A person who has been seriously injured by a negligent driver may want to contact car accident attorneys in Southern Maryland for a free consultation. Insurance companies may find reasons to delay paying compensation and then may offer a settlement amount that is too low. Personal injury lawyers understand how these businesses operate and they know how to get things moving in a more favorable way.
Complicated Cases: Manufacturer Liability
Sometimes these cases become complicated. For instance, the driver who caused the accident may tell his or her insurance company that the collision was caused by an inherent safety failure of the vehicle. An example would be the brakes failing without warning on a relatively new car.
An investigation will be required to determine exactly what happened and whether this has been a problem in other vehicles of this make, model and year. If so, car accident attorneys in Southern Maryland may need to approach the manufacturer for a settlement instead of the driver’s insurer.
When Responsibility Is Clear
In other instances, the at-fault driver’s culpability is clear. This may have been a case of driving while intoxicated and the blood alcohol content was confirmed to be well above the legal limit. The insurance company may still try to pay a low settlement by looking for reasons the injured person may have been partly at fault. An example might be if that man or woman was talking on the phone when struck by the drunk driver. The insurance adjusters could present this as distracted behavior.
Dealing With the Insurance Company
Most people hate to view insurance companies as adversaries, even when the insurers represent the other driver. The insurer may not actually be adversarial, but these are businesses that do look out for their own financial interests while still providing acceptable service to their policyholders. The situation can be more problematic when the claimant is not their policyholder but someone who was injured by that customer. If the insurance company continues to be uncooperative, an organization such as Business Name gets ready to bring the case to trial.
