Trucks are enormous and can carry lots of momentum when traveling at high speeds. Thus it should come as no surprise that motor vehicle crashes involving trucks are very dangerous. Things can get more complicated when pedestrians are involved, in which case, the likelihood of wrongful death is multiplied.
Truck accidents are usually very serious and only rarely minor. For this reason, many people wonder what is a truck accident case worth in Florida.
However, you do have the legal right to demand compensation for your economic and non-economic losses that the accident incurred upon you. The law is on your side if you were wronged by such an event with no fault of your own.
But calculating a fair settlement sum is not as simple as most people believe you will need to consult experienced truck accident lawyers to get an accurate estimate for your losses and then move ahead with demanding a monetary reimbursement.
This article will explore the factors that affect the settlement sum for a truck accident claim and how much you can hope to get in a semi-truck accident case.
To get a clearer picture of any personal injury claim, including those involving trucks, personal injury attorneys usually add up all the factors and study the case in its entirety to see how much the victim can hope to be awarded. These factors include liability, all the economic damages, and non-economic losses (you may get awarded with punitive damages in severe cases).
Let’s explore them under the following headers:
This is the biggest factor to consider in any accident scenario. As with all automobile crashes, those involving trucks are not all the same. You’ll come across not one but many complications in proving the trucking company and its truck driver at fault.
Thus gathering first-hand evidence (if you’re able to after such an accident) is one of the most important prerequisites to securing fair financial compensation. In most cases, however, you’ll have to rely upon the findings of the law enforcement or a private investigator.
Since truck accidents tend to get nasty, odds are you won't get the chance to gather evidence. But even then, your lawyer might be able to create a solid foundation for your claim and make sure that your narrative becomes irrefutable.
The clearer the positions are in a case, the better things will be. If the truck driver is at-fault in light of the evidence, and you had no share in this blame, then you can expect complete cooperation from the insurance adjuster who'd be willing to offer a decent sum.
However, truck accident settlements can go south if the evidence is not solid enough or if you share some blame (no more than 50%).
Even in moderate cases involving trucks, your vehicle will take substantial damages. The insurance adjuster will be responsible for paying for the repairs.
However, we know that truck accidents can be very severe.
Traveling at high speeds, trucks can deliver a shattering force at anything in their path. This, more than often, results in the victim's car being "totaled," as in completely wrecked, beyond repair.
If that happens, the insurance adjuster will not get away with paying for repairs, because they won’t do any good.
Instead, you can demand the price of the car as it was before the crash happened.
Any automobile accident involving trucks can cause severe injuries to the sufferer. Brain trauma, whiplash, spinal cord injury, broken bones, soft tissue injuries, and internal bleeding are just a handful of examples of the physical injuries caused by such events.
You can expect inflated medical bills for such injuries (they may even get you some punitive damages), and some cases even demand additional psychiatric therapy for the victims of truck crashes to get back to normal.
Just keep a hold of all bills for your medical expenses.
Truck accidents can leave you in agony for days, even weeks, or months. Thus, you may be unable to go to work and this would, of course, adversely affect your financial stability. Just keep tabs on the number of days you missed work because of the crash.
The insurer is bound to compensate you for the loss.
In some cases, the accident may leave the victim with a permanent disability that may affect their ability to earn in the long term.
The compensation for such cases is usually much higher.
In addition to all the financial and measurable damages, a truck crash victim also faces intense pain and agony. Loss of a loved one, loss of enjoyment in life, loss of companionship, and other heart-wrenching troubles may also spawn from such accidents.
All of these are termed as non-economic damages and they are compensated by assigning a multiple (up to 5) to all of your financial losses.
Of course, if the insurance adjuster fails to cooperate, you can proceed with a personal injury lawsuit.
There is no way of defining average truck accident settlements.
Depending on the variability of these factors, the sum offered by the trucking company's insurance company maybe a couple of thousand dollars to well over a hundred thousand, and even more!
Consult expert truck accident attorneys immediately after a crash to explore your legal options and the possibility of securing punitive damages to maximize your compensation.
Don't delay matters lest you be caught behind the deadline set by the statute of limitations.
Accidents involving commercial trucks leave commercial truck accident victims with mounting financial burdens in addition to the pain and agony. Though the damage done in such cases is substantial but the best we can do is to gather our spirit and work for a solution.
Seeking monetary compensation for such losses is not only a fair option but also the only hope for most to regain their financial stability. With so much for you to deal with as-is, let us give you one less thing to worry about: justice.
Let the VG Law Firm take charge of your personal injury case while you take the rest you need to feel better. Don't worry about paying our experienced truck accident attorneys because we operate without any upfront fees – you'll pay us only when you've won your fair settlement.
Consultation is free so don’t wait to call us!
