Even if you were not injured in the car accident that you were involved in, you can still sue the driver or drivers that were responsible for causing the collision providing that the vehicle that you were driving at the time was damaged. In addition to this, you are also able to sue for any emotional distress that you went through as a result and any treatment that was required to deal with that distress.
Given the cost of some of the cars that are on America’s highways and freeways today, the cost of a damage only collision can be highly expensive. In fact, the latest statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that the cost of car accidents runs into the billions of dollars.
Claims for property damage
A claim for property damage is a way of recovering the cost of damage to your vehicle sustained during a car accident. This claim is based on the negligence of the driver responsible for the collision and it is their insurance company that will pay for the cost of having your vehicle fixed, as well as for any emotional distress that you encountered as a result of the incident.
In those car accidents that have only caused vehicle damage, there is no need to escalate the claim up to a lawsuit. Nonetheless, it is still beneficial to have a specialist auto accident lawyer handle your claim for you, as they know the process in and out. However, where the driver that was responsible does not have motor insurance, then the only way of recovering the cost of damages sustained is through escalating it up to a lawsuit.
Building your claim
There are three separate things that need to be proven in order to show that another driver was negligent with a property damage claim. First of all, you need to show that it was the actions of another driver that caused the damage to your vehicle and that it was not done by you. After this, it must be proven that the driver responsible did not exercise a standard of care prior to the car accident. Thirdly, you must be able to document what financial losses you experienced as a result of the collision.
Submitting an accident report is a key thing to do in any property damage claim. If the car accident was significant enough that the police respond to it, the report that they produce should identify exactly which driver or drivers were negligent and caused the collision. Other evidence that can help to build your claim in your favour include things such as repair bills from the garage, statements from witnesses that saw the accident, and videos and photos from the scene of the collision.
Compensation
The types of things that compensation for a car accident can cover include the cost of having the damage to your vehicle repaired and the cost from having to use public transport whilst your vehicle was being repaired.
