How Do Insurance Companies Decide Who Is at Fault?

For anyone who has ever been involved in a car accident before, you know that insurance companies can play a part in the aftermath of the accident. Whether you walk away with relatively minor injuries or your injuries might fall into the catastrophic category, the process of seeking compensation for your injuries will often involve determining who is at fault.

No matter the severity of a car accident, parties, and insurance companies involved will want to identify who is at fault.

The process of how to tell who is at fault can be complex. State laws and practices are different states to state and by each individual’s insurance company. Other details like witness statements, damage to the vehicles, police reports, and medical reports may be used as well to assign fault.

So below, let’s take a short look at how fault and liability are determined in a car accident by insurance companies.

How Does An Insurance Company Decide Who Is At Fault?

An insurance company will determine which driver is at fault based on the overall definition of negligence. But the definition of negligence can change depending on which state the accident occurs in.

For example, Ohio is a no-fault state. This means that the driver who is found to be at fault will be liable for any injuries caused. This no-fault detail will be important for insurance companies to be aware of when they start to go over the information related to the accident as they will need to factor that into their findings.

To determine which driver is at fault, insurance companies will take state laws such as Ohio being a no-fault state into consideration. Other details that they will look at include:

• Other state laws that may apply to car accidents and assigning fault
• The insurance company’s own guidelines
• Police reports
• Medical reports
• Vehicle damage
• Evidence from the scene of the crash like photos and injuries

Traffic Laws Can Be Considered By Insurance Companies

As we look at how to tell who is at fault in a car accident, there is one more detail that insurance companies may take into consideration.

An insurance company might also look at the traffic laws in the area where the accident occurred.

These traffic laws can be found by looking at relevant posted road signs, traffic lights, and any temporary signage that might be in place from construction. This can help to determine if a driver broke any traffic laws.

Things like road signs and traffic lights can often be referenced in photographic evidence taken immediately after the accident, which is why gathering evidence after an accident can be important.

How Fault And Liability Is Determined In A Car Accident

The details of an accident are how an insurance company will determine who is at fault in a car accident. So once the individuals that were involved in the car accident file a claim with their insurance companies, an adjuster will be assigned to the claim.

An insurance adjuster will typically be the person who handles the investigation on behalf of the insurance company.

There may even be more than one adjuster if the situation calls for it.

Insurance adjusters will review the claim and all of its details, according to the legal definition of the negligence of the state that the accident occurred in.

Don’t Struggle With Insurance Companies Following An Accident – Let Heit Law, LLC Help

Handling communication with insurance companies after you have been in a car accident can be extra stressful as you recover from injuries. As they work through the process of determining who was at fault in a car accident, the insurance companies might have further questions to ask you.

This is where working with an experienced personal injury lawyer from Heit Law, LLC can be especially helpful.

Corey Heit of Heit Law, LLC is an experienced personal injury lawyer with experience handling cases that range from car accidents to dog bites. Working on a complete contingency fee basis, Corey Heit can handle communication with the insurance companies as you focus on your recovery.

For any further questions or to schedule a free initial consultation, you can connect with Corey Heit online or at 614-898-5300 today.