The Car Accident Settlement Process in Indiana

When pursuing car accident claims in Indiana, the lawyers of Truitt Law Offices explore all options for recovering maximum compensation for clients.

Most car accident claims are settled outside of court by negotiating with insurance companies. As your attorneys, we will determine liability for the accident, calculate your losses, and present a settlement demand to insurers.

If insurers refuse to do the right thing in your car accident case, we will file a lawsuit and be ready for trial. Our Fort Wayne car accident lawyers will bring their combined decades of negotiating and courtroom experience to bear in our fight for full compensation for you.

The attorneys at Truitt Law Offices of Fort Wayne, IN, will guide your claim through the process required to seek all of the compensation you are due. Contact us by phone or through our online form to set up a free consultation with one of our auto accident lawyers.

Determining Liability in a Car Accident Case

After you engage Truitt Law Offices as your attorneys, we will handle all of the work necessary to pursue your car accident insurance settlement. Our first task is to investigate the accident and gather evidence that shows who is responsible for your injuries.

There are many types of evidence to review in a car accident case, ranging from police reports to traffic tickets to statements from victims and witnesses and accident reconstruction reports. Other evidence that may be useful in your case includes:

• Crash scene evidence, such as skid marks, pavement gouges, and roadside damage, which can indicate how the accident occurred.
• Vehicle damage, which indicates the severity of the crash and may help determine whether mechanical failure contributed to the crash.
• Cell phone records may indicate the other driver’s activity prior to the crash, including being on the phone at the moment of the accident.
• Surveillance camera footage may have captured the crash or the other driver prior to the crash.
• Black Box Event Data Recorder information, which records the vehicle’s operations at the moment of impact, including speed upon impact, acceleration, braking, steering, and the number of impacts.

There may be other individuals or organizations responsible for the accident in addition to the drivers involved. Examples include:

• The other driver’s employer if the driver was driving as part of their job at the time of the crash.
• A bar, store, restaurant, or social host that provided alcohol to someone who was visibly intoxicated or underage and later caused the accident.
• A mechanic whose faulty repairs to a vehicle contributed to the crash.
• A government agency or contractor responsible for road design or construction or a highway construction zone that was improperly designed and contributed to the accident.

We will identify the liable party’s insurance company in preparation for submitting our demands for compensation on your behalf.

Calculating the Compensation You Are Due in a Car Accident

As we investigate responsibility for the car accident, we will track your costs and losses from the accident. We will do this by obtaining copies of your medical bills, lost work confirmation from your employer, and all future medical expenses anticipated as part of your recovery from the accident.

The types of compensation that we seek for you may include payments for:

• All accident-related medical expenses
• Wages lost during your recovery
• Diminished earning capacity due to permanent injuries
• Physical and emotional pain and suffering
• Permanent scarring
• Loss of companionship and funeral expenses in the event of the wrongful death of a loved one

In cases of disabling injury, we work with life-care planners to determine the projected cost of your future medical and personal care needs, as well as the impact of your injuries on your life. Our goal will be to determine the full extent of your losses and the maximum value of your car accident claim.

We’ll Demand Full Compensation for Your Car Accident Losses

Once we have evidence of liability for the car accident and determine your losses, we will present a demand letter to the insurance company representing the at-fault driver. We will make sure any insurance you hold pays as it should, too.

An insurance company may respond to a demand letter by:

• Paying our demands up to the limit of coverage they have extended to the liable party.
• Rejecting our demands and denying the claim.
• Rejecting our demands and offering a lower settlement amount.

Typically, insurers make a counteroffer to settle the claim. If the amount is reasonable and acceptable to you, we can agree to it and conclude the case. In many cases, the insurance company’s initial offer is not acceptable. We would try to negotiate with the insurance company toward an acceptable settlement.

We will advise you about any settlement offer we receive. Ultimately, whether to accept a settlement offer is your decision.

Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit After a Car Accident

Most car accident cases are settled without a trial. If an insurance company refuses to agree to an appropriate settlement for your losses, we can file a personal injury lawsuit asking the court to compel payment.

There are many steps to a lawsuit before it is heard in court. The process includes discovery, in which each side shares its evidence with the other, and opposing attorneys question parties involved in the lawsuit under oath. We will prepare you for your role in discovery.

It is not unusual for a claim to be settled during discovery as the strength of our case becomes evident. A settlement may be offered and accepted at any time before a jury renders its verdict.

If your case goes to trial, we will brief you about what to expect and be at your side throughout the process.

At trial, we will present your case, and the insurance company will present its rebuttal. Each side will be allowed to present and cross-examine witnesses. After hearing both sides, the jury will consider the evidence and render its verdict, including the amount of compensation you are to be paid.

Contact Our Fort Wayne Car Accident Attorneys

If you have been significantly injured or lost a loved one in a car accident in Fort Wayne, contact Truitt Law Offices as soon as you can. In Indiana, you generally have two years from the date of a car accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. As we discuss above, there are many steps to a car accident claim which can be time-consuming to investigate and prepare. It is best to contact an attorney as soon as possible after an accident.

Attorney Richard Truitt has helped car accident victims and their families in Fort Wayne, Huntington, and across Northeastern Indiana for more than 40 years. Make your first call your only call. Connect with us now for a free consultation.

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Who Is Liable for Multi-Car Accidents in Indiana?

It can be difficult to determine which driver is at fault in a multi-car accident in Indiana and legally liable for the injuries suffered by others. It often takes an independent investigation to determine who should be held financially responsible and what they owe the injured.

The car accident lawyers of Truitt Law Offices can investigate the accident you were in and help you seek the compensation available by law. Fort Wayne car accident attorney Richard Truitt has successfully represented Indiana car accident victims and their families in Fort Wayne, Huntington, and communities throughout Northeastern Indiana for more than 40 years.

When a car accident involves three or more cars, there may be multiple parties who were negligent and multiple insurance policies available to provide compensation. The legal team at Truitt Law Offices will explore all the options for pursuing maximum compensation for you after a multi-car accident.

Working with a knowledgeable multi-vehicle accident attorney can be crucial to developing a strong accident claim. Allow the experienced and compassionate Fort Wayne car accident lawyers of Truitt Law Offices to review your case today. Contact us now for a free no-obligation legal consultation.

What Are Some Types of Multi-Car Accidents?

In a pileup, a series of rear-end collisions often occur as vehicles run into cars that have already slowed or stopped to avoid a collision. These accidents are sometimes referred to as chain-reaction collisions, with one car after another hitting a crashed vehicle ahead.

In addition to rear-end collisions, we often see multi-vehicle car accidents resulting from:

• Sideswipe accidents. A driver making an unsafe lane change glances off of the side of another vehicle as it tries to merge, causing either car to spin out of control and collide with other vehicles.
• Intersection accidents. An accident can occur when a driver attempts to turn left at an intersection and misjudges the speed of approaching vehicles leading to a collision. When cars collide at high speed in an intersection, the impact can send one or both vehicles careering into others.
• Work zones. Highway construction zones are dangerous places for multi-vehicle accidents. Road work zones require traffic to slow down and often merge lanes, detour, or stop. If a driver fails to slow down in a work zone, the driver may be unable to stop if traffic ahead stops unexpectedly. The highway contractor operating a work zone may be liable for crashes if the construction zone was not properly designed with adequate warnings and room for traffic to safely slow and merge. It is more likely that a negligent driver failed to recognize the need to slow down for the upcoming work zone.
• Debris on the road. Debris on a highway, such as cargo that falls off a trailer, is a common cause of accidents, as drivers swerve or slam on breaks to avoid running into the obstacle on the road. A driver who avoids a crash may cause others to crash because of their sudden, unexpected maneuver. A chain reaction of multiple vehicles braking, swerving, and crashing may follow.

Causes of Multi-Car Accidents

Multi-vehicle accidents can result from many types of driver negligence. A driver may cause a multi-car collision by:

• Failing to look adequately before attempting a turn or changing lanes
• Misjudging the speed of an oncoming vehicle or the distance between vehicles
• Misjudging another driver’s intentions
• Violating traffic laws, such as failing to yield or running a red light or stop sign
• Speeding and losing control of a vehicle
• Driving while distracted
• Driving while impaired by alcohol, drugs, or excessive fatigue

After a multi-car accident, it is not unusual for additional collisions to occur because of distracted drivers straining to get a look at the accident. Sometimes, secondary accidents caused by rubbernecking drivers occur on the opposite side of divided highways adjacent to the original collision.

How Is Fault Determined in a Multi-Car Accident?

After a multi-vehicle accident, it may not be immediately apparent why the crash happened. As the number of cars in a multi-vehicle collision goes up, the difficulty of determining who has liability also increases. Insurers are more likely to try to shift the blame to avoid liability. More than one driver – or a  third party such as a pedestrian – may have contributed to the accident as well.

Truitt Law Offices can investigate the multi-car accident that left you with serious injuries and gather evidence to support your claim for compensation. The evidence sought in crash investigations includes:

• Police reports. Responding officers record the identities of all involved, their injuries, the vehicles involved, their damage, and their final positions relative to each other. The police report contains the officer’s initial determinations about what happened and who if anyone was issued a traffic citation.
• Witness statements. This includes statements from those involved in the crash and anyone who may have seen it happen.
• Crash scene evidence. Skid marks, pavement gouges, and other evidence at the accident scene can be useful in determining how the accident occurred.
• Vehicle damage. Damaged vehicles can be evaluated to determine whether mechanical failures contributed to the crash.
• Event data recorders. The data recorders in newer vehicles contain data such as speed and trajectory at the time of impact, whether the driver braked, and whether cruise control was engaged.
• Surveillance footage. Security cameras at nearby businesses, ATMs, or public buildings may have captured the accident on video.

In a case involving a large multi-vehicle accident, our attorneys may work with accident reconstruction specialists to determine how the accident occurred.

Accident reconstruction specialists make a variety of sophisticated measurements to divide a pileup into separate crashes and determine how they happened. They study the evidence with a variety of forensic techniques to determine what occurred and where responsibility lies.

They provide us with narrative reports that include detailed graphics and can provide expert testimony supported by animated depictions of the most complex crashes.

Contact an Indiana Car Accident Lawyer Today

Multi-vehicle car accidents are often complex and confusing for those who have been injured or lost a loved one in them. The attorneys at Truitt Law Offices can investigate your accident, file your insurance claim and seek full compensation for you.

Don’t wait to seek help from an experienced multi-vehicle car accident lawyer at Truitt Law Offices. You generally have two years from the date of an auto accident to file a personal injury claim.

Make your first call your only call. At Truitt Law Offices, we work with crash victims and their families in Fort Wayne, Huntington, and across Northeastern Indiana. Contact us now for a free consultation.

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