A Personal Injury Claim and Your Insurance

An injury after an accident can impact your life on multiple levels. It can leave you on a long road to recovery or permanently disabled, suffering from financial loss and struggling to pay bills and fix damages. An insurance company can make life a lot harder, especially when it battles to pay you less than you fairly deserve. How to deal with the insurance company can depend on whose insurance you must work with: your own, or the company of the other person involved in the accident. Who was at fault can play a major role in how compensation is paid out, too. Here’s how insurance companies impact your personal injury claim and how to handle them.

Determining Fault 

Fault is a major player in determining whose insurance has to pay for the other person’s injuries. Since the payout for injuries caused by an accident can be so high, many insurance companies will fight hard over who is actually at fault in an attempt to lessen their payout. States also abide by different laws for fault. Some split the fault between both parties based on the percentage that each one was guilty for the accident. Others will not allow you to earn compensation from the other’s insurance if you were even a small fraction responsible for the crash. And finally, there are those who do not declare fault for either party, in which case you must file a claim with your own insurance.

Dealing With Claims Adjusters

A claims adjuster will be sent from any insurance company to get your side of the story. If they are coming from the other person’s company, they will likely try to unearth statements that make you sound guilty, even if you were completely innocent of causing the crash. Be very careful with what you say to an adjuster, and only relay the facts of the accident as you remember them. Throwing in extra opinions or little phrases like “I didn’t see the other car” can be used against you later as proof of your own negligence.

Impacts on Your Insurance Rates

Your insurance premiums can only be affected by an accident if you are found at fault for it. If you were a victim of the accident, your own premiums will not be affected.

If an insurance company is refusing to pay you the proper settlement or you run into other problems handling them, consider reaching out to a Philadelphia, PA personal injury lawyer. He or she should have ample experience with insurance companies and be able to get your situation back on track.

Thanks to Wieand Law Firm for their insight into personal injury claims and your insurance.