If you got hurt in a truck accident on an interstate highway in Florida, you need to know how to file a personal injury claim. There are certain steps you will want to follow to protect your right to compensation.
For example, before you can file an injury claim, you must find out with whom you should file.
How To Determine Who Could Be Liable For Your Personal Injuries
The truck driver or transportation company is not automatically liable every time the truck gets into an accident. The at-fault party is the party that caused the collision through negligence. A good starting point for finding out who caused the crash is to get a copy of the accident report from the police.
Be aware, however, that police reports can contain errors. If you know that something in the accident report is incorrect, you can talk to a lawyer about the best way to go about getting a supplemental report made. Also, if the mistake in the report affects your injury claim, you will have to work harder to prove your case.
You Might Need To File More Than One Injury Claim
You might have a claim against the driver and the trucking company. For example, the driver might have caused the accident because of drowsy driving. The trucking company might also be liable if they pressured drivers to exceed the legal number of hours they can drive without stopping to rest.
When you feel confident about who caused the collision, you can contact their claims department to get a claim file opened. The insurance company or companies will assign a claims adjuster to investigate the truck crash, collect evidence of your injuries and other damages, and try to resolve the claim.
Damages You Could Include On Your Florida Interstate Truck Accident Injury Claim
You want to be sure to include all of your losses and injuries on your claim form because you only get one swing at the ball. When you settle your truck accident injury claim, you sign a release of all future claims arising out of that collision.
You cannot come back later and file a second claim for damages. This result is a good reason to make sure that you do not settle your case before you know how well you will heal while also keeping an eye on the statute of limitations. Your Florida truck accident lawyer can explain the filing deadline to you.
Here are some examples of some of the categories of damages people often include on the injury claims after a Florida highway truck crash:
- Lost income: If you missed out on income because you could not work while undergoing medical treatments and recuperating from your wounds, you can add that loss to your truck accident injury claim.
- Reduced earning capacity: Severe injuries from a truck collision can leave a person with a loss of function or other impairments that reduce the amount of money they can earn.
- Medical expenses: Your medical bills can start with the ambulance and emergency room and go on to include doctors, the hospital, surgery, x-rays, lab tests, diagnostic procedures, physical therapy, blood transfusions, prescription drugs, and pain management.
- Rehabilitation facility: Devastating wounds like a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can require a long stay in a specialized medical facility. The injured person might need to relearn basic activities like speaking, walking, and self-care.
- Long-term care center: If the Florida truck crash caused life-changing injuries like paralysis from spinal cord damage, the injured person might be unable to live independently. They might need daily assistance with medical treatments and personal care from a home health care service provider or move into a nursing home.
- Pain and suffering: Pain and suffering damages compensate the injured person for the physical discomfort, emotional distress, and inconvenience of getting hurt because of someone else’s negligence.
- Other intangible losses: Your Miami personal injury lawsuit can also include compensation for disfigurement or disability arising from your wounds.
Also, a lawyer could file a wrongful death claim on behalf of the family if your close relative died from wounds suffered in a truck crash on a Florida interstate.
What To Do If A Claims Adjuster Contacts You
Claims adjusters typically contact the injured person and ask them to give a recorded statement about the collision and their injuries. You do not have to give a recorded statement. Your truck accident lawyer can answer the adjuster’s questions, which is one of the benefits of hiring a lawyer.
We do not recommend that our truck accident clients give recorded statements because the insurance company can take their words out of context in an attempt to deny their claim or pay them less money than they should. You can reach out to the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine today for a free consultation.
