If you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident, your insurance company will be studying the information from numerous sources, in order to determine who should be named as the at-fault driver. The insurer does not assume that the police report has identified the correct motorist.
Information studied by insurance companies
• Witness statements
• Police report
• Weather conditions
• Driver’s speed
• Extent of damage
If the evidence indicates that you are not at fault, then you should not need to worry about having to deal with higher insurance rates. If you live in Ontario, and if you are named as the at fault driver, then your insurance company must provide you with a defense attorney. Consequently, it will seek to recover that cost by raising the rate that you have been paying for your premium.
Facts to keep in mind when paying for coverage from your insurer
Most cases that arise following a motor vehicle accident get handled by one or the many insurance companies. In other words, once you have been in a collision, you have the option of letting your insurer handle all of the details that pertain to the efforts at reaching a settlement. Usually, a case that concerns claims made by an accident victim does not go to trial.
The injury lawyer in Oakville knows that insurance company’s ability to estimate the costs for repairs and injuries remains greatest during the pre-trial negotiations. Even the need to attend a mediation session does not diminish that control to any great degree. Yet the situation changes the minute that a judge and jury get a chance to decide on the proper award for a plaintiff.
That fact highlights the reason that insurers push for a pre-trial settlement. Drivers that have not contributed to a given collision typically share the insurer’s distaste for the need to devote resources towards planning for a trial. In the absence of complications, why bother with spending time in a courtroom?
How could a driver know whether or not there might be complications linked to a given accident?
Drivers that have failed to hire a lawyer have no good way of knowing for sure what complications might exist. A driver might assume that he or she had no injuries. Of course, a driver’s judgement should not become the basis for determining the best way to proceed, following the same driver’s involvement in an accident.
That fact highlights the nature of the service provided by insurers. Their protection can come at a price, even if the cost of a premium remains the same. If a policy holder has not hired a lawyer, the insurance company might push for a settlement before all those riding in the damaged vehicle got properly examined by a physician.