Wichita Truck Accident Lawyer

If someone is involved in an auto wreck while on the job, the first thing he or she needs to do is report the work related accident to their employer. The second step they need to take is to request medical treatment, or at the very least, a medical evaluation to be sure of the extent of any injuries from the accident. The third thing that needs to be done is the person needs to sit down with a workers’ compensation and personal injury lawyer and start asking questions about how this particular accident is going to or not going to be covered by the various policies of insurance. The sooner they can get educated about what their rights are the better off they will be in the end in resolving their claim for greater sums of money, if not all of the damages they sustained in the accident.

When a person delays in doing any one of these steps, they almost invariably lose significant value in their case and sometimes they lose their case altogether.

DO I NEED TO NOTIFY MY OWN INSURANCE IF I AM IN AN ON JOB AUTO ACCIDENT?

When someone is involved in a work related auto accident, his or her own insurance may have an obligation to pay additional lost wages and medical care that aren’t covered by workers’ compensation insurance carriers. Therefore, it is always a good idea to notify your own automobile insurance carrier anytime you’re involved in an automobile accident. At the very least, they can say no, there is no coverage under these circumstances. At the very most, they have been put on notice of the claim and may pay for things not covered by workers’ compensation.

WHAT KIND OF EVIDENCE IS USED IN AN ON THE JOB AUTO ACCIDENT CLAIM

In these cases, the evidence or documentation that is most important are the police reports and the emergency room medical reports that document an accident happened and that injuries occurred as a result of the accident. Those are probably the first and most important documents that are created in these particular types of cases.

Other evidence or documents that are extremely important for these particular types of cases include photographs of the scene of the accident, photographs of the property damage caused at the scene of the accident to both vehicles, and photographs of the nature of the injury that was sustained as a result of the accident.

WHAT ARE SOME QUALITIES TO LOOK FOR IN AN EXPERIENCED WORKERS’ COMPENSATION ATTORNEY?

For this particular type of case, one needs an attorney who is familiar with both Kansas Workers’ Compensation Law and Kansas Personal Injury Law. If an attorney doesn’t understand how those laws are supposed to work together to make a person whole and when the conflicts can and can’t be resolved, then the client is not going to make the best recovery possible.
A good workers’ compensation lawyer understands what needs to be pursued in the work comp claim. Additionally, he will understand what type of medical care the injured person can get in the workers’ compensation claim that can help increase the value of the personal injury claim. The right personal injury lawyer understands the interaction between the personal injury case and the workers’ compensation lien and how to minimize that lien or, whenever possible, eliminate it altogether.

If someone hires an attorney that only knows one area of the law or the other, he could compromise a settlement of one or both of these cases to the extent that the ultimate recovery in workers’ compensation and personal injury are greatly reduced.

A good workers’ compensation and personal injury lawyer will know how to maximize both types of claims to the client’s benefit so that in the end, he or she is made whole whenever possible after an accident.