Getting blamed for a car accident you didn’t cause may leave you responsible for your own medical costs and the expenses of any other injured victims. You could be liable for the repair costs to get cars back on the road. The paychecks that other victims must miss at work while they are injured become something you’d have to replace.
Some insurance companies will attempt to blame you for any accident, no matter what actually occurred. They simply want to escape having to pay out compensation. If you accept their view of things, you can end up footing the bill on your own recovery and other victims’ recoveries.
It’s wise to speak to a car accident lawyer when insurance adjusters pin the fault on you, but you feel strongly that you shouldn’t face blame. Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield provides a free case consultation to all accident victims. It’s a chance to learn what you can do to fight responsibility and to even earn support from another driver.
Fighting Back if a Car Insurance Company Tries to Blame You
Insurance companies are giant corporations that are fueled by profits. This makes some insurers less concerned with who caused a car accident, and more concerned with who they can convince to take the blame.
A California Highway Patrol accident report may show that a driver on Highway 99 switched lanes to side-swipe your car and cause damage and injury. You might be waiting on your settlement check when you get a surprising call. It’s an insurance adjuster saying they won’t pay you because they feel you caused the accident.
This can suddenly leave you wide-open to the other driver, who may now file a claim with your auto insurance provider. The other driver can seek support to pay for any ambulance fees and emergency room visits, and the cost of replacing a totaled car.
The insurer’s evidence may be weak, but many car accident victims don’t know they can fight back and even secure a lawyer to help turn the tables back to fair.
A good Bakersfield Car Accident Lawyer can take several important steps to clear your name and enable you to demand support:
Investigate Your Accident – Your lawyer would conduct a full investigation into what happened and look into the other driver’s record. Maison Law Accident & Injury Attorneys can also turn to accident reconstruction teams to collect data and mathematical evidence to show just who was to blame.
Collect Evidence – Your attorney would secure a police accident report, which can serve as powerful evidence in your favor. Your attorney would compile any photos you took on the day of your accident and make sure they were included in your case file. Video evidence from surveillance cams and dash cams would also be requested and preserved. Witness testimony would be gathered from those who saw what happened. Expert witnesses could also be hired to testify in your case. Your medical records would be collected to show the severity of your injuries and how long you may need support.
Represent You at the Negotiating Table – Your lawyer’s negotiating skills would come into play in the back-and-forth with insurers. Any false claims would quickly be dismissed when the evidence was presented. This leaves insurers with no excuses to deny responsibility. Your lawyer fights to secure the absolute maximum settlement amount possible. The best part, you can stay at home and focus on recovery during this frustrating process.
Prepare for a Trial – If a car insurance company didn’t accept full responsibility and offer a fair settlement, your lawyer would already have evidence for a lawsuit prepared. Your lawyer would take the insurance company before a judge and jury. This action scares insurers because they don’t like the costs of going to court or the bad publicity. They often work harder to provide a satisfactory settlement to avoid a trial date.
Examine Comparative Negligence – In California, it’s possible to divide accident liability between many drivers in the same accident. You may be partially to blame for a pile-up, but that doesn’t mean you should cover the entire bill for recovery. Under comparative negligence, you can be charged with only a percentage of blame. This would usually lessen the compensation you’d have to provide, and it could enable you to seek partial compensation from another driver’s insurer.
Of course, Maison Law Accident & Injuries Attorneys strives to protect you from all blame in an accident. But if you did have to accept partial blame, our lawyers would battle to keep your percentage of fault as low as possible.
Do I Need a Lawyer After a Kern County Accident?
If a crash leaves you or a loved one with a serious injury, and you weren’t to blame, it’s a good idea to speak with a real lawyer in a free case consultation.
The increased recovery time and medical costs can make car insurance companies fight harder to avoid having to accept the cost. They can needlessly question who was at fault in the accident or the severity of your injuries.
Your lawyer is a safeguard when insurers try to stick you with the blame and can also often secure more for you than you could earn yourself.
If you’re not sure if you need a lawyer or not, there’s a no-risk way to find out. We offer a free case consultation to all Kern County victims. It’s an opportunity to find out what your case is worth, and to enlighten you when an insurer is playing games with your case.