Auto accidents are scary, painful, and potentially life-threatening. But when you’re in a truck accident involving an 18-wheeler, the outcome can be even more dangerous and deadly. While healing and reaching a full recovery is the most important step, you also need to be thinking about insurance payouts and settlements to cover your bills.
3 Tips for Maximizing Settlement Money
Each year, thousands of drivers are injured or killed in truck-related accidents on American roads and highways. For those lucky enough to survive, the medical bills, pain, and suffering often seem like too much to handle. Thankfully, the legal system allows you to seek out insurance claims and/or settlements in order to help you deal with the hand you’ve been dealt.
- Choose the Right Attorney
It’s foolish to think that you can handle the settlement process on your own. While insurance providers will contact you and try to get you to quickly settle, you can’t possibly know what your case is worth. The only intelligent decision is to contact an attorney and let a legal team help you figure out what you’re owed. You have the option to go with many different legal firms that can help you with your case such as Bley & Evans. Of course, the firms that are available to you are dependent on the legal services they offer and the location in which you live.
Truck accident lawyers and personal injury attorneys are a dime a dozen. Choosing the right attorney is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in this entire process. Look for someone who has experience dealing with a variety of truck accident cases. By choosing the right auto accident lawyer for your truck accident, you’re ensuring that your case will be in good hands.
According to the Law Office of Richard Schechter, P.C., you need an attorney who can handle trucking accident issues involving operator error, driver fatigue, falsification of logs, failure to maintain a vehicle, negligent hiring of drivers, improper packaging, loading and securing of cargo, tire failures, and more. Each of these situations requires a unique approach and you don’t want to get caught up with a truck accident lawyer who uses a generalized approach.
- Deal With Medical Issues Right Away
Some people assume they should wait to see what sort of settlement offers they’re going to get before they start racking up a bunch of medical bills. Don’t make this mistake. Your main focus should be on getting better. That means dealing with medical issues right away.
In addition to helping you heal properly, dealing with medical issues right away actually helps you get a larger settlement. When insurance companies have documented proof of the extent of your injuries, they have no choice but to listen to your negotiations.
- Never Accept the Insurance Company’s First Offer
Never, under any circumstances, should you ever accept the insurance company’s first offer. They’re accustomed to negotiating and will start with an extremely low offer in hopes of catching you off guard and avoiding a much larger payout.
One of the many benefits of working with an experienced attorney is that they know how to uncover information that will work to your advantage in settlement negotiations. For example, many trucking companies have multiple insurance policies, but they’ll try to keep this quiet. A skilled attorney knows how to find these policies and can increase your chances of being more appropriately compensated.
Look Out For Number One
Perhaps you’ve looked down on people who go after large settlements in personal injury cases in the past. You’ve assumed that they’re “milking” their situation and using it to profit. But now that you’re in their shoes, you finally understand just how painful and costly a truck accident can be.
While you probably don’t have a vengeful bone in your body, it’s important that you look out for number one and get the settlement you deserve. In doing so, you can cover your bills and account for some of the future costs.
Author: Oliver Curtis
Hi there. I’m Oliver. I’m just a young boy from the outskirts of… Okay, that’s a lie, I’m not a young boy anymore, although I certainly feel that way at heart.