Were you severely injured while out on a ride? Learn these 4 things you need to know about bicycle accidents, then call our Buffalo attorneys.
1. Liability
We get calls from people who are injured in bicycle accidents and one of the things they ask is, what rights do they have and do they have a claim for injury? That really does depend on what the cause of that injury was. In New York State, if you are injured during a recreational activity, there are certain protections that prevent lawsuits if the injury sustained was one that would be predicted or foreseen in doing that activity. However, if a boat, let’s say, crosses your path or another jet skier hits you and you are injured through the fault of somebody else, then that is where we would look for the liability portion of your claim.
2. Insurance Investigation
There’s no reason for you to ever speak to the insurance company on your own or without your attorney present or handling that phone call or letter or information for you. That’s why we’re there. Because the insurance carriers often frame questions in a way to benefit them. It might not seem apparent to you initially, but because we only handle cases of negligence, we deal with insurance carriers all day, every day. They treat people who are unrepresented sometimes differently than people that have an attorney. We’re there to protect them.
3. Settlement Offers
The is always no, do not accept the first settlement offer that comes to you. That’s for a good reason because the insurance carrier will deal with you differently than if you have an attorney. With us, they understand that if they don’t deal fairly, we can escalate it to the next level of litigation, and push them in that way, and get the courts involved. When it’s you on your own, I’ve never seen an initial offer be one that’s fair compensation. We’ve never been able to not get a better result for our clients than what they were attempting to initially get themselves. It’s for good reason. If you are a specialist, or you learn your job trade, or your career, and if you’re operating outside of that trying your own claim, you’re doing so maybe to your own detriment. I would definitely turn that down and talk to an attorney about it. Let them help you and represent you to get the best result that you can.
4. Insurance Coverage
In New York state, the car that strikes you is the primary insurance coverage for both the no-fault benefits we’ve discussed in other videos, and pain, or suffering, or bodily injury benefits. Your own insurance can protect you for additional no-fault benefits and for extra benefits as well as excess or additional personal injury protection and additional protection for bodily injury, pain and suffering compensation depending on if your personal limits are higher than that of the car that struck you.
Were you or a loved one seriously injured while out on a ride and have questions about these 4 things you need to know about bicycle accidents? Contact a Buffalo bicycle accident lawyer at Andrews, Bernstein & Maranto, PLLC today for a free confidential consultation and case evaluation. Let our experience work for you.
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