Who do you turn to when you are involved in a car accident with substantial property damage? Car accidents are problematic and stressful enough without having to worry about being cheated out of insurance coverage when your property is damaged. Under Texas law, McKinney car owners are required to carry a minimum of $25,000 liability insurance for damaged property (However, additional recoveries can be obtained for bodily injuries). If the costs of the property damage are more than that, as they often are when the accident involves late-model luxury vehicles, the driver at fault is still required to pay out of pocket for any additional expenses and may be sued.
Victims of these accidents may benefit from carrying underinsured and uninsured driver insurance. Gap insurance is a must-have for people who purchase a brand-new vehicle to hedge against falling underwater on the loan. This can occur when the brand-new car is totaled and the depreciation is calculated in a range where they cannot easily replace the vehicle with one of the same value (e.g., 2,000 miles). Gap insurance ensures that they receive full purchase price. If you or a loved one was involved in a car accident in Mckinney, Texas with substantial property damage you may want to contact an experienced car accident attorney from the Law Office of David Kohm.
Assessing the Damages
One of the biggest tricks played by the insurance companies turns upon assessing the damages and what the company is willing to pay for the repairs. Unless you have a good relationship with an auto repair shop to side with you on the actual costs for the repairs, you will likely be cheated. The insurance company may calculate the damages based upon inferior aftermarket parts and sub-par labor rates that cover the bare minimum to push the vehicle out the door. In some instances, they may not pay at all.
Adjusters are looking for any excuse to not pay and will twist around statements you make to them to create vacuum analyses. A vacuum analysis is a method of picking out the parts that would create evidence that you are to blame for the accident and using that as the basis for their rationale. It looks legitimate or at most a “good faith” mistake because you may have actually said these things. When your statements are fragmented and taken out of context, the adjuster can pretend he was confused to pull a fast one. For example, you may admit that you sped up to avoid the accident. The adjuster can construe this as you admitting fault that you were speeding.
This is why it is paramount to let a McKinney car accident attorney speak with your insurance company and make an official statement that presents your claims without ambiguity. The same is true with physical injury symptoms. Nearly any accident is going to lead, in the very least, to whiplash symptoms unless it was a stop and go fender-bender at 5-mph or a parking accident. Whiplash occurs when there is a sudden jerky back and forth movement of the head and neck. The onset of whiplash symptoms can be delayed and may be difficult to correlate with the accident if you are not observant of the signs. A McKinney Car Accident Attorney can present expert testimony in your case for maximum compensation.
The signs of whiplash may include:
- Fatigue
- Blurred vision
- Numbness or tingling sensations in the extremities
- Pain and stiffness in neck and back
- Headaches at the base of the skull
- Limited range of motion in the neck
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
- Depression
Preserving the Record
It is important to seek out medical care if you are feeling any of these symptoms to document them on the record. The insurance company will be required to cover the costs of all your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, etc. It is a matter of proving that you were not at fault when you are involved in a car accident with substantial property damage. If the driver who hit you was violating any traffic laws, these typically create brightline standards of care that hold them responsible for liability.
Contact the Law Offices of David Kohm
Call our law offices today at any of our convenient locations and get a free consultation.
Arlington (817) 522-4451
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