Be a Fighter for Your Settlement
In many injury cases, you have to be a fighter to get a fair and reasonable settlement on your car accident injury case. I know this because I got a behind-the-scenes look at how insurance companies defend car accident injury claims. You see, after law school, I spent the first years of my career working on behalf of insurance companies defending car accident injury claims in court.
AJ’s Story
Let me tell you the story of my past client, AJ. I was at my office one day when I received a call from AJ. He had just gotten out of the hospital after an extended stay following a car accident. He had to have surgery on a fractured bone in his leg while in the hospital. His car accident was absolutely catastrophic. AJ was driving his car during the two-vehicle accident. His good friend and co-worker was a passenger in the vehicle. They had just gotten off work late at night, working a fast food drive-thru. The accident was so bad that his friend passed away as a result of the car accident. My sincere condolences to his family.
The Police Report
The police report listed AJ as the at-fault driver in the accident. AJ was bummed. He was adamant the other driver was at fault for the accident. He was not the careless cause of his friend’s death. The police thought otherwise, and it got even worse for AJ. The police report not only listed AJ as the at-fault driver but indicated on the police report that video footage obtained from a nearby property caught the crash. The police report confirmed AJ was traveling on the wrong side of the roadway when the collision occurred.
AJ’s Perspective
When I spoke with AJ, despite what the police report indicated, he was adamant he was not at fault for the accident. He was also adamant that the police report got one thing right. He was, in fact, on the wrong side of the roadway when the collision occurred. How can this be? AJ went on to explain that his crash occurred on a narrow two-lane road that had one lane going in each direction. He recalls first seeing the other driver at a distance come over a hill. The driver was out of control, constantly swerving into AJ’s lane and the other lane. AJ didn’t know what to do. He slowed his vehicle, and tried to get out of the other driver’s way, eventually going into the wrong lane of travel because this other driver was in AJ’s lane. The crash happened in the other driver’s lane of travel, not AJ’s lane. The other driver was arrested for DUI at the scene of the accident.
Investigating the Case
Based on what AJ had told me, it seemed obvious to me AJ was not at fault for the accident. The video footage the police obtained must have only captured the final moments of the crash. It must not show the other driver swerving into both lanes of travel constantly. So I signed AJ up as a client and began investigating his car accident further. I sent letters to all nearby property owners asking for any video footage they may have of the accident. I never got any video footage. However, I sent letters to both my client’s auto insurance company and the other driver’s insurance company. I asked that they preserve both vehicles involved in case I needed to hire an expert to examine the vehicles and perform a reconstruction to prove how the accident occurred.
Police Investigation
I called the investigating police officer. I was never able to speak with the investigating officer by phone, but I did leave several messages with him telling him he had to investigate the case further. My client was in the wrong lane of travel at impact, but the other driver was swerving into both lanes of travel and was the cause of the accident. Thankfully, the investigating officer must have been listening to my messages. The officer continued to investigate the case further. It’s my understanding the police reconstructed the accident, which is not uncommon in car accident cases where there is a death involved.
The Updated Report
Months later, the police officer finally supplemented the police report after he completed the investigation. The police officer concluded the original police report was incorrect. AJ tried to avoid a head-on collision by swerving into the other lane. Unfortunately, the collision still occurred, but AJ had no fault in the accident. This is what we needed in order to get a settlement for AJ. We can now show the other driver was at fault in the accident. Because the police officer updated his police report, I went on and was able to settle AJ’s case with the other driver’s insurance policy limits.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage
AJ had underinsured motorist coverage on his vehicle. Underinsured motorist coverage provides compensation for you in the event you are in an accident caused by someone who does not have enough insurance to cover all your damages. After settling for the policy limits with the other driver’s insurance company, I was then able to also obtain a policy limits settlement with my client’s underinsured motorist insurer. Thus, AJ received even more compensation for his damages.
Never Give Up
Despite the police report citing video footage of the accident to support the police officer’s position that AJ was at fault for the accident, AJ never gave up on his case. Had he given up after seeing the police report, he would have never gotten anything for his injuries in this tragic accident despite missing months of work due to his injuries. Police officers don’t always get it right. Fortunately, in AJ’s case, the police eventually did get it right, which helped him get a settlement.
Investigate Further
If you feel you were not at fault in an accident but the police or the other driver say you were at fault, don’t give up on your case. Investigate your case further; track down witnesses. Hire an accident reconstructionist to reconstruct the accident, or contact the police to try to get them to change the police report. If you are lost as to what to do next, consult with an injury lawyer to see if they can help. Certainly, there are many cases the police get right, so all you have to do is consult with an injury lawyer to see if they can help. Not everyone can find evidence in their case that can change the path of their case, but you have no chance unless you start investigating further.
Overcoming Insurance Company Tricks
The thing is, just because you refused to give up and have now discovered evidence in your car accident injury case that shows the other driver was at fault does not mean the insurance company will not throw every trick in the book at you to try to minimize the value of your injury claim. If that happens, you must be prepared to overcome these insurance company tricks. In this video about to pop up here, I’ll tell you the most common tricks insurance companies will deploy to try to minimize the value of your car accident injury claim.
Final Advice
Lastly, if you’ve been injured in a car accident, slip or trip and fall incident, or dog attack incident in Kentucky, remember: don’t wait; call Tate.
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