Victim of a Truck Accident? Three Parties Your Truck-Accident Attorney Can Sue and Why
As a victim of a truck accident on the highway, you may be wondering how you are going to pay your bills, work, or even repair the damages to your vehicle. If your vehicle was damaged beyond repair, you may even have to replace it, something which you cannot afford in your current situation. If you hire a truck-accident attorney, the attorney can sue for compensation to help with your bills, including your legal fees. Here are three different parties your attorney can sue and why he or she can them for compensation.
The Driver
In these cases, the person most responsible for your accident is usually the truck driver. Your attorney can sue the driver for compensation for your medical bills since the driver was unable to regain control of his or her truck during the accident, which resulted in your current medical conditions. If it was his or her fault that the truck hit you and sent you to the emergency room, he or she should pay some (if not all) of your medical bills. You may also sue for pain and suffering and lost wages, if those conditions are applicable to your accident and in your home state.
The Company for Which the Driver Works
Since the truck driver may be covered by professional insurance and represented by a lawyer paid for by the driver's employer, you may also sue the driver's company. This is especially true if the company knew they were hiring someone with a less-than-appealing driving record but hired the driver anyway. It also applies if the driver was found to be under the influence at the scene of the accident or was not driving attentively.
Suing the Insurance Companies Covering the Driver and the Driver's Company
Finally, your lawyer may file motions to sue for damages to your vehicle or the replacement thereof by suing the insurance companies that cover the truck driver and the company for which the truck driver works. In the meantime, do not cash any settlement or claim checks sent to you via the driver's insurance company or the truck driver's company insurance provider. The amounts of these checks may be needed to show a disparity in court between the damages and injuries incurred by you and the amounts that these insurance companies felt they should pay as "a fair and equitable amount" of compensation. It is possible that your lawyer could sue for more, thereby covering your costs almost entirely (should you win).
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