Many people do not like the idea of hiring someone else to deal with an accident claim, including a truck accident claim. You may feel that insurance companies exist to provide you with much-needed support as you deal with the aftermath of those accidents.
Following a truck accident, however, you may find working with a lawyer more critical to the process of pursuing compensation than you thought.
Do you really need a truck accident lawyer? Take a look at these reasons you may need a lawyer to handle your claim.
1. You may not know how much compensation to expect for your truck accident claim.
Following your accident, you know that you deserve compensation. You may even know that the party that caused your accident will bear liability for many of the expenses that go along with it, from managing your medical expenses to compensating you for some of the wages you have lost. However, many truck accident victims discover that they have missed a key detail: how much compensation they actually deserve for their injuries and financial losses.
You may not have taken the time to calculate your actual expenses, including short-term medical costs like emergency room bills and physical therapy-especially if those bills have not started to roll in as you begin to plan your truck accident claim. You may not realize how much your lost income has added up.
Sometimes, you may not even know what your long-term medical expenses will look like, especially if you suffered a traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, which may leave you with medical expenses that continue to increase long after the accident itself.
A lawyer can work with you to calculate the full value of your claim and the expenses you have faced so that you do not miss out on much-needed compensation. Truck drivers often carry high-value insurance policies that can provide you with considerable compensation, so you may have a better chance of recovering the full compensation you deserve if you have legal assistance.
2. Truck accident claims often require a complex investigation.
Car accident claims can involve several complicated elements, especially if you suffer injuries in an accident that involves more than one contributing factor. Truck accident claims, on the other hand, almost always require an in-depth investigation of the many elements that may have led or contributed to the accident.
In addition to considering the driver’s habits and what might immediately have caused the accident, like a driver who chose to speed or who grew distracted behind the wheel, a lawyer might want to look at:
- The driver’s record. Does the driver have a habit of causing accidents, including minor accidents, regularly?
- The trucking company’s policies. Does the company encourage drivers to speed? Does it encourage its drivers to ignore the federal mandate regarding how many hours they can safely spend behind the wheel each day?
- The load in the truck, including what it contains and who loaded it.
- The driver’s logbook and records, which could indicate whether the driver had spent too many hours on the road, engaged in dangerous or reckless speeding behaviors, or otherwise ignored the rules that could help keep the driver and others on the road with him safe.
- The truck’s maintenance record, particularly in the event of a mechanical failure that caused or contributed to your accident.
Having a lawyer take care of that vital investigation can help decrease the odds that you will miss essential evidence that could help establish what parties contributed to the accident and, therefore, who you can include in your truck accident claim.
If the trucking company bears partial liability for the accident, including violating federal mandates regarding how much time the truck driver can spend on the road, you may have the right to pursue compensation from the company directly, not just the driver. As a result, you might obtain more compensation for your injuries.
3. Truck drivers’ insurance companies and trucking companies have experienced legal teams on their side.
In many cases, you will find yourself pitted against the insurance company to get the full compensation you deserve. Trucking companies and insurance companies often have access to extensive legal teams. They want to pay out as little compensation as they have to after an accident so that they can retain their profits. Unfortunately, that means that you might not get the compensation you deserve.
You may find yourself dealing with an insurance company or trucking company that uses a variety of strategies and tricks to help reduce the compensation that the company must pay out, although you may have suffered severe injuries and require substantial compensation to help you cover your medical costs and rebuild your life.
You might have to deal with:
- An insurance company that offers a very low settlement: often one that does not at all reflect the full extent of your financial losses.
- An insurance company that attempts to prove that you caused or contributed to the accident.
- A trucking company that denies any liability for the incident.
- Denial of the extent of your injuries and your limitations or the medical treatments you needed to restore strength and mobility.
The insurance company and the trucking company both have those extensive legal teams on their side, helping them reduce the legal and financial impact of the accident. You need an experienced lawyer on your side who will work in your best interests and increase the odds that you will recover the compensation you deserve after your truck accident.
Hiring a lawyer after your truck accident can go a long way toward protecting your rights, including your right to compensation. Contact a lawyer as soon after your accident as possible to learn more about your rights and get a better idea of how to proceed with your claim to maximize the compensation you can recover.
