The victim of a car accident could file a 3rd party claim if 2 things were true:
1) The insured driver was partially at-fault for the accident’s occurrence, or for the accident-linked injury; and
2) the driver’s insurance policy included liability coverage for both injuries and property damage.
How to make a 3rd party claim
Have your own insurance company help you with submitting a claim at the defendant’s insurance company. If your own insurance company has refused to offer such assistance, go online and search for the insurance company’s online claim portal.
If you cannot find that claim portal, look for the insurance company’s phone number. Call the phone number you have obtained and give this information
—Your name
—Your email address
—The date of the accident
—The other driver’s name
—The number on the other driver’s insurance policy
Actions to take after filing claim
Speak with a car accident lawyer in Ottawa
Cooperate with the insurance company’s investigation, but do not accept unfair settlement terms
Prepare a document that substantiates the information on each of the victim’s injuries.
Provide the adjuster with relevant medical records.
The issues that might delay achievement of a settlement agreement, with respect to coverage of any claimed injuries or property damage
Assignment of liability: The defendant’s insurance company might allege that the victim is at least partly responsible for either the accident’s occurrence, or for the extent of the accident-linked injuries.
Alternatively, the defendant’s insurance company might challenge the presented claims about the nature and extent of the victim’s injuries. That is why every accident victim should seek medical assistance. In that way the victim’s efforts at going after treatment for a given injury can be documented.
How should victims plan to face such possible allegations?
The best approach involves hiring a personal injury lawyer. Victims that have failed to hire a lawyer after filing a claim often give more serious consideration to that possible action, if the settlement talks have stalled. An injury attorney in Kingston could assist a victim that had been hit with an allegation of shared blame.
An attorney’s experience could help an accident victim to prove that he or she had not been reckless or negligent, and had not engaged in purposefully harmful behavior. An adjuster would find it hard to prove any allegation of shared blame, if his/her insurance company lacked a way to counter the challenge from the other party’s lawyer.
Unfortunately, few victims have succeeded in fighting an adjuster, after pursuing a claim without a lawyer’s assistance. When victims’ hesitation, regarding retention of an attorney has influenced the same victims’ decisions, the resulting settlement terms seldom guarantee delivery of a compensation that any member of the legal community would describe as a fair deal.
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