Stuart Truck Accident Injury Attorneys

According to an Iowa Truck Information Guide published by the Iowa Department of Transportation, a delivery truck is considered a commercial vehicle. When an accident involving a delivery truck or another commercial vehicle occurs on the roads in and around Stuart, the injuries are often very serious. If you have been involved in an accident with a commercial vehicle near Stuart, here is what you need to know about liability, recovery, and how the insurance company will likely respond.

Who Is Liable for a Stuart Truck Accident Caused by a Commercial Driver?

In the majority of cases, one of two parties will be held liable when an accident involving a commercial vehicle occurs: the driver of the vehicle, or the company that owns the truck. If the driver of the truck is an employee of the trucking or delivery company, the company will usually be held liable under the legal doctrine of respondeat superior, which means that an employer is liable for the actions of its employees while they are acting within the scope of their employment.

If the driver of the delivery truck is an independent contractor, the driver may be held liable rather than the company that contracted him or her. In some cases, neither the driver nor the trucking company will be held liable, such as when a product malfunctions or a defective part on the truck caused the crash. In those situations, the manufacturer of the truck or a truck part, the shipper, or even the party responsible for loading the truck's cargo may be held liable instead.

How to Prove Liability

If you have been in a Stuart accident caused by a commercial driver, you will have to prove the negligence of the at-fault party. Examples of negligence may include:

Negligence is essentially any time someone acts, or fails to act, reasonably compared to what another person in the same situation would do. You should prepare yourself for the trucking company to launch its own investigation into your Stuart commercial vehicle crash almost immediately.

An accident involving a delivery vehicle can be very frightening and can cause long-lasting injuries. If you have been in an accident with a delivery truck or other commercial vehicle near Stuart, the attorneys at Walker, Billingsley & Bair can represent you. Iowa Code 614.1 provides two years to file a claim for damages, so it is important to reach out as soon as possible.

Who Should Pay Your Medical Bills After a Stuart Truck Accident?

If you have been injured in a truck crash near Stuart, it will be much different than a workplace injury claim. Rarely will the other driver's insurance company make payments toward your medical bills, even if their liability is obvious and they have already paid for your property damage. The other driver's insurance company is not required to make payments as your bills come in, and insurance companies routinely make payments only at the time of a final settlement, when they can obtain a release from you.

Because of this, you should not expect the other driver's insurance company to pay your medical bills as they are incurred. Instead, you should look to one of the following means to obtain payment of your medical bills:

With medical debt rising, you may not have the funds on hand to pay every provider right away. If there are insufficient funds to pay doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers, an attorney's office can often help facilitate assignments, where the client authorizes the law firm to pay the medical provider directly from any settlement or verdict. These assignments often satisfy the health provider, and many will wait until the time of settlement rather than pursue collection against you in the meantime.

Keep in mind that almost all insurance policies have a subrogation provision, meaning they require reimbursement if you obtain money for your medical bills from another party or insurance company. Insurance companies are not looking out for your interests, so it is worth understanding your options before you sign any paperwork after a Stuart truck accident.

What Insurers Don't Want Stuart Accident Victims to Know

Insurance companies are some of the richest and most powerful corporations in the United States. Each year they spend heavily in an effort to reduce the rights and compensation available to hardworking Iowans so they can maximize their own profit. What they do not control, however, are the judges and juries who ultimately decide the amount of compensation you receive if you have been hurt in a truck accident or another personal injury incident. Here are five things insurance companies generally do not want you to know.

1. The Insurance Company Is Legally Allowed to Mislead You

There is no law requiring the insurance company for the other side to tell you the truth or to do anything that is in your best interest. This is why an adjuster will sometimes act like your friend and try to build trust with you, a routine that is common when your injuries are serious. It is a bad idea to trust an insurance adjuster, because their job is to pay you as little as possible, and they may even receive promotions or bonuses for building a track record of paying less than cases are worth. They are not going to tell you what your rights are or the best way to proceed with your claim. The truth is that you cannot rely on anything the insurance company for the other side tells you, because they are not looking out for your best interests.

2. You Do Not Have to Give Them a Recorded Statement

An insurance adjuster will often claim they need a recorded statement to evaluate your claim, but in reality, you have no obligation to give the insurance company for the other side a recorded statement. The reason they want one is so they can ask questions in a way that lets them use your answers against you later. For example, they may ask if you have ever had back pain before, and an unguarded "no" answer can be used to damage your credibility if your medical records later show otherwise. Your credibility is very important in any injury case, which is exactly why the insurance adjuster tries to test it early.

3. Their "Final Offer" Is Usually Not Their Best Offer

During negotiations, the insurance company will often tell you that a particular number is their final offer. Experience shows that this is usually not the case. There is little to lose by making another proposal to settle your Stuart truck accident claim, since it is highly unlikely the insurance company will simply refuse to offer you anything at all. Sometimes, filing a lawsuit and going through the legal process is what it takes to get the insurance company's true best offer.

4. They Will Intentionally Try to Frustrate You

When the friendly approach does not work, insurance adjusters sometimes turn to frustration as a tactic. A very low initial offer can make an injured person angry, and the adjuster knows that a certain percentage of people will accept a low-ball offer just to avoid dealing with the process any longer. If you have sustained a serious injury with potential lifelong effects, it is worth turning the matter over to an experienced injury attorney who deals with these tactics every day and will not let the insurance company take advantage of you.

5. They Usually Will Not Pay Your Medical Bills as You Incur Them

An adjuster may tell you to send in your medical bills, but that does not mean they will actually pay them. This is often a strategy to pressure you into settling for less once collection calls from creditors, hospitals, and doctors start coming in. In truck accident and personal injury cases, it is generally best to have your medical bills paid through your health insurance or medical payments coverage rather than waiting on the other driver's insurance company, since your case could take years to resolve and your credit could be damaged in the meantime.

How a Stuart Truck Accident Attorney Can Help

Determining liability in a commercial truck accident, sorting out who should pay your medical bills, and standing up to an insurance adjuster who is not on your side takes experience. An attorney can investigate whether the driver, the trucking company, a manufacturer, or another party bears responsibility for your crash, help direct your medical bills to the right insurance so you are not left holding the balance, and deal with the insurance company on your behalf so you are not pressured into an early, unfair settlement.

To learn more about liability in these cases, read our full article on commercial truck accident liability for delivery drivers. For more on directing your bills to the right coverage, see our article on who should pay your medical bills. And to understand more of the insurance company's tactics before you sign anything, read what insurers don't want you to know.

Iowa Code 614.1 gives you two years to file a claim for damages, so it is important to act promptly after a Stuart truck accident. There is no cost or obligation to speak with a qualified truck accident attorney about your case, and your information will remain confidential.