Whenever you are involved in a car accident or other serious personal injury accident, no matter how major or minor, you likely and naturally want to sue the other party. However, you may or may not receive the settlement you want. It depends on how the courts or insurance adjuster determines who was at fault. Since you will be filing a lawsuit or a claim after a personal injury accident, you will also be hiring a personal injury lawyer. This professional will tell you that establishing fault in personal injury accident cases is not always cut and dry. Read this article to learn why!

Frequently asked questions

Your lawyer will tell you that his or her clients ask him or her many questions regarding who was at fault in any personal injury accident. Your lawyer will also tell you what the following FAQs are:

Prove who was at fault for the accident

You naturally want everyone to believe that you were the victim because you were involved in a personal injury accident. However, as your personal injury lawyer in Fountain Valley will tell you, the law may not always agree with you. Just remember that because you will probably be settling your case out of court with the other party, your lawyers, and insurance adjusters, you are not required to provide absolute proof of your lack of fault in comparison to that of the other party. However, you do need to make a valid argument that you were the victim.

Remember that if you and your personal injury lawyer make a good argument which you back up with valid and solid evidence, the defendant’s insurance adjuster will realize that your case would likely hold up in court. He or she would then be more willing to give you the settlement that you are asking for. This is because insurance adjusters and their employers want to avoid the headaches and expenses involved with ‘taking the case to court!’

Will you receive any compensation in a situation where comparative negligence applies?

Rest assured that you and your lawyer can still win some settlement amount even if you were 49% at fault in the personal injury accident. Keep in mind that the courts and/or the insurance adjuster will determine your final settlement by comparing your degree of fault with that of the other party. Your settlement would then be reduced by the percentage of fault that either the courts or the insurance adjuster found you to be at!

You should also know that some states will negate your compensation completely if you were found to be even 1% at fault for the accident. Part of this is because of the fact that neither the courts or the other party’s insurance adjuster use a predetermined formula when determining who was at fault and the percentage of their fault. They just take many factors into consideration which they obtain by talking to both parties involved in the accident.

Will you get compensation even if you had a pre-existing condition or injury that made your current injury (from the personal injury accident) worse?

Your lawyer will tell you that you can get compensation for your current injuries even if you have a pre-existing condition that made them (your current injuries) even worse.

How does personal injury law define negligence?

You are negligent whenever you behave in a careless way that can cause harm to another person. A good example of this is driving drunk, t-boning another car and causing that driver to have a bad back. In this instance, you breached your duty of care towards that person which is to drive responsibly (responsible people never drive drunk), safely, and defensively. Remember that you have to prove that the other party was negligent if you want to win a settlement against him or her either in court or during the negotiations process.