How do you reach a fair bike accident settlement? Sometimes, an accident is inevitable no matter how cautiously someone drives on the road. But, do you know who the crash-prone victims of these accidents are? These are none other than bike riders! It’s distressing, but a bike rider witnesses four times more severe injuries than other accidents. These catastrophic injuries require hospitalization and long-term treatments that can eventually give a financial blow to the accident victim.
Normally, victims claim such expenses from insurance companies. However, the insurers, without much botheration of the victim’s needs, pay very little compensation to the victims. Therefore, to cover such expenses, only a law attorney can help the victims to find an escape.
The law attorney oversees the case to find the best solution for the victims. In doing so, a bike accident lawyer in St. Petersburg negotiated with the insurers to deliver the desired settlements.
What Fair Bike Accident Settlement Coverage does the Victim Get?
There is no predetermined compensation that a victim can expect from the insurance companies. Instead, a victim can seek compensation for financial and non-financial damages depending on the ins and outs of the case from the insurance companies. The compensation includes:
Medical Expenses
A victim can recover all the damages of the past, present, and future medical compensations for the treatments. It may include ambulance transportation, imaging, blood tests, medications, and physiotherapy expenses. The victims can easily recover the medical expenses by claiming settlements.
Lost Wages
Due to the accidental injuries, the victim cannot go to the workplace. As a result, the victim suffers lost wages, including salary, wages, and self-employment. It’s a financial hit on the victim’s part that lessens an individual’s earnings. The victims can demand such compensation from the insurers.
Vehicle Damages
An accident can result in total vehicle damage that may require high expenses. For such cases, a victim can claim the expenses from the insurers. In doing so, insurance companies calculate the damages and pay the maintenance charges for the vehicle’s wear and tear.
Non-Economic Damages
Physical pain can go away with medical treatments, but emotional trauma is unbearable for a victim. Moreover, if this emotional trauma is left untreated, it onsets depression and anxiety disorders in the victim. Such damage can eventually harm an individual’s well-being. Therefore, a victim can claim the insurance company for these noneconomic expenses.
Fair Settlement Coverage for a Wrongful Death in a Bike Accident
Money can’t replace the life of the victim! However, it can help the family of the deceased one to move forward. The spouse, child, and the deceased’s parent can claim the expenses from the insurance companies. The compensation includes:
Funeral and Burial Cost
The funeral and the burial cost associated with the victim’s death are paid to the family of the deceased ones. The deceased’s spouse, child, and parent can claim such expenses from the insurers.
Future Income
If the deceased one is the single-earner in the family, it can greatly impact the family’s finances. The deceased family can recover future income loss claims from the insurers with fair settlements.
Pain and Sufferings
The death of a loved one can cause emotional distress in the family, which may take several months to get through the losses. The insurance companies compensate the family for the severe pain and the life hardships.
Factors Affecting Victims to get Desired Compensations After a Bike Accident
Here are a few considerations that a victim must keep in mind before claiming the expenses.
Consistency of Matching Statement & Actions
What a victim says must match the actions! The insurance companies and their legal team compare the statements, and if there are inconsistencies, it weakens the claims and takes longer to settle.
Line Of Work
The victim’s sayings can’t decide the seriousness of the injuries. Instead, the medical records and doctor’s prognosis describe the seriousness of the injuries.
If a victim doesn’t have any evidence, it can affect the compensations a victim is entitled to receive.
Insurance Coverage
Does the bike hold insurance coverage? Is the victim insured? Will the insurance plan cover the claims? It severely affects the victims in getting compensation.
Fault Determination
One is more likely to enter the negotiations if the other party is at fault. Moreover, it may affect the claims if you are at fault or if there is any dispute.
Bike Safety Measures
The insurance companies check whether the victim was wearing the helmet at the time of the accident. If the victim didn’t wear the helmet at the time of the accident, the insurance companies can argue and claim their negligence caused the accident.
How Can Victims Reach Fair Settlements Post Bike Accident?
Remember that insurance companies will never cooperate for fair compensation. Therefore, victims must consider a few things to get the maximum settlement from the insurance companies.
Acquire Critical Information from the Accident Location
The first thing a victim must consider to get a fair settlement after a bike accident is to prove another party guilty. It starts with collecting critical information from the accident location. Make sure everyone is safe and has first aid after the accident.
Call the police authorities and file a report against the other party. The information collected by the police is critical and acts as evidence to negotiate fair settlements from the insurers.
Here are a few things that need to be considered.
- Traffic signals and road signs at the time of the accident
- Was the driver intoxicated?
- Was the driver following the speed limits?
Acquire all the critical information and evidence that can prove the other side guilty. For example, having eye-witness evidence on your side can work as strong evidence to reach fair settlements.
Provide Medical Evidence for Sustained Injuries
The bike accident may result in fatal to severe injuries. It may require hospital charges, transportation, and medication charges. Providing the relevant evidence of the medical treatments acts as medical evidence to claim fair settlements. It includes:
- Medical bills
- Medical professionals statement
- Ambulance transportation receipts
- Imaging scan bills
- Surgeries bills
- Physiotherapy receipts
- Doctor follow-up receipts
- Therapy charges receipts
Providing such medical evidence to the insurance companies can help the victims achieve fair compensation for the expenses incurred.
Hire an Experienced Law Attorney After a Bike Accident
Unlike normal accidents, bike accidents are subject to liabilities and certain conditions that cannot be managed without an experienced law attorney. The attorney looks out for the outcomes of the case so that a victim gets maximum compensation for the claims.
The accident lawyers tackle and navigate the negotiation process. First, lawyers do everything possible to determine the fault by understanding the insurance companies’ tactics to pay little for the claims. Then, they showcase the relevant evidence so that the victims never agree with the unfair settlements.
Don’t Agree with Low Settlements
The insurance companies call the victims soon after the accident to settle the claims. Calling victims soon after the accident refrains the possibility of the victim hiring a law attorney. In such cases, insurance companies easily settle the case and offer less compensation than a victim must receive.
It is frustrating because the victims get little of their worth to pay off medical debts. In such cases, an experienced accident attorney can help the victims get all the medical bills, rehabilitation costs, ongoing physical therapy costs, and the lost wages for the victim away from work.
Contact Your Law Attorney Before Giving Any Statement
After the accident, insurance companies ask the victims for recorded statements. The insurance company executives can use these statements against the victims anytime and prove them guilty.
So, if a victim is asked for recorded statements, the victim should refuse to give any statement without consulting the lawyers. It is because the lawyers understand the case aspects and never guide the victims wrong in situations that can weaken the case. In this way, a legal team helps the victims to attain fair compensation.
Call us After a Bike Accident
If you are a victim of a bike accident and the insurance companies are not paying the desired compensation, then a bike accident lawyer can help you. The lawyers on behalf of a victim don’t settle claims for any less amount and do everything to get the full payouts.
So, it is vital to take a smart decision immediately after the accident and consult bike accident attorneys to get the right settlements. Contact the Coleman Law Group today for a free case evaluation!
