If you’ve been in a car accident in Dallas that results in any damage whatsoever, you’ll need to report the accident to your car insurance company as soon as possible. Next, you’ll be asked to give a recorded statement. The insurance adjuster will be your next hurdle although most accident victims don’t know this.
You don’t have to give a recorded statement to another person’s insurance company. Yours is a little trickier. Even though you hired the insurance company as your representative, they still act as a separate entity from you and hold their interests to heart. Their job is to discern if the cause of the accident — an event that will cost their company money — was you.
Thus, any evidence that they can obtain pointing to your fault for the accident will aid them in decreasing your payout and keeping money in their coffers. There’s a reason they say ‘deny’ is an insurance company’s favorite word. Here are the things that you should never say to an insurance adjuster, as well as advice on when you should or should not give a recorded statement.
When a person sustains injuries in a car accident in Dallas, he or she can file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company or file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver in civil court. Both methods of recovery can yield damages for noneconomic losses, known as pain and suffering damages. Pain and suffering damages are damages paid based on the monetary value of the victim’s non-financial losses and include damages for physical pain and suffering, mental or emotional pain, loss of enjoyment of life, injury to reputation, and more. A personal injury lawsuit often yields higher damages amounts than filing a claim with an insurance company.
A vehicle involved in a severe accident may be totally destroyed beyond repair. When this happens, the vehicle most likely will be towed. In the event the automobile is deemed a “total loss,” the towing company may give the driver or owner of the car the option to dispose of the vehicle.
Allowing the towing company to dispose of your totaled vehicle may seem like the best solution when a car is not salvageable. However, you should hold off on having the car destroyed until speaking with an attorney.
Operating a car without a driver’s license is against the law in Dallas and throughout Texas. Even so, many people choose to do so every day. In the event of a car accident with an unlicensed driver, you may have questions about how to pursue damages. You may also wonder whether or not the fact that the other driver was unlicensed at the time of the crash will affect your case. Below is information to help you make heads and tails of this frustrating situation.
Automakers must report known defects as well as their vehicles’ involvement in serious or fatal accidents. When a car company doesn’t report the above, more people may suffer injuries than would otherwise. That’s why Honda is facing the largest fines ever levied against an automaker by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
If you’re in an accident with a teen, a car accident claim against the driver may be possible even if he or she is a minor, provided he or she is covered under an auto insurance policy.
Unfortunately, some teenage drivers do not have insurance coverage. Even in cases where the driver does have insurance, it may not have adequate coverage to cover your losses in an accident. If you have doubts about the party that you can name in your car accident claim after a collision with a teen driver, speak to a car accident lawyer.
Even if the teenager is not covered under his or her own insurance policy, he or she may have coverage under a parent’s insurance policy. An attorney will begin investigating all of these issues to determine the best possible source of compensation for you.
It is normal to feel traumatized, anxious and stressed when involved in a car accident. But it’s of utmost importance that you take certain actions to protect your health and rights. What you do after a crash may affect your health and any legal action you might take afterward. Read on to learn what to do after a car accident in Dallas.
If you are not to blame for a Dallas car accident and have no insurance, you may still be able to recover damages, but there are a lot of mitigating factors.
If you were in a pedestrian-car accident on private property in Dallas, you may be able to take legal action against a property owner. But holding a property owner liable for a traffic accident – especially one caused by a negligent driver – can be complicated and may require legal assistance.
First, you can file a claim for compensation under the motorist’s property damage insurance policy, provided the motorist is to blame for the accident. You may also be able to file a claim against the property owner if the property owner was negligent in some way and that negligence caused or contributed to your car accident.