Iowa Falls Personal Injury Attorneys

A personal injury can turn your life upside down in an instant. Whether you were struck by a vehicle while riding your bicycle in Iowa Falls, suffered harm in a car accident, or were hurt in any number of other ways, the weeks and months that follow involve far more than physical recovery. You will likely find yourself fielding calls from insurance adjusters, sorting through medical bills, and wondering whether the settlement offer on the table is anywhere close to what your case is actually worth. The personal injury attorneys at Walker, Billingsley & Bair have been helping injured Iowans navigate these challenges since 1997, and they serve clients throughout Iowa, including those in Iowa Falls.

This article covers three areas that are critically important for anyone pursuing a personal injury claim in Iowa Falls: the most common types of bicycle accidents and how to prevent them, what you need to know about dealing with insurance adjusters, and whether you are required to accept the settlement offer an insurance company puts in front of you.

Bicycle Accidents in Iowa Falls: Common Types and How to Avoid Them

Bicycling is a popular activity throughout Iowa, but it carries real risks whenever cyclists share the road with motor vehicles. The goal for every rider should be to reduce the chance of an accident to zero, and understanding the most common types of bicycle crashes is the first step toward riding more safely in Iowa Falls.

The Right Hook Accident

A right hook accident occurs when a car making a right-hand turn cuts directly into the path of a cyclist traveling straight. These crashes can happen at intersections, driveways, or parking lot exits. Because some drivers fail to use their turn signals, a cyclist may have no warning that a vehicle is about to hook into their lane.

The best way to avoid this type of accident is to position yourself carefully when stopped at a red light or stop sign. Always pull slightly in front of vehicles in the right-hand lane so that the motorist can see you directly ahead. Additionally, never pass a vehicle on the right, as a driver who decides to turn will not be expecting you. Always pass on the left where you are more visible to other road users.

The Dooring Accident

A dooring accident is one of the more dangerous situations a cyclist can face. It occurs when a cyclist is riding between moving traffic and parked cars on the right side of the road, and a motorist or passenger suddenly opens a car door into the cyclist's path. The impact can stop a rider cold or force them to swerve directly into oncoming traffic, turning a bad situation into a potentially fatal one.

Dooring accidents can be difficult to avoid, particularly when the space between traffic and parked cars is narrow. Whenever a designated bike lane is available that is separated from the road, use it. When no bike lane exists, slow down when approaching parked vehicles, stay alert, and give yourself as much space as possible from the row of parked cars.

Left-Turning Vehicles

At intersections, left-turning vehicles are generally required to yield to oncoming traffic unless they have a green turn arrow. The problem for cyclists is that bicycles are far harder for drivers to see than other vehicles, especially in low-light conditions. A driver may look toward oncoming traffic, conclude the road is clear, and begin making their left turn directly into or across the path of an approaching cyclist.

To reduce the risk of this type of accident, make sure your bicycle is equipped with a light and that you wear bright or reflective clothing to increase your visibility. Before proceeding through an intersection, try to make eye contact with drivers who may be waiting to turn left. It is also important to stay off the sidewalk while riding, as drivers making turns do not check sidewalks for fast-moving cyclists and may not anticipate your presence there.

Failure to Yield at an Intersection

Not all bicycle accidents are caused by motorists. One of the more common types of crashes occurs when a cyclist fails to yield to a vehicle at an intersection, often because it is easy to misjudge how fast an approaching car is moving or how close it actually is. Even when you believe you have the right of way, it is always worth taking an extra moment to verify that other drivers can see you clearly before entering an intersection.

What to Do After a Bicycle Accident in Iowa Falls

If you are involved in a bicycle accident in Iowa Falls, the personal injury attorneys at Walker, Billingsley & Bair can handle all aspects of your case. That includes determining fault, filing your claim for damages against the insurance company, and filing a lawsuit if your injuries are severe or if your claim is denied. Do not try to navigate the aftermath of a serious bicycle accident on your own. The sooner you have an attorney reviewing your case, the better your chances of receiving fair compensation.

What You Need to Know About Insurance Adjusters in Iowa Falls

After any personal injury accident in Iowa Falls, one of the first people to reach out to you will likely be an insurance adjuster. It is important to understand upfront what an insurance adjuster's job actually is and what they are trained to do, because this knowledge can protect you from making costly mistakes before you have had a chance to speak with an attorney.

There are hundreds of insurance companies doing business in Iowa and thousands of insurance adjusters working on their behalf. Regardless of which company is involved in your claim, they all share several things in common. They are trained in techniques specifically designed to reduce the value of your claim and convince you to accept a smaller settlement. While they may speak to you in a friendly manner, they do not have your best interests in mind, and their fundamental job is to pay you as little money as possible in order to maximize their employer's profits. It is also worth knowing that anything you tell the insurance adjuster can and will be used against you in your claim or in a later lawsuit, so it is essential to be careful about what you say, while never being dishonest.

Dealing With Specific Insurance Companies

Not all insurance adjusters operate the same way, and understanding some of the differences between major insurers can help Iowa Falls injury victims know what to expect.

EMC Insurance is one of the largest workers' compensation insurers in Iowa. Most of their adjusters are responsive and will return calls and correspondence, but that courtesy should never be mistaken for friendship. The amount they tell you that they owe is rarely the full amount you may be entitled to receive.

Liberty Mutual is consistently one of the top writers of workers' compensation coverage in Iowa. Their adjusters have access to in-house Iowa attorneys who may work in the background providing strategy or step in and take a more active role in your case. If an attorney is assigned to assist or adjust your claim, you should seriously consider retaining your own attorney. Going up against legal counsel on the other side without representation of your own is a situation where costly and avoidable mistakes are far too easy to make.

Sedgwick and Gallagher Bassett are third-party administrators, meaning they are not insurance companies themselves but rather companies hired to manage claims on behalf of self-insured employers or other insurers. In the experience of Walker, Billingsley & Bair, these adjusters can be significantly more difficult to work with than those from traditional insurance companies. Obtaining records, getting return calls, and receiving timely responses to correspondence is often a challenge when these administrators are involved.

AIG is a very large international insurance company whose adjusters have been known to take an approach that includes not returning phone calls, failing to respond in a timely manner to letters and emails, and at times being dismissive of the real difficulties that injured claimants are facing. Not every AIG adjuster operates this way, but it is a pattern that comes up often enough to warrant caution.

Travelers operates a large claims center and, like Liberty Mutual, makes use of in-house Iowa attorneys who may either advise their adjusters behind the scenes or become directly involved in your case. If you are not represented by an attorney and Travelers has legal counsel engaged in your claim, the imbalance of power, legal knowledge, and negotiating leverage is significant.

Zurich is an international insurer with one of its most recognized U.S. subsidiaries being Farmers Insurance. Your claim may be assigned to an adjuster located far from Iowa who may have limited familiarity with Iowa-specific laws. Regardless of where the adjuster is based or how friendly the interaction may feel, the goal remains the same: pay as little as possible.

General Tips for Communicating With Insurance Adjusters

Whatever insurance company is involved in your Iowa Falls personal injury claim, a few practical guidelines can help you protect yourself during the claims process. First, know your facts. Be prepared to explain how the injury happened, who you treated with, and what conditions you have been diagnosed with. Second, being calm and cooperative will get you further than being angry or confrontational. Third, never threaten an adjuster. And importantly, keep in mind that if you have prior injuries or accidents, the insurance company will likely find out about them through the shared databases that insurers use, so there is no benefit to omitting that history.

If you are unsure about any aspect of your interactions with an insurance adjuster, speaking with a qualified Iowa injury attorney before you say too much is always the right move.

Do You Have to Accept the Insurance Company's Settlement Offer?

This is one of the most common questions that injured Iowans ask, and the answer is clear: in Iowa, you absolutely do not have to accept an insurance company's first settlement offer or any offer that does not fairly compensate you for your injuries. However, there are several important factors to consider before making that decision on your own.

One of the most important things to understand is that it is very rare for an insurance company's first offer to be their best offer. The initial figure is almost always a starting point in a negotiation, not a final answer. If you are representing yourself, you should expect to negotiate, but you should do so with a clear understanding of the risks involved.

Questions to Ask Before Deciding on a Settlement

Before accepting or rejecting any settlement offer in a personal injury case, there are several critical questions that should be answered. Are your injuries minor enough that it may make sense to settle on your own to avoid attorney fees? If your medical bills have been paid by your health insurance or another insurer, are you aware of subrogation rights that could require you to reimburse those payments from your settlement? Subrogation is a legal concept that can consume your entire settlement if you are not aware of how it works. And how much time remains before the statute of limitations expires and you lose the right to recover anything at all?

If you do not have confident answers to those questions, the advice from Walker, Billingsley & Bair is straightforward: contact a qualified Iowa injury attorney before making any decisions. Failing to do so can cost you thousands of dollars, and in some cases it can cost you your entire claim.

How the Value of Your Claim Is Evaluated

Understanding how attorneys and insurance companies evaluate a personal injury claim can help you assess whether an offer is reasonable or far below what you deserve. Among the key factors considered are the severity and overall extent of your injuries, whether multiple areas of your body were affected, whether there are objective findings such as broken bones, whether you were hospitalized, whether surgery was required, how much time you missed from work and the wages you lost as a result, and the total amount of insurance coverage available to compensate you. In some cases there may also be an underinsured motorist coverage claim that should be evaluated alongside the primary claim.

No two personal injury cases are identical, but they all share these common elements, and each one can meaningfully affect the final value of what you are owed. Speaking with someone who deals with insurance companies every day and has handled hundreds of cases similar to yours is far more reliable than asking friends or family what they think a case is worth. A knowledgeable Iowa injury attorney can give you an honest assessment of whether you are being treated fairly or being taken advantage of.

We Are Here To Help

Remember, you are not alone in recovering from your injuries. We have helped thousands of Iowans through their physical, emotional, and financial recoveries. If you have questions about what you are going through, feel free to call our office for your confidential injury conference. We will take the time to listen to you and give you our advice concerning your injury matter at no cost or risk to you.

Free Book at No Cost 

If you are not ready to speak with an attorney yet but would like to learn more about Iowa injury cases including tips about how you can avoid making common costly mistakes request a copy of our Iowa Personal Injury book which includes 14 myths about Iowa injury cases and 5 things to know before hiring an attorney.

If you have specific questions about your injury matter feel free to call our office to speak with our Injury team at 641-792-3595 or use our Chat feature by clicking here 24 hours a day/7 days per week. Your information will remain confidential and there is no cost or obligation.

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