Sioux Falls Car Accident Lawyer

Building A Strong Case: Document Everything

In building a strong case, some of the most critical evidence from the scene of the accident include:

• 911 call recording (we obtain and transcribe)
• Insurance exchange of information
• Police or highway patrol’s report
• Physical evidence

Sometimes the visible damage to the car indicates the amount of damage that the human being(s) inside suffered, but frequently, that’s not the case. It’s not uncommon for the property damage to not look all that bad, but the injuries sustained by the occupants will be very significant.

Sometimes, people at the accident scene may not realize they’ve been hurt or the full extent of their injuries. It’s easy to overlook when you have adrenaline flowing or from the shock of the accident. It’s only in the days and weeks, perhaps months to come, that the true nature of your injuries comes to light.

At that stage, we help our clients by documenting everything along the way, in terms of medical damages, physical damages, and non-economic damages. We can hire expert witnesses if needed, such as accident reconstructionists or doctors specializing in impairment ratings and functional capacities assessments; specialists can evaluate and treat the actual injury the client has sustained. Sometimes a family doctor isn’t suited to that type of treatment. We walk them through all aspects of their injury case, beginning to end.

Determining Fault & Liability After a Car Accident

Even with accidents that are clearly the other driver’s fault, it is still wise to work with an experienced personal injury attorney with extensive experience in auto accident claims. The insurance company is still often simply not going to treat you fairly. For instance, they will claim you’re not that hurt or had preexisting injuries. They will want you to execute medical authorizations to turn your medical records over to them, and then they will try to use the medical records against you.

It’s not enough just that liability is certain. You need an attorney on your side who understands how to deal with your injuries. One who has experience in getting the right doctors’ opinions and who has experience working against the “preexisting conditions” defense and the “you’re not really injured” defense. Most of our cases are where liability is certain, and our clients have benefited from having an attorney to represent them against the insurance companies.

South Dakota Fault & Compensation Law

If you are partially at fault for the accident, it will impact your case. South Dakota has “contributory negligence,” meaning there can be negligence assigned on the part of the plaintiff. South Dakota Codified Law (SDCL) § 20-9-2 states that when a plaintiff’s contributory negligence is more than “slight,” in comparison to the defendant’s negligence, it acts as a barrier to any recovery of damages. 

The term “slight” is defined as small compared with the defendant’s negligence. However, suppose the plaintiff’s contributory negligence is not more than slight. In that case, the plaintiff can still recover damages, but the amount recovered is reduced in proportion to the amount of their contributory negligence. 

South Dakota law is very complex on the issue of contributory negligence. It can trip up a good claim, which is another reason to get an experienced lawyer working on your case right away.

How Iowa Is Different

Iowa has a “comparative fault” statute. Iowa Code Chapter 668. Under Iowa’s comparative fault law, the jury determines the fault between the parties to the lawsuit. Once the relative fault of both parties is determined, the plaintiff’s recovery is reduced by the amount of their attributed portion of their fault or negligence.

Dealing with the At-Fault Party’s Insurance

The at-fault party’s insurance company will want to reach out to you right away when they first learn of the accident. They will try to get a statement from you over the phone. I would recommend that you don’t give a statement to an insurance company without first hiring an auto accident lawyer. The insurance company can learn the essential facts of the accident directly from the police report.

Too often, insurance adjusters will go to an injured person’s hospital room or call them as they are just out of the ER. People in these conditions should not be giving statements to overzealous insurance adjusters. Frequently, they are medicated and have just been through a traumatic event; it’s the wrong time and place to provide such an important thing as a statement. Often, people don’t know how badly they are hurt in the immediate aftermath of an automobile accident. When you give a recorded statement, the adjuster may attempt to put “words in your mouth” or attempt to construe facts in a certain way that can hurt your case. It’s very dangerous in an automobile collision case. Proceed with caution!

To protect our clients, our firm will prevent that from happening. We get a letter of representation out to the insurance company and advise them that our client will not be giving a statement to the insurance company. It’s not going to happen without our presence. We need to be there to protect their interests.

You don’t have to answer any of their questions. The claims adjuster may be calling you repeatedly, trying to get a statement. It’s important to them because they want to take anything you say, any potential slip-up you make, and use it against you in a court of law. In a criminal case, the police must notify you of your Miranda rights, that anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. In the civil context, the insurance company doesn’t have to warn you that they will use any statement you make against you, but that’s exactly what they want to do.

They want to take a statement from you when you’re unprepared, minimize any liability on their insured’s part, and minimize their risk of exposure on the claim. In no way, shape, or form are they looking out for your interests. They are looking out for the insurance company’s interest.

Generally, with your own insurance company, you have a “duty of cooperation” written in your insurance policy. But with someone else’s insurance company, you don’t have to cooperate with them. You should only work with them through an experienced automobile accident attorney.

The at-fault party’s insurance company will frequently use the following three tactics to avoid paying out in a timely manner on a claim or denying the claim altogether:

Delay.

One of the insurance company’s main tactics is to delay the case and delay payment. People are often out of work, their medical bills, deductibles, and co-pays are mounting, and their pain and suffering aren’t stopping. Often, the insurance company will delay processing the claim to take economic advantage of the person injured in the automobile accident, to leverage the injured party’s financial condition to secure a settlement favorable to the insurance company.

Deny the claim.

Another tactic used by insurance companies is to deny the claim by asserting or arguing that you were “contributorily” or “comparatively” negligent, meaning your actions partially caused the accident. Those defenses, if established, may reduce your recovery or bar you from recovering damages at all. The insurance company may also say you have “assumed the risk” of the injury or come up with a similar legal defense.

Insurance companies may also argue that your claim is barred by the statute of limitations or notice provisions. If you wait too long to give notice or file and serve your lawsuit, your case may be barred due to the statute of limitations. You have no rights after the statute of limitations has passed. Therefore, you don’t want to sit back and let them develop those defenses. They will also use defenses such as failure to mitigate damages, meaning you should have sought additional medical care, but you didn’t. It is a weak defense, but it is used all the time.

They will also try to argue that the injured person may have pre-existing conditions or that the injury in this accident wasn’t very bad. They will claim you already had a bad back or neck. They will hire doctors, nurses, lawyers, and adjusters to pore over all those prior records with a fine-tooth comb to prove their defenses.

Defend.

Another tactic frequently used by insurance companies is forcing you into the litigation process. They don’t want to settle the case fairly with you. They want to force you to file a lawsuit. They want to force your claim to be delayed and force you to increase the expenses you are forced to incur to recover your claim fairly.

Over 35 years of professional practice, we have seen a change in their claims handling nationwide. Insurance companies are getting tougher on claims. You need to have a lawyer who has been there before. You need a lawyer who has successfully handled these cases in front of juries and to the Supreme Court and won. You need an attorney who will force the automobile insurance company to pay what the claim is worth. You need to have an attorney that the insurance companies respect. Our advice to clients often is to stand up for themselves, not cut and run, but rather stay and fight. It is the harder way, but it is often the right way to maximize their recovery, not only for them but also for their family.

Don’t Delay — Hire An Experienced Sioux Falls Motor Vehicle Accident Lawyer

To see how King Law Firm, can help you, contact us online or call (605) 250-3209 and schedule a free consultation.