Paying car insurance is a legal requirement in almost every state. If you were in an accident without a fault on your part, the insurer of the one at fault should compensate you for the damages suffered. This is unfortunately not a straightforward process of submitting a claim and evidence then waiting for a payout.
A personal injury lawyer from Salt Lake City is the only person well-versed with the tricks an insurer will have in store to negate or reduce your claim. This should thus be the first person you call immediately after your accident to preserve your claim and guarantee you are paid what your damages are worth.
Once you submit your request, the insurer’s lawyers will set about looking for anything they can use to defend themselves against your claim. The following are the common defenses insurers use when faced with an auto accident claim.
Pre-Existing Injuries
Insurers will set about trying to link any of the injuries you sustained and are asking for compensation for to a time before the accident. Your medical records will thus be scoured, and friends and family members interviewed to ascertain your condition before and after the crash.
Most people will forget or sometimes intentionally fail to report any pre-existing conditions they might have. This might be used by your insurers to paint you in front of a jury as someone out to fleece them for conditions you had before the accident.
Failure to Establish an Approximate Cause
The insurer might argue that you have failed to sufficiently prove a cause-effect relationship between the actions of their client and your accident. If for instance, you cannot establish that a driver’s misconduct or dangerous driving is solely or partially responsible for your accident, then you are not entitled to compensation.
The cause-effect relationship is a technical issue, but a seasoned lawyer will use various pieces of evidence from your accident scene and medical records to establish it.
Comparative Fault
This defense aims to prove that you played a part in the accident’s causation. There are different percentages of comparative fault they might establish. Some states will entirely negate compensation if you are proven to have contributed at least 50% to the accident’s causation.
Others deny your compensation altogether if you are found at fault irrespective of the percentage.
Unavoidable Accident
Here, the insurer will seek to prove there is nothing their client would have done to reduce the effect of the crash or avoid it. If for instance, the at-fault driver was avoiding hitting someone and rammed into you, this might be deemed unavoidable.
Acts of God like hurricanes and storms might also fall under unavoidable accident defenses.
People want to limit the liens that will be placed on their insurance payout as much as possible after an accident. They will thus pay for their medical expenses out of pocket and avoid seeking unnecessary treatments. This is commendable since it will reduce your medical lien holders.
Even so, you cannot afford to cut back on hiring the best possible attorney. This is your only alternative for shooting down the above defenses from an insurer and guaranteeing your compensation.
