It is not always necessary to go to court after a trucking accident, but there are times when it becomes critical. As you take into consideration your current health, financial losses, and the uncertainty your future holds, you may need to pursue additional support, as you cannot simply hope the insurance company will do the right thing and come through for you.
If you are facing losses and struggling to get the compensation you need, turn to a truck accident attorney in Bakersfield with ample experience to guide you. It is not always going to result in going to court, but what you will find is that there is a lot of support available to you when you turn to the right legal representation.
Why You Need a Truck Accident Attorney
For those struggling with physical and emotional injuries, financial losses, and an unclear future, working with a truck accident attorney is a critical step. In nearly all cases, trucking companies and truck drivers have highly skilled insurance adjusters known for their ability to reduce the settlements paid to victims. They reduce compensation in numerous ways, including trying to shift the blame to you or outright denying what they owe you.
Having a truck accident lawyer to handle the process makes an incredible difference and can provide you with the peace of mind you need. After a trucking accident, you can expect to work closely with an attorney to navigate the entire process. That includes getting insight into:
- If you have a case against the trucking company
- Who is responsible for your injuries and losses
- What your case may be worth
Before you agree to any settlement with the insurance company, make sure you know what your case is worth. The best way to achieve this is by working with your truck accident lawyer.
If the insurance company will not pay you fairly, even after several rounds of negotiations with your attorney, you may end up going to court. Let a truck accident attorney provide clarity on whether or not this is likely to occur in your situation.
Why You Might Have to Go to Court After a Truck Accident
In various scenarios, you may have to go to court after a truck accident. It stems from the inability to get the insurance company to act fairly and provide the compensation you deserve. In other situations, the insurance company might be disputing the liability of its policyholder altogether.
Fault Is a Big Factor
One of the reasons many truck accidents end up in court is disputes over fault. At the time of a truck accident, a police officer may state that the truck driver was at fault. Even if you believe you have strong evidence to support this assertion, trucking companies and their insurers may try to dispute it. The driver may try to claim that you made the mistakes that led to the accident.
Consider why this happens. Truck drivers must maintain their commercial driver’s license to do their jobs, and accidents, especially those they cause through reckless or negligent driving, can impact their ability to maintain that license. Further, paying accident claims affects the bottom line of the insurance company and might increase costs for the trucking company, which they both want to avoid.
More so, the fault is not always clear in a truck accident. There are times when more than one party is to blame, too. Consider these examples of parties that may share responsibility for a truck accident:
- The truck driver: If the driver was speeding or acting recklessly, they should be liable. Liability can also stem from distraction, impairment, or violations of traffic laws or trucking regulations.
- The trucking company: The trucking company may be responsible for the injuries and losses caused by their drivers due to vicarious liability. Companies can also be negligent. If they failed to ensure the driver had proper training and certifications, if the driver did not get the necessary time off, or if there was too much pressure on the driver to deliver quickly, that can cause the truck company to share fault.
- The truck cargo company: Cargo-related accidents add another layer of complexity. If a third-party organization loaded the truck with cargo, failed to follow procedures, and the truck crashed because the cargo shifted unevenly, the cargo-loading company can be responsible.
Various other parties can also be responsible for your injuries and losses. They may include the truck manufacturer for design defects, the city that failed to create a safe roadway, or the maintenance team that failed to keep the vehicle in good operating order.
In situations where each or any of these parties tries to refute blame, you may end up in court asking a judge or jury to determine who is at fault. Only once fault is settled will the amount of compensation become an issue.
The Weight of the Insurance Company
Another big reason these cases go to court is that the insurance company has more on the line. The risk of an injury claim is not just to the truck driver but also to the insurance company, which may have to pay a significant amount in compensation to seriously injured victims.
Insurance companies have more on the line than the liable parties themselves, as they will be the ones providing the compensation to you. If a truck accident claim is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the funds come from the insurer, not the truck driver or trucking company. Expect the insurance company to dispute the amount of compensation you demand whenever possible.
One tactic insurers use is delaying the process. Trucking companies know that the longer you wait to receive the settlement, the greater your financial concerns might become, and the easier it might be to get you to agree to a smaller amount. They might delay communication or simply create unnecessary requests for additional information to prolong the process. Never give in to these tactics.
Always allow your truck accident attorney to keep your claim moving forward and challenge wrongful delays or other attempts to resolve the claim for much less than you need.
The Complexity of Your Losses
Truck accidents carry a significant risk of catastrophic injury. Serious injuries will drive up the value of your claim, as it rightfully should. However, the higher the cost, the more likely the insurance company will push back and make the process difficult.
Truck accidents often cause severe injuries, including:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord damage resulting in paralysis
- Amputations
- Disfigurements
- Loss of hearing or vision
- Loss of mobility
These types of injuries can affect a person’s life for years to come, and as a result, they require very careful treatment and compensation. Your truck accident attorney will work closely with you to better understand your losses and will try to develop a comprehensive outline of the cost of this accident over your lifetime.
Insurance companies will often refute your attorney’s calculations. If they can challenge any component of your claim, such as your inability to work or your emotional distress, they will do so. It can lead to your case going to court to be resolved by a jury or a judge.
What to Expect from the Process of Filing a Claim Against a Truck Company
Working with a highly experienced truck accident attorney gives you an advocate who will fight tirelessly for your best possible outcome. To achieve this, there are several key steps in the process you can expect.
Gathering Evidence
Your truck accident lawyer will gather any available evidence to document what occurred in the accident. It may include pursuing information that is not readily available to the public, such as the truck driver’s electronic log of activity or their blood alcohol level at the time of the accident. After gathering such evidence, it is often possible to prove fault.
Your truck accident attorney will then work to gather evidence to prove all of your losses. It includes documentation from medical expenses, details of your lost time at work, and pain and suffering claims. Evidence is used to back up the compensation you seek, including actual bills to document the cost of your care and more creative forms of evidence to prove your pain and suffering or other effects on your emotional health and well-being.
Filing a Claim with the Insurance Company
With all of this evidence, the truck accident attorney knows exactly who they need to file a claim against, and they can provide supporting evidence they gathered to hopefully resolve the matter quickly. However, even with evidence, insurance companies do not usually immediately offer the amount your attorney demands.
The insurance company will take time to review your claim, and as they do, they will likely have questions. Your truck accident lawyer can provide answers to most questions, eliminating their need to bother you or try to pressure you throughout this process.
Sometimes, insurers continue to seek more evidence or documentation. This is a part of their delay tactics. Other times, the insurance company will come back with an offer that is a fraction of the actual value of your case. They want you to accept it, but your attorney will not let you be taken advantage of in this situation.
With negotiations going forward, there is always the opportunity for a settlement to occur. That does not happen in other instances, and your attorney needs to take the next step.
Filing a Lawsuit Against the Truck Driver
When there is no way to reasonably move your case forward, your truck accident attorney will file a truck accident lawsuit against the at-fault party. Filing a lawsuit does not mean you have to go to court, though. Instead, it means that you will spend the next few weeks providing answers to questions and perhaps being interviewed as a part of the discovery process. Filing a lawsuit helps to encourage the insurance company to move your case forward.
In most situations, this is when a settlement occurs. The insurer knows they have many reasons to settle and will negotiate more effectively now. They do not want to go to court because it is long and costly. Most of the time, a settlement can be reached at this point.
Going to Court
If, for any reason, there is no settlement opportunity, then the case goes to court. You will tell your side of the story and outline what occurred and the nature of your losses. You will need legal representation from a skilled truck accident lawyer throughout this process.
Ultimately, going to court can take time. The jury or judge may rule in your favor, which means the at-fault party will need to compensate you. This is worth the wait during the litigation process.
When you work with an experienced trucking accident attorney, you learn what you might expect. They will discuss your case openly and tell you if they believe your case will go to court. Attorneys should also be open and honest about the potential timeline for resolving your claim. Contact an experienced truck accident lawyer now and let them begin working on a settlement.
Call An Experienced Truck Accident Attorney Today
Truck Accident Lawyer, Mickey Fine
In a free consultation, a truck accident lawyer can answer many of your questions about whether or not you need to go to court in your trucking accident case. The good news is that litigation or trial are not often required. With good representation and a passionate attorney ready to fight for you, you may find avoiding court and getting the compensation owed to you is a real possibility.
If you’ve been in a trucking accident, it’s important to seek the representation of a skilled truck accident attorney as soon as possible. From dealing with insurance companies to taking your case to court, an experienced truck accident attorney can guide you through every step of the way.
Having a skilled attorney by your side can make a significant difference in the outcome of your case. Contact a Bakersfield personal injury attorney now to set up a free consultation to begin the process of recovering what is owed to you.