In a perfect world, your auto insurance company would always take your side during the aftermath of a motor vehicle accident and compensate you as though you weren’t at fault. However, liability disputes are a regular occurrence, often with hundreds or even thousands of dollars on the line.
If you want to maximize your chance of getting a favorable outcome from a liability dispute with your insurer, it’s necessary to plan ahead and use every resource and option at your disposal. While it’s not easy, you can tilt the odds in your favor and end up receiving a favorable judgment.
Documentation is Crucial
If you’re looking to win a liability dispute, you’re going to need the facts to be on your side. So, if you end up in an auto accident, make sure you keep extensive documentation about all the details of the accident.
That includes:
- Photographs of the vehicles involved in the accident
- Photographs of anything relevant in the area of the accident
- Information of witnesses to the accident or its immediate aftermath
- Police reports
- Medical reports and bills, if applicable
- Damage and repair estimates for the affected vehicles
But in addition to having documentation about the accident, it’s also important to get documentation from your insurance company. An insurance company may try to simply deny a claim without giving a clear explanation why. Insist that they provide a clear, written explanation for how they determined liability and why they made their decision to offer what they did.
Know Your State’s Liability Laws
You might think that most states have similar liability laws when it comes to auto accidents. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The way liability affects auto accident claims and judgments varies dramatically depending on what state you’re in.
Some states have contributory negligence laws, others have comparative negligence laws, and still other have modified comparative negligence laws. These laws govern legal liability for parties in a motor vehicle accident but also have ramifications when it comes to how your insurer can treat your claims. It is Kentucky, may allow you to choose no-fault or traditional coverage. Before planning a strategy for disputing liability, be sure you have a full understanding of how your state assigns liability and the type of insurance you carry.
Understand Your Options
The first step in disputing a liability issue with your insurance company is to file a formal dispute. When you do so, this is where you should present all the evidence and documentation you’ve gathered.
You’ll stand a greater chance of success if you can piece together your evidence to highlight how it’s consistent with the account you’ve given. And it’s even more powerful if your evidence throws into question the written explanation your insurer has given for their decision.
Ideally, the formal dispute will cause your insurer to change its mind. But in many cases, your insurer will stick with their decision. That doesn’t have to be the end of the dispute, though.
A middle-ground option for resolving the dispute might be mediation. With mediation, both parties (in this case, you and your insurer) agree to present their arguments before a trusted, authoritative third party. That third party will consider the facts and make a judgment, which both other parties agree to accept.
The option of last resort is to file a lawsuit against your insurer. While lawsuits are time-consuming and costly, this may be the only way to resolve a liability dispute in your favor. Before taking that step, you’ll need to consult with an attorney and prepare a comprehensive strategy.
Disputes with an insurance company can get messy, and trying to determine liability after a motor vehicle accident can be complicated. But if you want to receive the compensation you’re due, you’ll need to plan ahead and take the proper steps.