While recovering from a serious injury, truck crash survivors in Virginia may find themselves in an unexpectedly difficult situation. You may have expected to be covered financially if you weren’t at fault for the wreck. Unfortunately, large trucking companies have access to extensive resources they are more than happy to use to avoid paying out when a driver seriously injures someone on the road. That’s why it is critical to safeguard your legal rights to compensation by retaining an attorney after a truck crash.
Top Ways an Experienced Truck Accident Lawyer Protects Your Legal Rights
Truck wrecks are an entirely different beast than a standard accident between two passenger vehicles. They become more complex on the legal side when state and federal trucking regulations are involved, which is why you need a lawyer who has handled these types of cases.
Whether you were hurt by a big rig, 18-wheeler, local delivery truck, or any other type of box truck, an attorney’s role is to:
Analyze evidence
Incident logs, medical records, police reports, truck black box data, video footage, and other evidence will all need to be investigated by your attorney. This is necessary to ensure you have the best shot at a full financial recovery.
Identify defendants
This process is extremely important since the liable party may be the truck driver, but it could be someone else who behaved negligently. You may end up pursuing compensation from the truck driver’s employer, the manufacturer of a faulty part, or even a shipping company that improperly loaded cargo. It all depends on which specific act of negligence led to the crash and which party presents the best source of financial compensation.
Help you avoid common problems
Offering advice on sidestepping issues that can derail your financial recovery is a key role for your lawyer. There are several roadblocks to your compensation you might not even realize exist, like ways that your social media usage can damage your chances at a successful outcome.
Negotiate with insurance adjusters
One of the common mistakes made by crash survivors is to provide a recorded statement to insurance. Sadly, adjusters often seek ways to undermine the value of your case with these statements. There’s no need to go through that when you are already dealing with an injury. Instead, let an attorney handle the negotiations and provide the medical records that your insurer actually needs. In many cases, simply telling insurance to go through your attorney makes them more willing to pay what you are actually owed.
Sending demand letters
Preserving evidence that will need to be used in court is paramount, which is why an attorney may need to send demand letters. That’s particularly important in cases against large trucking companies where there is concern that important employment logs or other records could be discarded.
Value damages
One of the most important steps in the process is when your attorney places a specific value on your damages, covering all the ways the accident impacted your life.
Damages Your Attorney Can Help You Recover After a Truck Crash
Depending on the extent of your injuries and how the accident took place, the full and fair damages you pursue through a court judgement or settlement could potentially include:
- Costs for property damage to your vehicle.
- Income and wages you lost because of the truck accident.
- Lost future earning potential in situations where the truck wreck injury forces you to change your employment.
- Medical costs for your initial emergency room visit and any follow-up health care needs like medication or surgery. In some cases of long-term disability, you may also need to include an estimation of future medical needs.
- Pain and suffering.
- Wrongful death if a family member or loved one passed away in the truck crash.
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