If my husband was hit after a semi-truck ran a red light, what is the financial responsibility of the trucking company’s insurance?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If my husband was hit after a semi-truck ran a red light, what is the financial responsibility of the trucking company’s insurance?
He was very shaken up and sore but not injured enough to require an ER visit. Our pickup truck is totaled. We have kept out pickup well maintained and recently replaced the transmission feeling it is worth much more than the blue book value.
Asked on June 20, 2013 under Accident Law, Tennessee
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
The trucking company's insurance carrier is liable for the loss of your pickup truck. You should raise the issue of the new transmission regarding the value of your truck with the trucking company's insurance carrier in your property damage claim. The property damage is usually settled early in the case.
Your husband may need medical treatment for the "soreness". Your husband's personal injury claim is separate from the property damage claim filed with the trucking company's insurance carrier. When your husband completes his medical treatment and is released by the doctor, obtain the medical bills, medical reports, and documentation of any wage loss. Your husband's personal injury claim filed with the trucking company's insurance carrier should include these items. Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of his injury and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.
If your husband is dissatisfied with settlement offers from the trucking company's insurance carrier, he should reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the trucking company. If the case is settled with the trucking company's insurance carrier, NO lawsuit is filed. If the case is NOT settled with the trucking company's insurance carrier, your husband's lawsuit for negligence against the trucking company must be filed prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or your husband will lose his rights forever in the matter.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.