Accidents happen every day, from traffic accidents, to labor accidents, to accidents in the home.
Many times we think of car accidents as the most common type of accident when an injury occurs, and where there generally is another party involved who is directly the cause of the accident. But there are many different kinds of accidents that can result in injury and financial impact where, even though not as obvious, another party can be directly or indirectly responsible. Accidents occur on streets and roads, but also in parking lots of shopping centers, walking, or riding a bike or motorcycle, even exercising at a park. Accidents also occur at work, or at places such as restaurants, stores, etc.
We know accidents have consequences, physical, financial and emotional.
But who pays, and how much can a victim receive for the damages?
The Victim.
The first one that unfortunately pays as a result of an accident is the person or persons affected by the accident. Even though financial compensation can be recuperated for some victims, money often cannot fully remedy the physical and emotional damages that come as a result of a serious accident.
The insurance companies.
The insurance companies will pay when insurance is available. If you get injured in a car accident, auto insurance will cover the damages to the extent of the policy. If the accident occurs in a commercial location, for example in a store, office, stadium, hotel or restaurant, there is also likelihood that these sites are insured, so the insurance company would also pay if liability is proven.
The responsible party.
If a person was hurt as a result of the negligence of another, that individual or group of individuals are responsible for the accident and must pay for the damages incurred. The driver that was not paying attention and crashed into someone, the person who left debris on their walkway and caused a person to fall, the owner of the dog that bit a person, the employer who did not make the place of work safe. People whose direct actions caused the accident must also pay for the consequences.
Owners of property.
Also responsible are those owners of property that caused the accident. Machinery that was not working properly due to poor maintenance, the owner of a fence that was left broken, the owner of a tree that fell on someone else’s property causing damage.
Regarding the amount payable, there are a couple of considerations. One, is the amount of damages resulting from the accident, the other is the type and limit of the insurance policies. The amounts to be paid vary significantly since naturally, the victim wants to receive as much as possible for their damages and the responsible party wants to pay as little as possible, and more often than not, conflict arises.
Thus, victims need to have lawyers representing them to ensure not only direct damages are paid, but also indirect damages such as loss of work, long term consequences, pain and suffering etc. are also recuperated.