Virginia Truck Accident Lawyer Protects Victims From Tricky Insurance Company Tactics
You thought filing an insurance claim after your truck accident on I-95 would be straightforward. But now, the insurance adjuster is pressuring you to give a recorded statement, sign medical releases, and accept a quick settlement, all while suggesting you were partially at fault for the crash.
At The Mottley Law Firm, our Virginia truck accident lawyers have witnessed firsthand how insurance companies try to reduce or deny valid claims. We help victims understand their legal rights and fight back against these aggressive tactics. Examine common insurance company strategies and see how our legal team can help protect your interests.
Offering a Quick Settlement Before Full Medical Assessment
The insurance company calls within days of your accident, offering what seems like a generous settlement. What they don't tell you is that truck accident injuries often take weeks or months to fully manifest. While you may experience what appear to be minor injuries at first, you could later develop serious vision problems and chronic headaches that prevent you from working.
Requesting Broad Medical Record Access
Insurance adjusters frequently ask victims to sign blanket medical authorizations. They then comb through years of records, looking for prior injuries or conditions they can blame for your current symptoms. For example, if you had previous back pain from playing sports, they may try to attribute your current back injury to that earlier condition rather than the truck accident.
The insurance company might discover you visited a chiropractor years ago for routine neck stiffness. If so, they may try to reframe your injury as a preexisting condition, even though the previous chiropractic visits were for minor tension that had fully resolved.
Manipulating Recorded Statements
Adjusters are trained to ask questions when collecting recorded statements that may lead you to unknowingly minimize your injuries or admit partial fault. A simple response like "I'm feeling okay" when asked how you're doing could be used to dispute the severity of your injuries, even if you were just trying to be polite.
Adjusters could ask about road conditions or your speed before the crash. They could twist "The roads were a bit wet from earlier rain" to suggest you were driving too fast for the conditions, even though the truck driver's unsafe lane change was the true cause of the collision.
Monitoring Your Social Media Activity
Insurance companies may hire investigators to follow you or monitor your social media accounts. A photo of you gardening or attending a family event could be taken out of context to suggest you're not as injured as claimed, even if that activity caused significant pain or you spent the next day recovering.
Disputing Liability for the Truck Accident
Insurance companies know that Virginia's pure contributory negligence law prevents recovery if you bear any fault for the accident, even if it is just 1%. They often exploit this rule by suggesting you contributed to the crash in minor ways.
Even with dashboard camera footage showing the truck driver at fault, insurance companies often try to shift blame to the accident victim. They might claim you were slightly over the speed limit, didn't signal a lane change early enough, or failed to honk your horn to warn their driver of danger.
Challenging Medical Treatment Timeline Gaps
Insurance companies often argue that gaps in medical treatment mean your injuries aren't serious. For instance, if you waited a week after your Richmond truck accident to see a specialist for worsening neck pain, they may claim the delay proves your injuries were only minor.
Similarly, if you missed several physical therapy appointments because you couldn't find transportation after the truck accident left you unable to drive, adjusters might suggest you weren't committed to recovery. These arguments ignore real-world obstacles accident victims face when seeking treatment.
Claiming Overly Aggressive Medical Treatment
Another common truck insurance company tactic involves questioning the necessity of your medical care. The insurance adjuster might argue that less expensive treatments would have been sufficient, trying to avoid paying for procedures their own doctors haven't examined you to evaluate.
The insurer might claim that certain traumatic brain injury rehabilitation was excessive despite clear documentation from medical specialists showing the treatment was essential for the victim's recovery. Insurance companies particularly challenge treatments that continue past the arbitrary time limits they set, regardless of your real medical needs.
How Our Virginia Truck Accident Law Firm Protects Your Rights
Our track record speaks for itself. In a recent case, we secured a $3.5 million federal jury verdict for a 54-year-old woman injured in an I-81 truck crash. The trucking company initially disputed liability, but we proved their driver's negligence through careful investigation and presentation of evidence, including Omnitracs system data and dash camera footage.
Our Virginia truck accident lawyers:
- Gather and preserve critical evidence before it disappears
- Work with medical experts to document the full extent of your injuries
- Handle all communication with insurance adjusters
- Calculate the full value of your claim, including future medical care and lost earnings
- Take cases to trial when insurance companies refuse fair settlements
Don't face the trucking insurance company alone. The Mottley Law Firm serves clients throughout Virginia, including Richmond and surrounding communities. Let us put our proven experience to work to protect your rights and pursue the compensation you deserve.