From the severity of injuries to legal considerations, truck accident cases are different from normal car crashes. If you have been injured in a truck accident, whether as a pedestrian or another driver, you are entitled to legal compensation from the negligent parties.
When it comes to lawsuits involving trucks, however, the process is not as straightforward as with other vehicles. You might have to deal with multiple insurance companies and corporations that are not ready to go down without a fight. For a favorable outcome and additional legal support, consider hiring a lawyer to help get your compensation after a truck accident. Here’s why:
To Get the Right Amount of Compensation
Truck accident injuries and damage tend to be more severe compared to crashes involving small vehicles. Therefore, the compensation amount at stake is higher as well.
Insurance companies representing commercial truckers know this and so they might try to present an initial offer after reporting the accident. The truth is that this offer is usually insufficient to cover your total damages.
A lawyer will help by reviewing the case to calculate your total losses, including non-economic damages. They will then justify this during negotiations by presenting proof that your damages are worth the claimed amount.
Truck Accident Cases are Complex
Unlike crashes involving smaller passenger vehicles, the nature of the commercial trucking industry makes accident cases more complicated than you’d expect.
First, you’ll likely be dealing with more than one insurance company because many parties might be liable here. They include truck drivers, commercial trucking companies, freighters, and so on. Second, investigating such cases requires evaluating additional materials like logbooks, annual inspections, and vehicle maintenance history.
Such things are not obvious to an average person, but a lawyer who has handled such cases in the past will know where to look.
You Don’t Need a Legal Budget Right Away
Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingent fee basis. This means that they only get their attorney fee after you’ve won the settlement. A majority of law firms do not charge a consultation fee for the first meeting as well. Therefore, you’ll not need to plan a legal budget right away to have a lawyer on your truck accident case.
To Answer Your Legal Queries
When you are involved in any kind of accident, there are likely a thousand and one questions running in your mind. You probably know that you are supposed to report the accident to the authorities and your insurance company, but is there a time limit? Can you wait until you heal and have the energy to file a claim?
A lawyer will answer all these personal injury claim questions so that you are taking informed actions. And when it comes to questions from the insurance company, you’ll not be worried about saying the wrong thing because your lawyer can speak on your behalf.
Commercial Trucking Companies Will Fight Back
One thing you should know about big corporations is that they do not go down easily in the face of a lawsuit. They are ready to fight and protect their finances and reputation.
A lawsuit against a commercial trucking company can taint its reputation and force them to pay higher insurance premiums. Therefore, they’ll hire fierce attorneys to argue their case and so should you.
To Fully Concentrate on Recovering
If you’ve been injured in a truck accident, it can be impossible to follow up on your treatment and legal compensation as well. Sometimes a crash can also hospitalize you so that there’s no time and energy to handle the case.
Having a lawyer will save you the headache of dealing with two problems at the same time. They will eliminate the legal burden as you take the required time to recover.
