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Assess Vehicle Damage
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No one ever wants it to happen, but at some point you might be involved in an accident.
Cars, trucks, motorcycles, vans, and commercial vehicles all start, stop, and move along at various rates of speed. They are all equipped with mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, and electronic systems—all opportunities for failure.
Then there are drivers. Distracted, drunk, or with just plain bad driving habits.
Making a Recorded Statement
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An insurance company will often call to ask that you make a recorded statement about an accident. That request may come from your own insurance company or the insurance company for the other party involved in an accident where there are injuries or property damage.
Why not?
Giving a statement about an accident to an insurance company seems like a reasonable request. After all, why would it be a problem? The accident was clearly the fault of the other party. Even a police report might document that. Perhaps the other party even admitted their responsibility at the scene of the accident.
Signing a Medical Release
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If you have been involved in an accident of any sort that involved injuries, at some point you will be asked to sign a Release for your medical records.
Why should I sign a Release?
An insurance company wants information related to the accident to be able to verify the nature and extent of any injuries and the cost of treatment. That is a reasonable request, and signing a Release of medical records makes sense. After all, you want the responsible insurance company to help pay for any medical bills. But read on.
Do’s and Don’ts for Auto Accidents
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We never want to be in an auto accident, but it is likely to happen at some point in our lives. Knowing what to do—and sometimes more importantly, what NOT to do—can help resolve the case faster and more favorably.
Exchange essential information
DO: You are required by law to exchange information with the other driver at the scene of the accident. You must provide your Driver’s License #, auto insurance coverage, and information about how to contact you.
DON’T: Do not refuse to provide information. If actions of the other driver are threatening or make you uncomfortable with providing your personal phone number, you can offer the phone number for your place of employment.
Insurance claims for an auto accident
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Are you smarter than your insurance company?
And are you smarter than an attorney? (especially a really experienced personal injury attorney?) Well, maybe we shouldn’t have phrased it quite that way.
But we’ve all probably at least heard of the TV program, “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?”
The answer on the TV show is sometimes obvious (although not always) and that can prove to be a bit embarrassing for the contestants. The show is all in good fun, though, and winnings go to charities. Read More→
Bodily Injury Settlement: Property Damage
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Damages to Property
A personal injury case isn’t just about bodily injury. In any accident, there are usually damages to property as well. Property can be defined as anything other than bodily injury. That covers a lot of territory.
Damages to your vehicle
Obviously, at least the vehicles involved. In addition, you may also have personal property that is damaged, such as a laptop computer or cell phone that may have gone flying upon impact. Even if it’s just the car that was damaged, it’s your time to get estimates, file an accident report, file an insurance claim, and rent another vehicle.
Bodily Injury Settlement: Personal Injury
Posted by: | CommentsDamages to people
It seems like you’ve been slammed in more ways than you can begin to count after a traffic accident. And you aren’t the first… there are countless stories of people becoming victims of drunk drivers, or going about their day in the car and then suddenly being hit by another vehicle. Traffic accidents are one of the most common causes of bodily injury. So how can you begin to figure out what goes into a bodily injury settlement?
Factors for a bodily injury settlement
First you were hit. Then, if you have never been in an accident, you know someone who has, and understand that anyone in a vehicular crash can get hurt. Sometimes very badly.
Among other expenses, the cost of medical treatments, care, and services (both now and estimated in the future) go into calculating expenses for a bodily injury settlement.
Definition of bodily injury
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We hear about it on the news, we see the term listed in our auto insurance policies. But what does “bodily injury” really mean? And is that the same as “personal injury”?
Definition of “bodily injury”
A quick check on the Internet leads to many sites that provide definitions about injuries. However, the only definition that counts after you’ve been in an auto accident is the one listed in your auto insurance policy.
Check your auto insurance policy
Here are a couple of examples of General Definitions taken directly from auto insurance policies:
- Bodily injury means bodily injury to a person, including resultant sickness, disease or death.
- Bodily injury means any bodily injury, sickness, disease or death sustained by any person.
Victim of a Drunk Driving Accident
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Weeks later, she was still angry, wondering how it could have happened.
She recalls, “I was heading home on the freeway after an evening meeting and was grateful for the light traffic. A pair of bright headlights in my rear-view mirror caught my attention—someone back there started to change lanes then suddenly jerked back into the lane they were in.” That was odd because there were no other cars near that vehicle. She immediately sensed she should keep an eye on it.
Car Accident Statistics
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Car accidents are the most common cause of injury to people than any other reason. They are also is the leading cause of death in teenagers. Even though there are more safety precautions implemented and safer cars on the road, accidents are still a huge concern and have alarming statistics.
There are over 6.5 million car accidents in the United States each year
This amount has not fluctuated much over the past few years. The amount of automobiles on the road increases every year and accidents seem to be following the same trend.
Fatalities are an awful statistic
- A person dies every 12 minutes on the road
- 40,000 people die each year from automobile related accidents