Personal Injury Lawyers » How Insurance Carriers Defend Themselves
Car accidents occur every single day and if you ask each party what happened it’s likely that they would have different explanations as to the events that led to the accident. Neither party ever wanting to admit that they were the wrongful acting party, you will need to bring a case in order to receive any compensation in most situations. There are two ways car accident cases are defended, first by the insurance adjuster, and then once a suit is filed or when the insurance adjuster realizes that they may be in for a fight, the insurance carrier’s defense attorney is going to get involved. This article will discuss some of the tactics they will use to defend the case. The best thing you can do to limit their defenses is to hire the attorneys at our law firm to assert your traffic accident case and fight for your rights as a victim. We have seen all the defenses that insurance companies and their attorneys bring and we know how to defeat them.
Disputing Liability
The most successful way insurance companies have found to defend against your claim is to argue that their insured driver is not at fault. They will try to shift the blame back to you or onto some other party altogether. Insurance companies will try to do this not only to avoid liability completely, but also to minimize damages. For every percentage point of liability they can deflect off of themselves, the less money they will have to pay you. This is due to the practice of comparative negligence in tort cases. In Texas, individuals can recover damages even if it is determined that they are partially at fault for the accident. This is commonly referred to as the “51% rule.” If you can prove that the other party was at least 51% at fault for the accident you can recover for injuries. Also, the amount of damages that you may recover will be dependent on the percentage that you are at fault. You are only able to recover for the amount of fault that the other party was in the accident. For instance, if it is determined that you were 25% at fault and the other party was 75% at fault in your accident you would only be able to recover 75% of your damages.
You and your attorney will be tasked with proving the level of fault of the other party, even if fault is obvious. Insurance companies are not parties that will roll over and pay out liability without disputing every possible claim. If you make the mistake of assuming that they will accept liability, you are sadly mistaken. Furthermore, just because they have accepted liability for your property damage claim, that has no bearing on whether or not they will accept liability for your injuries. The law allows them to agree that they caused the accident but deny that they caused you to suffer your claimed injuries.
Disputing Damages
Many times insurance companies will try to dispute the injuries they caused or the extent of the injuries that they may have caused. This is frequently done by them claiming that a pre-existing condition or event was the cause of your injuries. Insurance companies will typically request your medical records for up to two years prior to the accident to try to find any treatment that may be linked to an injury that you are now claiming. They will find a way to make these assertions; this is why it is important to make sure that you hire an attorney that will show that these defenses are baseless.
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When all else fails they will attack your character or credibility.
Insurance companies are not above playing dirty. Many times when you have an exceptionally strong case against them they will attack your character. They will often claim that you are either faking your injuries or exaggerating them in order to get recovery. They will take any potential question mark in your past and use it to their advantage. Don’t be a victim to these types of actions; allow us to protect you against these attacks. To learn more about your recovery potential call us, you will be glad that you did.