Asked 5 months ago - Austin, TX
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I was in a car accident with a relative a month and a half ago. The person in the van in front stopped dead in the middle of the street, my relative stopped, then the car behind us banged us really hard from the back pushing us into the van in front.
The van had a few scratches, my relative car was damaged badly in front, the car behind was damaged the worst in the front.
However, our lawyer called telling us that the insurance company of the person behind us is saying my relative hit the van, then she was hit, so they are only paying for the back damages. Looks like the lawyer has given up.
I had minor injuries, but now I owe the hospital money for taking care of my injuries and x-rays. Which insurance company/companies do I contact to see about getting my medical bills paid for?
Multi vehicles accidents can be complicated. I suggest you seek counsel from an attorney who is board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas board of legal specialization. He or she should be able to obtain adequate compensation for your injuries. In the interim remember to continue to follow your doctors orders and continue to car for your injuries. Good luck.
There are several ways to try and do this. First off, you are innocent and deserve payment no matter where it comes from. This includes making a claim on your relatives policy. Also, once the accusation is made against your driver, the lawyer has a hard time continuing representing you both, though he can get a "waiver of conflict" letter signed by you both, but even then it is not a terrific idea for you. You did not cause the accident an no one can claim that you did. I haven't seen the police report. In my opinion, the best way in the short run is to contact your own carrier to see if you have PIP (personal injury protection) or Medpay benefits (these are no-fault benefits, that you may have paid for, that your carrier can pay to you when you submit the bills to them. I think you need to do that no matter what. People are concerned about premiums going up. It has been my experience that carriers do not cancel, non-renew or increase premiums for making no-fault claims. In fact, I don't think they can do those things without a history of no-fault claims. That said, a carrier may withdraw a no-claim discount that may have previously been part of your profile so that when the discount is no longer applied, you pay more. Also, if your lawyer is getting out, it may be too difficult for them to make money in the situation. It is possible for you to contact both carriers and ask for them to split it, or at least for someone to pay your bills. All too often, though, theinsurance carriers enjoy the game of pointing at each other which encourages both of them to not pay, leaving you with no way to get anywhere on it. I wish you the best of luck.
Determining Legal Liability
Most accidents happen because someone was careless. The basic rule is: If one person involved in an accident was less careful than another, the less careful one must pay for at least a portion of the damages suffered by the more careful one.
Legal liability for almost all accidents is determined by this rule of carelessness, and by one or more of the following simple propositions:
If the injured person was where he or she was not supposed to be, or somewhere he or she should have expected the kind of activity which caused the accident, the person who caused the accident might not be liable because that person had no "duty" to be careful toward the injured person.
If the injured person was also careless, his or her compensation may be reduced by the extent such carelessness was also responsible for the accident. This is known as comparative negligence.
If a negligent person causes an accident while working for someone else, the employer may also be legally responsible for the accident.
If an accident is caused on property that is dangerous because it is poorly built or maintained, the owner of the property is liable for being careless in maintaining the property, regardless of whether he or she actually created the dangerous condition.
If an accident is caused by a defective product, the manufacturer and seller of the product are both liable even if the injured person doesn't know which one was careless in creating or allowing the defect, or exactly how the defect happened. (For more information, see Proving a Defective Product Liability Claim.)
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