Does Insurance Cover Bicycle Accidents?

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A car and a bicycle after an accident.In many cases, yes. If you are hit by a car or another vehicle, and the driver is at fault, their car insurance should cover your injuries. If your accident doesn’t involve a motor vehicle, you may be able to get coverage under your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance (you’ll need to check the fine print of your policy to be sure). Depending on the situation, other types of insurance coverage or alternatives for seeking compensation may exist. A Georgia bike accident lawyer can advise you on your options.

What Insurance Covers Bicycle Accidents?

This varies based on the circumstances of your accident. If your accident involved being hit by a car, we would first look at the driver’s auto insurance coverage. Georgia law requires motorists to carry at least $25,000 each in bodily injury liability and property damage liability. In theory, this means that you can get up to $25,000 for your medical expenses and other damages related to your injuries and up to $25,000 for the damage to your bike or other property.

Potential Difficulties with Bicycle Accident Injury Claims

In reality, there are many possible difficulties that you may run into when trying to collect damages. Frequently, the vehicle driver may deny responsibility for the accident, and their insurance company will probably back them up to avoid paying your claim. Or, the insurer may feel that some of your medical expenses are unnecessary or challenge whether your injuries occurred in the crash. Yet another issue might appear if the insurance carrier makes you an offer that seems appropriate at the time but doesn’t cover all your damages. Even if all goes well with your claim, the vehicle driver’s insurance policy limit may leave you with unpaid damages if you suffered severe injuries with extensive losses. In each of these situations, your Georgia bicycle accident lawyer will work to find all possible options for obtaining the compensation you need.

Proving Fault in a Bicycle Accident

If the driver and insurance company claim you were at fault, don’t call the insurance carrier and argue with them. This often makes things worse, as the insurance adjuster will record everything you say and look for random comments that can be misinterpreted to mean you caused the accident.

What should you do instead? Get legal help right now. A bicycle crash attorney can help you by investigating the accident and seeking more evidence. In many cases, police reports on accidents are inconclusive because no other witnesses are present at the scene, and the responding officer may have limited time and resources to investigate the accident further. If you and the vehicle driver are the only witnesses and your accounts conflict, the officer might not have enough evidence to ticket anyone.

Does that mean you’re out of luck? No. Our investigative team will travel to the accident scene, knock on doors, and talk to people who live or work in the area. We’ll look for footage from doorbell or traffic cameras that could show the accident. Additionally, we can subpoena phone records and vehicle black box data from the car that hit you.

In some cases, we’ve even located witnesses who saw the incident but weren’t questioned at the time. All of this evidence can be used to change the insurance company’s mind about negotiating a fair settlement. And if the insurance carrier won’t be reasonable, we’ll fight for you in court.

What If an Uninsured Driver Causes Your Bicycle Accident?

We’ll consider suing the driver directly, but in many cases, this is not a good solution. If the driver doesn’t have sufficient assets we can seize, collecting an award could be extremely challenging, so we will usually consider other options.

Do you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UI) for your car or vehicle? One little-known fact about UM/UI coverage is that it doesn’t only apply to accidents that happen when you’re driving. It will also cover most situations where you are hit by a car as a pedestrian or bicyclist, which means we can file a claim with your insurance. One final benefit of a UM/UI policy is that it also covers hit-and-runs, so if the driver who hit you took off and the police couldn’t locate them, you should be able to use your insurance.

What If the Driver Who Hit You Has Insurance, But Not Enough for Your Damages?

Unfortunately, this situation happens frequently. Bicyclists are more likely to suffer serious injuries in an accident than passengers in another vehicle, and more serious injuries are more expensive to treat. Severe injuries also result in more time missed at work, more pain and suffering, and a higher risk of permanent disability or disfigurement. Add the fact that an insured driver could have as little as $25,000 in bodily injury liability, and it’s not hard to see how your damages could easily exceed the limits of the at-fault party’s coverage.

In these cases, we have similar options to uninsured driver situations: You can sue the driver if they have enough assets to justify the time, expense, and stress of a trial. If the driver doesn’t have enough assets to cover your damages, we’ll take a look at your UM/UI policy. In some circumstances, stacked policies can pick up where an insured driver’s coverage leaves off (unstacked policies don’t offer this coverage).

Are There Any Options If You’ve Exhausted Insurance Coverage?

First, we recommend speaking with a Georgia bike accident lawyer before concluding that you’ve exhausted all available insurance coverage. If you’ve reached the limit of the other driver’s insurance and your own UM/UI policy or these aren’t available, your attorney will review the details of your case and search for other options.

Sometimes we can find grounds for a third-party claim. This would be a case against a third party (not you or the driver) whose actions contributed to the accident or your injuries. For instance, if you had a piece of safety equipment like a bike helmet that you used according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and it failed to provide the protection promised, you might have a defective product claim. Or if the accident happened not because the driver made an error, but because a car component malfunctioned, it’s possible you might have a claim against the component manufacturer. If the driver who hit you was intoxicated, you might be able to sue a bar or restaurant that served them alcohol, but only if you can prove the server knew the driver was intoxicated and likely to drive.

Can the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm Help with My Insurance Claim?

Yes. Insurance claims may seem simple – many insurance carriers advertise how easy it is to file a claim right from your phone in less than a minute! But the process after you submit a claim is often complicated and fraught with difficulties. The insurance adjuster may look at your hastily-submitted claim and reject it for being incomplete or incorrect, or they may find an excuse to say that you were to blame. They might also make you a lowball offer in an effort to pay as little as possible.

At the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm, we know all the tricks and traps of insurance companies, and we’ll fight to protect you from these pitfalls. We can assist you with submitting your claim and answer any questions you have to prevent common errors. If your claim has already been denied, we’ll help you fight the denial. We can also track down all potential sources of insurance coverage to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve for your injuries.

The sooner you call us, the sooner we can get to work preserving essential evidence in your case, so please contact us immediately for a free consultation. There is no obligation, and if we take your case, you won’t have to pay us anything until we win or settle it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

After a personal injury, you're bound to have legal questions. The CEO Lawyer Ali Awad can provide you with answers to these questions, just as he's given answers to his millions of curious social media followers. Take a look at some of the most common personal injury law questions for general information, and then reach out to one of our seasoned attorneys for specific guidance on your case!

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Help Negotiating with Insurance Carriers

To quickly resolve matters following an accident, insurance companies will offer you less than you deserve in compensation for your injuries. Many victims feel pressured to accept these offers as the bills begin to pile up, but that is rarely a good idea. The insurance company is looking to protect its bottom line; and will offer injured victims less than they deserve. An experienced personal injury attorney understands how to negotiate with the insurance company and can look out for your best interests by getting you the compensation you deserve after an injury. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, it is important to avoid negotiating or providing recorded statements to the insurance company without first seeking help from a qualified personal injury attorney.

Do You Have a Personal Injury Case?

The best way to determine if you have a personal injury case is to speak with a knowledgeable attorney. Our legal professionals have the expertise to evaluate your case and determine a strong legal strategy so that you can obtain the greatest amount of compensation possible under the law. We will enlist investigators, assistants, and other specialists to collect accident reports, speak with witnesses to your accident, and put together a plan. While you focus on your physical recovery, we will remain committed to fighting for the compensation that you deserve.

Georgia's Personal Injury & Accident Firm

Accident victims have a limited time to file a personal injury lawsuit. This time period is referred to as the statute of limitations, and in Atlanta, it lasts only two years. This means that if you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, you have only two years to pursue a personal injury suit. If you wait too long to reach out to an experienced attorney, you might be forever barred from seeking the compensation you deserve.

What to Expect From Your Initial Consultation With a Personal Injury Attorney?

During your initial consultation with CEO Lawyer team, we will go over the important details of your personal injury accident, which include the nature and extent of your injuries, how your injuries have impacted your ability to earn a paycheck, the cost of your medical treatment, and whether further medical treatment will be required. We will answer any questions you might have, as well, in regards to our experience, our track record of success, and what to expect from the legal process. Many personal injury victims wonder if they will be able to afford the legal fees required to pursue a lawsuit. CEO Lawyer injury and accident attorneys will not ask for any type of upfront fee unless we are successful in obtaining compensation for you. That means that if you have been harmed in a motor vehicle accident, slip and fall accident, defective product accident, or any other type of personal injury accident, you can absolutely afford to contact our law office today for assistance. In fact, you cannot afford to wait. Reach out today. We understand that some accident victims might have already obtained the assistance of an attorney but may be dissatisfied with the services provided. We are standing by and prepared to help you change legal representation, regardless of where you are in the process.

Speak to an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney Today

If you or a loved one has been injured in any type of personal injury accident, you should not hesitate to speak with the experienced attorneys at CEO Lawyer personal injury law firm. Call, email, or fill out our online contact form today so that we can begin helping you pursue the compensation you deserve.