Illinois PERSONAL
INJURY LAWYER

What to Do When the At-Fault Party or Insurance Company Blames You

Insurance companies are involved in many personal injury cases, not just car accidents. If you were injured on another party’s property – either a business or private residence – there may be a homeowner’s or business liability policy that covers your injury.

Insurers may also be involved in product liability or other cases involving a business in some way. When seeking damages for a client, we always look for a relevant insurance policy, but if there isn’t one, we can pursue damages from the responsible party directly.

Although there are multiple ways an insurance company might try to avoid paying your claim, one very common tactic is to say that your injuries were your fault.

The specifics vary depending on the nature of the accident and injuries, but the insurance company can usually find a way to make the situation your responsibility – especially if you talk to them without consulting a lawyer. 

Another strategy the insurance adjuster may use is calling you to ask how you’re feeling after your injury, etc.

Be wary of these calls. They may seem innocent, but the insurance adjuster hopes you’ll say something they can twist into an admission of guilt.

The best solution is to let the call go to voicemail; if you do answer and find out it’s the insurance company, simply say that it’s not a good time to talk and hang up. Then, call a lawyer immediately.

What if It Was Obviously the Other Party’s Fault?

One misconception we hear a lot is that you don’t need a lawyer if it was obviously the other party’s fault. There are several issues with assuming your case will be easy or simple because the other party was clearly negligent:

What seems obvious to you may not seem obvious to the other party, the responding officers, or the insurance company. 

This is especially true if there weren’t any other witnesses to the incident that caused your injuries. You may have seen the other driver running a red light, for example, but the other driver might swear that you ran the light.

Even if the other party admits they were wrong, you can still share the blame. 

Under Illinois law, parties can share responsibility for an accident or injury using a concept called modified comparative negligence. You can collect damages if you are as much as 50 percent at fault, but at 51 percent, you can no longer collect damages, and the other party can pursue damages from you.

If your portion of responsibility is below 51 percent, that percentage will be subtracted from your final award. So, if you were 10 percent at fault, and you had $15,000 in damages, you would only collect $13,500.

This means that even if the other driver admits they ran the red light, their insurance company might look for ways to say you were partly at fault. Maybe they claim you were speeding or distracted and could have still avoided the crash if you’d been going slower or paying attention.

The goal here isn’t to prove the accident was entirely your fault – just that you shared some blame so that they can reduce their payout by 10, 20, or 30 percent, or more in some cases.

If it is obvious that the other party was 100 percent at fault, the insurance company may shift strategies.

Sometimes, the insurance adjuster realizes that blaming you will not be effective. When this happens, they may do something unexpected and make you an offer – it may even seem like a good offer!

But this is another situation where you should be very careful. An insurance company’s initial offer is frequently much lower than your actual damages.

In many cases, this is a very successful strategy for the insurance company for several reasons:

• Valuing an insurance claim is tricky, and the average person will underestimate their own damages. Many of our clients have damages they didn’t consider – future medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, etc. We will work to value all your damages and ensure the insurance company includes them in your settlement. Unfortunately, people who handle their own claims often find they have more expenses after the fact. 
• Once you’ve accepted the settlement, the insurance company has no further legal obligation. If you have more bills later, you’ll have to pay them yourself.
• Sometimes, the insurance company also undervalues the damages you do have. They may decide some of your medical treatments were “unnecessary” or that your damage can be fixed for a lower price.

The best solution is to have a personal injury lawyer review your offer before accepting it. This is especially important if the insurance adjuster pressures you to accept the offer quickly.

We’ll calculate all your damages and compare them to the insurance company’s offer. If the offer is lacking, we can negotiate with the insurer for a more reasonable settlement.

How to Prove Fault in Your Personal Injury Case

Your personal injury lawyer will immediately start searching for more evidence in your case. Our investigators are skilled at uncovering evidence that an official investigation may have missed.

Police reports are helpful, but they are often written by officers who have limited time to investigate and very little info to go on. We may be able to find additional information to show the other party was negligent in your injury.

Some examples include:

• Video or photo evidence. Today, phones and cameras are available in almost every situation, and sometimes people have video of an accident or injury scene without even realizing it. Our investigators will look for security, traffic, or doorbell cameras and attempt to locate any recent videos that could show the injury.
• Witnesses. When you have an accident or injury in a heavily trafficked area, there are often multiple witnesses, but some may have to leave the scene before being interviewed. We always recommend getting the names and contact info of any witnesses to your injury, but we understand this isn’t always practical. Our investigators will canvas the area where your injury occurred and may find additional witnesses.
• Documents. In some cases, we may ask you about emails or other documents that can corroborate your story. With personal injury situations involving businesses, sometimes we hope to uncover internal documents that show when a company was aware of a problem or injury. After filing a lawsuit, we can request these items in the discovery portion of trial activities.
• Electronic evidence. Sometimes, we also seek electronic records of cars, trucks, planes, or other machinery involved in your accident – “black box” data, for example. In certain defective product cases, we may even have an expert examine coding or other design flaws in an electronic item.
• Medical records. These establish your injuries and can sometimes give us clues as to how your accident or injury happened.

After collecting as much evidence as possible, we’ll create a strategy to win your case.

Do You Have to Go to Trial for a Personal Injury Claim?

Occasionally, personal injury cases are resolved with a trial, but in most circumstances, we negotiate a settlement with the insurance company out of court. This allows the client to receive a fair settlement without the time, stress, and expense of a trial.

However, we won’t advise clients to accept an offer that doesn’t adequately cover their damages if they have a strong case.

We will negotiate with the insurance company or responsible party and try to work things out, but if they flatly refuse to make a decent offer despite our best efforts, we’re prepared to fight for you in court.

What Kinds of Situations Are Included in Personal Injury Cases?

In general, any situation where you were harmed by the negligent or intentional actions of another party might result in a personal injury claim. Some of the major categories of personal injury cases include:

• Car accidents
• Truck accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Bicycle accidents 
• Pedestrian accidents
• Plane crashes or train accidents
• Boat accidents
• Dog bites or attacks
• Golf cart or ATV accidents
• Medical malpractice
• Product liability (includes dangerous drugs or medical devices)
• Premises liability (includes negligent security, slips and falls, and other situations where an injury occurs on someone else’s property)
• Construction site or other workplace accidents (typically handled by Workers’ Compensation but may involve third-party claims in some cases)

If your accident or injury doesn’t fit into one of these categories, call us for a free consultation anyway, and we’ll advise you on any possible options for recovering compensation.

How to Get Help From an Illinois Personal Injury Law Firm

Please contact The Personal Injury Lawyers ™ at (312) 999-9990 for a free consultation about your injury. We’ll review your case, identify potentially liable parties, answer questions, and explain your choices for moving forward.