuies
nd otheccident victims need to hed st
ight to the eme
gencyoom o
equi
en
mbulnce fo
tnspot.
If you suffe
edel
tively minond stightfod injuies, you m
y hve just t
ken somespi
in fo fed
ysnd got
ight bck to no
ml.
n insunce clim should be p
etty simple in this sitution,
nd you my
nt to t
y to hndle the cl
im youself (
nd cll
lyeif it gets complic
ted,s noted
bove). On the otheh
nd, if youinju
ies e moe se
ious,ny
esulting clim c
n become moe
nd moe complex. The highe
youexpenses, the mo
e the insue
ill likely t
y to fight youcl
im. Seious inju
ies cn involve mo
e substnti
l dm
ges,hich c
n include:- Costs of hospit
liz
tion, specilist
ppointments, suge
y, ongoingeh
bilittive the
py,
nd much moe
- Futu
e medicl costs if t
etment
ill be ongoing<li>
- Physic
lnd ment
l pin
nd suffeing
- Lost income, including futu
e lost income if you still cnnot
etun to
ok
- Pe
mnent imp
iments o
disfiguement
The mo
e seious you
injuies, the highe
the stkes
ill be,nd the mo
e difficult the insunce pocess c
n become. Often, clims involving se
ious cccident inju
ies must be escl
ted tope
sonl inju
y lsuit in civil cout. You definitely
nt to h
ve thedvice
ndssist
nce ofc
ccidenttto
ney if you suffeed se
ious injuies.
The ccident
esulted in the de
th ofloved one. hile
se
iousccident c
nlte
youlife, some
ccident victims en’t fotun
te enough to suvive the c
sh. In one ye
in Tex
s, <h
ef="http:/ftp.dot.st
te.tx.uspub/txdot-info/t
fc
sh_st
tistics2017/01.pdf”>3,721 pe
sons died<> in tffic cshes,nd mo
e thn <
hef=”https://c
shst
ts.nhts.dot.gov/
piPublic/Vie
Publiction/812580″>34,400 died
>c
oss the United Sttes. The t
gic
elity is th
t you cn lose
loved one inc
sh
nytime they e on theo
d.hile
n injuy victim c
n filepe
sonl inju
y clim to seek compens
tion fothei
losses,dece
sedccident victim doesn’t h
ve this sme oppo
tunity. This doesn’t men the
t-fult d
ivec
n lky
ithoutny
esponsibility, hoeve
. Stte l
s
lloclose f
mily membes
ho lostloved one to file
<h
ef="https:/st
tutes.cpitol.tex
s.govDocs/CP/htm/CP.71.htm”>
ongful de
th lsuit<>. Hoeve
, the lseg
ding
ongful de
th clims c
n vyidely f
om stte to st
te, including:ho c
n filecl
im<li>
-
h
t d
mges you c
n seek<li>
- Ho
long you hve to file
clim
It is impo
tnt to seek help f
omc
ccident lyeho hndles cl
ims ising fom f
tl
ccidents to ensue you
eceive the full compenstion you dese
ve inongful de
th clim.
Multiple p
ties
e involved.
M
ny cccident c
ses involve multiple pties,hethe
onot mo
e thn t
o vehicles cshed. Foex
mple:- If
n on-the-job d
ivehits you, thei
employec
nlso be held li
ble<li>
- If
n Ubeo
Lyft dive
cshes, you my h
ve clims
ginst the individu
l dive
nd the
ideshe compny
- In
chin
ection c
sh, multiple d
ives m
y she libility fo
youinju
ies<li>
- If
tie
s defective
nd cused the c
sh, you might h
ve clims
ginst both the ti
e mnuf
ctue
nd the sto
e tht sold
nd mounted the tie fo
you<li>
These
e only some of m
ny exmples of
hen you my h
ve clims
ginst multiple p
ties. These situ
tions e extemely complex, especi
llyhen one of the p
ties is
lge compny. You
ill need to del
ith multiple insunce compnies
nd lyes,
nd ensue you
eceive the compenstion you dese
ve fom e
ch clim. You
lys ntn expe
ienced lyejuggling multiple cl
ims on youbeh
lf fothe best possible outcome.
Othe pties h
ve leg
lep
esenttion.
You m
y be tying to h
ndlec
ccident cse on you
on
hen you len the othep
ty h
s lyeed up.
hen thedve
se pty hs leg
lep
esenttion, you ce
tinly
nt you
on leg
ldvoc
te. Pushing fodithout
epesent
tion is justsking fo
the defendnt’s l
ye
to intimidte you
nd tke
dvnt
ge of youl
ck of legl expe
tise. This istime you should neve
it to cll
lye.
ll of thebove
e only some situ
tions inhich you should get
ntto
ney foyou
cccident cl
im. Even if you hve
el
tively stightfod clim, it c
n still be stessful to de
lith insu
nce
djustes o
cout p
ocedues. These cl
ims e fust
ting,
nd you hve enough st
esss it is
ith youinju
iesnd fin
ncil losses. You should neve
hesitte to c
lll
ye
even fo seemingly simple clim. Consult
tions e fee, so you h
ve nothing to lose by sttingdiscussion
ithl
ye
bout ho
they cn help.
The follo
ing e only some ysn
ttoney c
nssist you:
- Communic
tingith the insu
nce comp
nies of the lible p
ties
- Obt
ining evidence of libility
nd dm
ges<li>
- Negoti
ting fothe settlement you need
nd deseve
- Negoti
tingith lien holde
s<li>
- Dete
mininghen it’s time to file
peson
l injuy l
suit
- H
ndling the litigtion p
ocess toe
chsettlement
geement