When Should You Get a Lawyer for a Truck Accident?

Only you can decide when you should get a lawyer for a truck accident, but it may generally be better to retain an attorney as soon as possible. A lawyer may assist you after your accident by protecting your rights, helping you seek medical care, and ensuring that your lawsuit or insurance claim is filed in a timely fashion.

Those who wait to hire a lawyer may miss certain deadlines for reporting injuries and other time-sensitive requirements, particularly if they are not familiar with the process of seeking compensation after a truck accident.

A Lawyer Can Be a Valuable Post-Accident Resource

A lawyer can be a valuable post-accident resource for you or an injured loved one. They can also be helpful if you have lost a loved one because of a truck accident. You may have to deal with insurance companies just after your accident.

You may not want to make any statements to these companies without first consulting a lawyer’s team. Your lawyer may help you deal with insurance companies after your accident by:

• Explaining why insurance companies’ motivations may not align with yours
• Explaining what you should not say, either to insurance companies or other parties involved in your accident
• Speaking with you about your account of the accident before you pass that account along to insurance representatives

You may need to provide certain information to your insurance company. It may want to know whether you have been injured, as well as how your accident happened. Your lawyer may handle as many of the communications with your insurance company as possible, as this could be the surest way to protect your rights.

In addition to dealing with insurance representatives, your lawyer may help you seek medical attention after your truck accident. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) explains that truck accidents that cause injuries cost about $200,000 per crash on average. Medical costs may account for a large portion of those financial losses.

Your Lawyer Will Help Organize Medical Documentation

If you hire a lawyer after your truck accident, you may do so because you have lost a loved one due to their injuries or you are injured yourself. In any case, injuries are likely a central reason for you hiring a lawyer.

A lawyer can help you find medical care and then organize the documentation of your injuries and treatment. Some forms of documentation that your lawyer may acquire and organize are:

• Your copy of a doctor’s diagnosis
• Bills for your medical care
• Medical imaging showing your injuries
• Written recommendations for treatment

Documentation of your injuries and the medical care you receive in order to treat those injuries could be critical to your lawyer’s case for compensation. They may rely on such documentation as they seek compensation for your injuries, medical costs, and other types of losses.

Liability for Truck Accidents May Be Complicated

Truck accident victims may be entitled to compensation from multiple parties. Because truck drivers may typically be acting as employees when they are involved in an accident, liability for truck accidents could be more complicated than accidents involving only passenger vehicles.

Trucking companies could be legally responsible for their employees. Therefore, if a truck driver was contracted or employed by a trucking company or another type of business when your accident happened, then that company could also owe you compensation.

The circumstances around every truck accident are unique. Your lawyer will review evidence, read insurance policies, and determine who may owe you financial coverage for your losses.

A Driver May Be Primarily Responsible for Your Accident

Even if a trucking company or another type of defendant owes you compensation, there is a great likelihood that the truck driver is liable for your losses. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drivers are responsible for the overwhelming majority of accidents.

The driver who caused your accident may not have done so through their driving actions alone. If their vehicle was not roadworthy or they failed to secure the load they were hauling, a driver could be deemed negligent.

Call a Personal Injury Lawyer Today

A personal injury lawyer can help if you were injured or you have lost a loved one because of a truck accident. Call our attorneys today at (702) 707-5934 to complete a free consultation.