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What Steps Should Someone Take In A Commercial Vehicle Accident?

Primarily, take care of yourself when involved in any accident. Seek immediate medical attention; call the ambulance if it is a medical emergency. Do not be worried about finances or if the ambulance ride is going to be too expensive. Never assume that everything is okay, assume the worst when it comes to your health and the health of your family and friends. Call 911; get transported if you can to the emergency room if needed. Make sure that you are taking care of yourself as quickly as possible.

Sometimes even in minor fender-benders, people are reluctant to call the police for some reason. You should in any kind of collision, call the police. One of their primary functions is to document the accident scene. They preserve most of the evidence that we will need for your case. This will maximize the value of the case. So always call law enforcement. Make sure that you call an attorney. I have already mentioned previously how complex these cases are. The sooner an attorney can get involved, the better.

The sooner we can get out to the accident scene before it is ruined, the sooner we can observe the semi-trailer truck or the commercial vehicle before all of that evidence is manipulated. One of the things that insurance companies do in a hurry is to make repairs on those vehicles. We can stop that. We will send out a spoliation letter that keeps the company and any other entity, insurance company, or whomever it may be, to not touch any evidence, until we have had an opportunity to inspect it ourselves.

Those are all things that an attorney can get involved in from the onset of any investigation and preserving evidence is vital to a case.

How Common Is It For Insurance Companies To Deny Or Try To Minimize A Claim?

Insurance companies try to deny claims 100% of the time. Many people do not understand this industry. There is a significant difference between the agent that you are used to dealing with, and the insurance agent that is a very friendly person, and has good intentions. They want to take good care of you, and they want to make sure you have proper coverage. In the event of a tragic occurrence, you are going to have all of the financial appearances that are available to you. Even in the event that you caused the accident, you still have sufficient coverage.

Once a collision occurs, it does not matter what kind, from a minor fender-bender with whiplash injuries all the way up to catastrophic wrongful death cases. We move to a different arena when that happens. We do not deal with the agents anymore, and neither will you. It now goes to an adjuster. Adjusters are literally trained, there is actually a lot of documentation about this information, explaining for the last ten years, that adjusters are trained to deny, delay, and distract. It is the foundation of their job. They have learned over time that they can deny, delay and distract to reduce the value of cases significantly. The injured parties will make mistakes that reduce the value of their case, sometimes to the point where there is not even a viable case.

The insurance company will do everything they can to minimize their liability. We see this in nearly every case. They just flat out deny liability as well, and say their driver did not cause the accident; it was somebody else and keep in mind my comments from earlier. The larger the number we are talking about here, the more significant the injuries, the harder the insurance company is going to fight to protect their assets. They are going to eventually have to pay out. For every single month that they do not pay a million-dollar claim, that is an incentive for these adjusters on multiple levels.

They want to redefine what fair value is, and minimize what that is. They want to delay even when they get to a point where they agree they need to pay out.

For more information on Steps In A Commercial Vehicle Accident, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (801) 499-5060 today.

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