Car accidents frequently happen when people drive recklessly, negligently, and carelessly under the circumstances. In most car accident scenarios, an accident victim and their lawyer will look to the at-fault driver’s insurance company for monetary damages and compensation.
However, immediately after a car crash, an accident victim should also report the accident to their insurance company. When opening an accident claim, there is certain information that you should refrain from telling your insurer.
A skilled car accident lawyer in your area can help you open the necessary claim(s), negotiate with insurance company representatives on your behalf, and pursue the total compensation you deserve, based on your injuries and other accident-related losses.
How Do Car Accidents Happen?
Most car accidents happen when drivers violate traffic laws. Drivers have a legal duty to drive safely and carefully at all times. However, when they fail to take the necessary precautions, they are more likely to cause a traffic accident that leads to debilitating injuries.
Common traffic law violations that lead to traffic accidents include failure to yield the right-of-way to other drivers, excessive speeding, road rage, and other aggressive driving maneuvers.
Car crashes may also occur when people drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. While minor drivers and commercial drivers must not have any alcohol in their system while driving, the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) cutoff for passenger vehicle operators is 0.08 percent.
Therefore, if a driver has a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher while behind the wheel, a police officer can arrest them for DUI. In addition to incurring jail time, fines, and other penalties upon conviction, an intoxicated driver may have to pay civil damages if they cause a motor vehicle crash that leads to someone else’s physical injuries.
Finally, some car accidents happen when drivers fail to watch the road attentively. A driver may become distracted if they adjust the volume on their car radio, send a text message while driving, or use a cell phone without a hands-free Bluetooth device. When drivers do not pay attention to the road or fail to use their mirrors while driving, they may not see an approaching vehicle or pedestrian, causing a severe accident that leads to debilitating injuries.
If you suffered injuries in a car crash that resulted from another driver’s traffic law violations or other negligence, you have legal options to consider. A car accident lawyer in your area can help you file the appropriate claim and handle all dealings with insurance companies and their adjusters.
Common Types of Car Accident Injuries
Driving negligently may cause many types of car crashes, including sideswipe accidents, rear-end collisions, head-on accidents, broadside or T-bone accidents, and overturn accidents.
Depending on the specific accident circumstances, an accident victim may suffer various injuries that leave them incapacitated for a long time. Other factors that influence the size and scope of an accident victim’s injuries include the speeds of the vehicles, the force of the collision, the accident location, and the number of vehicles involved in the crash.
Some motor vehicle crashes are so forceful that an accident victim’s body moves abruptly forward and backward in their vehicle as a result. When this movement happens, the accident victim may suffer a soft tissue neck or back injury (like whiplash), along with a traumatic head or brain injury.
Other common injuries that car crash victims suffer include internal bleeding, internal organ damage, rib fractures, broken bones, bruising, lacerations, spinal cord injuries, and complete or partial paralysis.
If you think you might have suffered an injury in a recent car accident, you should seek immediate medical treatment at a hospital emergency room. Undergoing prompt medical treatment helps to ensure that your injuries do not worsen. Moreover, seeking early medical intervention shows insurance companies that your injuries are serious and deserve favourable monetary compensation in a personal injury claim or lawsuit.
While you focus all of your attention on making a full recovery, your lawyer can begin handling the legal components of your claim by preparing a settlement demand letter, gathering your medical records and other documents, and assembling everything into a complete settlement demand package that is ready for the insurance company’s review.
Once you conclude your medical treatment or know what treatment you will need in the future, your lawyer can help you submit a demand to the insurance company adjuster handling your personal injury claim and begin pursuing the fair monetary damages you need for your injuries.
Types of Claims Following a Car Accident
Following most car accidents that result from another driver’s negligence, accident victims can pursue a personal injury claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. These types of claims are called third-party claims. However, in situations where the at-fault driver does not have any motor vehicle insurance coverage (even though they are supposed to maintain this coverage by law) or where they have insufficient coverage the accident victim can pursue other types of claims.
First, if the accident victim has an uninsured motorist policy, they can turn to their own insurance company if the at-fault driver does not have any insurance coverage available. If the accident victim has underinsured motorist coverage, they can bring a claim under their own policy if the at-fault driver’s policy is insufficient to compensate them for their accident-related losses. However, before turning to their own underinsured motorist coverage, they must first exhaust the at-fault driver’s coverage limits.
Both uninsured and underinsured motorist claims are first-party claims. This means that the accident victims file these claims with their own insurance company rather than with the at-fault driver’s insurer. To put their insurance company on notice of a potential claim, an accident victim should notify them about an accident as soon as possible.
If the accident victim does not have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage through their own insurance policy, they can turn to the Alberta Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Program for the monetary compensation that they need. Accident victims can file a claim for access to this fund if they have no other means of insurance coverage following a car crash in which they suffered physical injuries. This program offers accident victims maximum monetary compensation of $200,000.
Things You Should Not Tell Your Insurance Company (or the Other Driver’s Insurance Company) Following a Car Crash
Regardless of which insurance company you are dealing with, you should always keep in mind that any insurance company including your own is primarily looking out for its best interests. Insurance companies are not in the business of fully and fairly compensating car accident victims for their injuries and losses. Instead, they focus solely on limiting their liability and paying you as little monetary compensation as possible in your claim or lawsuit.
In fact, if you file a personal injury claim after your car crash even with your own insurance company that insurer effectively becomes your direct adversary in the case.
When speaking with insurance companies and their adjusters, there are certain things that you should not talk about. First, you should not make any assessment as to fault, even if you believe you might have caused or contributed to the car accident. Insurance company representatives can quickly turn these words against you and use them as a basis to deny your personal injury claim.
Next, you should not make statements about the level of injury you sustained. For example, you should refrain from saying that you were not injured that badly in your car accident or that your injuries were minor. Making these kinds of statements may cause insurance company representatives to become skeptical and ultimately question the nature and extent of your valid injuries.
Following a car crash, you should not provide the names of other individuals to the insurance company even individuals who might have witnessed your accident. Doing so may cause the insurance company to dig deeper into your case and search for a basis to deny liability or coverage for your accident.
Similarly, you should not tell the insurance company you have not retained legal counsel. Suppose an insurance company finds out you do not have a lawyer. In that case, they will almost certainly attempt to take advantage of your situation by offering you monetary compensation far below the actual value of your claim.
Finally, accident victims should never tell an insurance company representative they will accept a settlement offer at least not without experienced legal representation.
Again, if an insurance company discovers that you do not have a lawyer representing you, they have every incentive to offer you as little monetary compensation as possible. On the other hand, a lawyer can aggressively advocate for you during all settlement negotiations and help you decide whether a particular offer is worth accepting, given the facts and circumstances of your car crash case.
Elements of Proof in a Car Accident Case
Accident victims must satisfy their legal burden of proof to recover monetary damages in any personal injury claim or lawsuit. First, they must establish that another driver committed one or more negligent acts under the circumstances.
In other words, the responsible driver must have done something that a hypothetical reasonable person should not have done in the same scenario. Alternatively, the other driver must have failed to do something a hypothetical reasonable person should have done under the same circumstances.
Next, an accident victim must establish that as a direct result of the other driver’s breach, both the car accident and their physical injuries directly resulted.
A skilled car accident lawyer in your area can help you satisfy these legal elements, preserving your right to recover monetary compensation and damages for your physical injuries.
Recoverable Monetary Damages for Car Crash Injuries
Accident victims who can satisfy their legal burden of proof can recover various damages, depending upon their car crash circumstances.
Factors that can raise or lower the amount of monetary compensation you receive in your case include:
- Whether you missed time from work after your accident due to the injuries that you suffered
- The circumstances surrounding your accident
- The specific injuries that you sustained in your car crash
- Whether you suffered a permanent impairment in the accident
- Whether you may need to take time off work in the future for your injuries
Types of monetary damages that car crash victims may recover include compensation for all of their:
- Lost workplace earnings
- Loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Permanent disability
- Emotional anguish
- Lost life enjoyment
- Loss of the ability to move a body part due to a spinal cord or paralysis injury
- Loss of spousal companionship
A skilled car accident lawyer will work hard to prove the legal elements of your claim and help you recover any of these monetary damages as compensation for your injuries.
Call an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer Right Away
If you sustained injuries in a recent car accident, time is of the essence. This is because accident victims only have two years from the date of their accident to seek monetary damages for their injuries. If the accident victim does not file their claim within the applicable statute of limitations time frame, they inadvertently waive their right to pursue and recover monetary damages for their injuries.
Generally, the quicker you retain a lawyer to represent you following your car accident, the higher your chances of success in a subsequent personal injury claim or a lawsuit.
Accident victims who have the help of an experienced lawyer nearly always receive more compensation than those who do not.
- First, your lawyer can investigate the circumstances leading up to your car crash and help you explore insurance coverage options.
- Next, your lawyer can handle all verbal and written communication with insurance companies and their adjusters.
Finally, your personal injury lawyer in Edmonton can handle every aspect of your personal injury claim and, if necessary, represent you at all legal proceedings including discovery depositions, mediation hearings, civil jury trials, and binding arbitration proceedings.
