Category Archives: Truck Accidents

How To Deal With Insurance Adjusters After Accidents

This article provides several tips and important information for dealing with insurance adjusters after you have been involved in an accident.

Serious Car Accident Picture

Serious Car Accident Picture

Being involved in a car accident, bus accident, trucking accident, motorcycle accident, or any other accident with serious injuries can be devastating. In addition to the ever-rising medical bills, you are left to struggle to meet the costs demanded of daily living: paying the rent, buying food, and taking care of your family and children. When you are facing serious accident injuries and tremendous medical bills, you may be tempted to accept the first personal injury settlement offer presented to you by an insurance company or insurance adjuster. This article will hopefully provide you with valuable information about how to deal with insurance adjusters after accidents.

The First Offers From Insurance Companies Are Usually Low

The first accident injury settlement offer an insurance adjuster makes is usually on the low end, even if it sounds like a lot of money to you. Remember, insurance adjusters work for the insurance company and are trained to settle claims for the least amount of money possible. This is their business. Hiring an experienced Florida accident injury attorney can help level the playing field for you and your family. Our firm’s aggressive Florida accident injury attorney team consists of strong advocates fighting for your best interests in obtaining you maximum compensation for your insurance settlement.

Insurance Adjusters Think Accident Injury Victims Don’t Know The Value Of Their Claim

Serious Bus Accident Picture

Serious Bus Accident Picture

Many accident injury victims are not aware of the value of their claim and jump at the first offer from the insurance company. This is where an experienced accident injury attorney can help you deal with the insurance companies. Our experienced accident injury attorneys can help you calculate both immediate and future damages of your accident injuries. Some examples of serious damages from accident injuries include the following:

  • medical bills,
  • time missed from work (both now and in the future),
  • loss of earning potential,
  • impact of injury on lifestyle,
  • pain and suffering and
  • any other out-of-pocket expenses you may have incurred as a result of being involved in an accident.

What You Say To An Insurance Company Can Minimize The Value Of Your Claim

When an insurance adjustor contacts you to “help you settle your claim,” remember that he or she may try to get you to say things that will minimize the value of your claim. For this reason, it is important to have an experienced Florida accident injury attorney that knows how to deal with insurance adjusters after accidents and either negotiate a settlement or file an accident injury lawsuit on your behalf. Even if you try to cooperate with the at-fault party’s insurance company, your statements may be used against you and misconstrued to diminish the amount of money that you are legally entitled to receive for your accident injuries.

Early Contact By The Insurance Company Is A Strategy To Minimize Your Claim

Insurance Adjuster Waiver of Damage Form

Insurance adjusters also commonly try to contact accident victims soon after an accident before the victims are able to fully assess their injuries and/or damages. Often times, injuries take time to show up and are not discovered immediately after an accident. Some injuries even require significant treatment into the foreseeable future. By executing a waiver or any documents proposed by the insurance company before you are unaware of the full extent of your injuries and how they may impact your future, you may waive your right to receive compensation that could help get you back on your feet and back to work. It is best to refuse to speak to an insurance adjuster until you consult a qualified Florida accident injury attorney about how to deal with insurance adjusters after accidents.

After reaching a fair settlement with an insurance company, you may be asked to sign a “Release and Waiver” form. This form prevents you from filing additional claims or additional lawsuits in the future and asks you to give up certain rights that you may otherwise be entitled to. It is a good idea to have an experienced Florida accident injury attorney look over a “Release and Waiver” form before you sign it to make sure your best interests are protected.

A sound practice is to hire an attorney to handle all communication with an insurance company or insurance adjuster. Our experienced accident injury attorneys are generally able to settle accident injury claims for more money than accident victims who try to settle claims on their own. Remember, if you have been injured in a car accident, bus accident, trucking accident, motorcycle accident, or any other type of accident resulting in serious injuries, please call our experienced Florida accident injury attorneys toll free at (888) 252-0048 to receive a free consultation for your accident.

Truck Accidents

The Florida Truck Accident Attorneys of Gilman Law LLP are Here to Help You.

Accidents: Car Accidents | Truck Accidents | Motorcycle Accidents | Bus Accidents | Bicycle Injuries |Pedestrian Accidents

When an automobile is involved in a collision with a large truck, the results can be devastating for the occupants of the car. Weighing up to 80,000 pounds, commercial trucks — also known as tractor trailers, semis, or 18-wheelers — are more dangerous than any other vehicle on the road. They made up only four percent of registered vehicles nationally in 2007 but were involved in one of every eight injuries in motor vehicle accidents.

Those statistics show the odds are stacked against you when you’re a truck accident. And when you’re involved a Florida tractor-trailer collision, you’ll soon find you’re at a disadvantage in dealing with the trucking companies responsible for your injuries.

You need an experienced lawyer on your side to protect your rights. The Florida truck accident lawyers of Gilman Law LLP have helped hundreds of victims and their families recover after a collision with a truck. We offer free consultations to victims of Florida truck accidents and their families. Our goal is to help accident victims get their lives back on track with the financial security that is their right. Please fill out our online form, or call 1 800 LAW INFO (1-800-529-4636) for help with your case. Our truck accident attorneys serve clients across Florida, including Naples, Fort Myers, Marco  Island, Cape Coral, Lee County, Collier County, Everglades City, Golden Gate, Immokalee, Bonita Springs and Sanibel.

Truck Accidents on Florida’s Roads

Large trucks are more numerous on the road today than in years past — and they’re traveling more miles than ever. The Federal Motor Carrier Administration reported a 49 percent increase in registered large trucks and a 76 percent increase in miles traveled by large truck from 1986 to 2006.

Large trucks are involved in thousands of accidents each year — many of them fatal. Florida had 4,566 vehicles involved in fatal crashes in 2007 and 288 involved large trucks, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

What is behind these truck accidents? National studies show many are caused by negligence on the part of the truck driver.

According to a 2007 federal study of fatal truck accidents, factors that are frequently found in truck crashes include driving too fast for conditions, fatigue, roadway problems, feeling under pressure from motor carriers, adverse weather and brake problems. Truck drivers were cited as driving too fast almost 50 percent more often than passenger vehicle drivers in the accidents. And brake problems were cited for almost 40 percent of the trucks involved, the Fleet Motor Carrier Administration study reported.

Truck Accidents and Fatalities

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 413,000 large trucks were involved in traffic crashes in the United States in 2007. One out of nine traffic fatalities involved a truck. A total of 4,808 people died and an additional 101,000 were injured in those collisions.

One analysis by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that almost half of all trucks involved in fatal U.S. crashes weighed more than 60,000 pounds at the time of the accident.

Given the massive weight of semi-trucks when compared to the average car, which weighs about 4,000 pounds, it’s no surprise that the injuries suffered in car-truck accidents can be more extensive than in other traffic accidents — and that often it’s the drivers and passengers in the smaller passenger vehicles that suffer the most severe injuries. Three-fourths of the fatalities and the injuries resulting from collisions involving a truck were the occupants of another vehicle. The dangers of a car-truck collision can be magnified if the truck is hauling hazardous or flammable cargo.

Get Legal Advice Quickly After a Truck Accident

Drivers who are involved in an accident with a truck should get legal advice as soon as possible — before you discuss the matter with an insurance adjuster or sign any paperwork. Insurance companies and trucking companies may try to reach a quick settlement to limit their financial responsibility. We urge you to contact one of our experienced Florida truck accident lawyers today to fight for your legal rights and ensure that you receive the full compensation that you deserve.

While the truck driver may be the most obvious person at fault in an accident, the driver may not be the only person or business entity legally responsible for the accident. Motor carrier companies, trailer owners, contractors and insurance companies may have a legal obligation to compensate you for your injuries. In some cases, the shipper of hazardous materials carried by the truck may also be liable.

Complex Area of Law

Truck accident claims can be very complex. Multiple insurance companies representing the driver and the trucking firm and in some cases the freight shipper may be involved. This can create complications and delays if each insurance company is insisting that another is responsible for paying your claim. It may take the threat of legal action to get the insurance companies to settle a claim.

Lawyers must be knowledgeable about fleet maintenance procedures and federal laws that dictate safety rules and regulations. Federal trucking regulations spell out the maximum number of hours a driver may be on the road with a break (known as Hours of Service Regulations) and require that drivers and trucking companies keep a detailed log. Federal laws also require drivers and trucking companies to keep maintenance records. The experienced Florida truck accident lawyers at Gilman Law LLP know how to use these records to our clients’ advantage in any legal action.

The experienced lawyers at Gilman Law LLP are skilled at evaluating the contributing factors to an accident and will help you identify all potential defendants to ensure fair and appropriate compensation for your injuries. Our lawyers will not be intimidated by trucking companies or their insurers into doing anything not in the best interest of our clients.

The Florida truck accident lawyers of Gilman Law LLP have helped hundreds of victims and their families recover after a collision with a truck. If you or someone you love has been injured in a Florida truck accident caused by the negligence of a driver or trucking company, you have valuable legal rights. Please fill out our online form, or call 1 800 LAW INFO (1-800-529-4636) to discuss your case with one of the experienced truck accident attorneys at our firm.