Insurance companies want to identify the party at fault, so that the same party can be held liable for coverage of the resulting damages. An insurance adjuster uses multiple resources, when trying to discover the identity of the party at-fault.
Adjusters study the reported details
What information could be found in the police report or the accident report?
Does either of those documents make mention of any violations?
—A police report might mention the issuance of a ticket.
—An accident report might mention a property owner’s failure to arrange for regular inspections of the same owner’s property.
Had any party committed an act of negligence?
—Had a driver been distracted by an attempt to send a text message?
—Had a driver failed to make sure that all the passengers were wearing a seat belt?
—Had a property owner overlooked a notice from an inspector?
Was there any video footage of the spot where the accident took place?
Personal Injury Lawyer in Halifax knows that an adjuster would visit that spot and search for locations that might have a video camera in operation at the time of the accident.
An adjuster’s visit would show whether or not the camera had managed to capture the injury-making incident. Sometimes an object such as a tree could block the camera’s view of the injury-linked incident.
Adjusters also contact witnesses
The name of a witness might be mentioned in a police report. Some adjusters contact the victim, in hopes of obtaining the names for other witnesses. Yet no victim is under an obligation to share all of the collected information about a given witness.
The adjuster’s task of identifying the party at-fault would vanish, following just about any accident in a no-fault state.
In no-fault states, the insurance company for each of the involved drivers must pay for the damages and losses. The only exception to that rule would arise if an accident had produced damages that exceeded the figure for the limit on no-fault procedures.
If an incident were to create an amount of damages with a cost that exceeded that limiting figure, then the victim would have the right to sue the responsible party. At that point the insurance company of the responsible party could demand proof of the allegations that its own policyholder had been the party that caused the damaging effects of the accident.
By the same token, the policyholder’s insurance company would seek proof of the medical expenses created by the reported injury. It might also seek verification of the details, regarding the nature and extent of the reported injuries.
The company’s adjuster would want to limit the size of any possible payoff, following either negotiations or a scheduled courtroom trial.
