Auto accidents cause immense financial stress, in addition to physical and mental trauma. Victims have to worry about medical costs, repair bills, and other expenses of ongoing care.
However, you can be compensated for such losses if you prove that the accident was the other party’s fault. Don’t know how? Read this blog to learn what Fort Lauder dale Car Accident Lawyers say.
Florida’s Law Regarding Auto Insurance
Auto insurance protects you from the financial damage to you and your vehicle arising from accidents, theft, and other unfortunate events. It includes coverage’s for the following.
Property – Property coverage’s help recover the damages to your car.
Liability – Liability coverage’s help pay for bodily injuries and property damage of others caused by your negligence.
Medical – Medical coverage’s help with the cost of treating injuries and rehabilitation. They might also include lost wages and funeral expenses.
According to Florida law, every car owner must carry a minimum of $10000 in two vital coverage’s: Personal Injury Protection Coverage and Property damage liability coverage.
The most important thing to note here is that Florida is a no-fault law. This means that the first source of compensation for all car accident victims is their own insurance coverage, regardless of whose fault the accident was.
However, you can step out of the law if your injuries are severe and your expenses exceed the limits of your auto insurance’s coverage’s. In such cases, you can file a claim against the at-fault party’s insurance company to recover your damages.
How Do Insurance Adjusters Evaluate Your Claim?
Insurance companies send an insurance adjuster to investigate your claim. Their duty is to find out whose fault the accident was and how much damage it actually cost. They look for different kinds of evidence to decide a claim’s real worth.
However, you should remember that adjusters are on the insurance company’s side. They use different tactics to cancel or minimize your claim. For example, they might try to downplay the accident’s severity or prove that you were at fault.
Insurance adjusters won’t be able to invalidate or reduce your claim if you have proper evidence to prove the damage you had to face because of the other party’s negligence.
List of Evidence Insurance Adjusters Look For
Here is a list of evidence insurance adjusters look for in auto accident cases.
Police Reports
Calling the police is one of the immediate actions you should take in auto accident cases.
Officers investigate the whole accident scene, collect evidence from all around, and write down their findings in a detailed report. They officially record your accident from an unbiased point of view in different ways. You might see them do the following at an accident scene:
- Penning down notes
- Taking Photographs
- Inspecting the scene
- Inspecting the damage to vehicles
- Interrogating the people around
Their reports contain valuable information regarding the accident, like the date, time, location, and names of witnesses, along with their numbers and addresses. This information helps adjusters investigate whose fault it actually was.
Medical Reports and Bills
The biggest mistake you can make in auto accident cases is not getting examined by a doctor. If an insurance adjuster finds out that you did not see a doctor after the accident, they might argue that your injuries aren’t serious enough to justify your claim.
You should get medical help after an auto accident even if you feel fine at that time. This is because some injuries are internal, and their effects take time to show up. Only a doctor’s examination and medical reports can unveil the severity of your injuries.
Pictures and Videos
Pictures and videos of the accident scene can help prove the fault and severity of the accident.
Videos from dash cams provide a clear view of how the accident happened. Besides that, photos taken at the accident scene visually represent your bodily injuries and the damage to your car.
If you could not record a video or photograph any vital evidence, ask other people around. It’s possible that someone else around the scene might have recorded or photographed the accident scene.
You can also contact the police officers who were called to investigate your case. They must also have taken photos or collected video footage from the road cameras installed in the vicinity of the accident area.
Another option to collect photo and video evidence is contacting news broadcasters who immediately arrive at the accident scene to broadcast the aftermath.
Witness Statements
Witnesses’ statements and testimonies are game-changing evidence in auto accident cases. These statements provide insurance adjusters with the information they might have missed during the inspection of the accident scene. Their testimonies prove that the damage to your vehicle resulted from the recent accident, not any old incident.
Repair Bills
Insurance adjusters are also responsible for inspecting your vehicle’s damage after the accident. They will consider every minor and major damage if they use a fair approach.
However, they are trained to act in the insurance company’s best interest. They might downplay the damage to your vehicle or blame some damage on the previous repair and rusting to limit the amount of your claim.
Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyers recommend an effective way to recover a justified amount for the damage to your vehicle: get estimated repair bills from two or three trusted repair service firms.
Contact an Experienced Lawyer
Strong evidence is the only way insurance companies accept your claim. But the physical injuries, mental trauma, and legal obligations that follow an accident might not leave you the time or energy to collect evidence from the accident scene and other relevant sources.
Fort Lauder dale car accident lawyers deal with insurance adjusters and they know how to make your claim strong. You can book a free consultation with a Fort Lauder dale car accident lawyer to discuss your case.
