The injuries that you’ve suffered in your car accident may be extensive, and we’re not just talking about the physical harm that’s been caused to you. Your wreck may have also left you with emotional turmoil, mental anguish, a loss of enjoyment of life, and financial ramifications that have threatened your ability to get by on a day-to-day basis.
If your accident was caused by someone else’s negligence, then pursuing a personal injury lawsuit may be your best course of action for recovering compensation to offset your damages. While much of the focus in these cases is on establishing liability and causation, as well as proving the extent of your damages, you’ll probably want to be prepared to play a little defense. Here’s why.
Connecticut’s comparative fault law
Under state law, a comparative fault analysis is conducted when an individual is injured in a car crash and subsequently files a personal injury lawsuit. Here, fault is assigned to each party in accordance with the facts presented. The plaintiff’s ultimate award is then reduced by the amount of fault that is assigned to them.
Therefore, a $100,000 award can be slashed to $60,000 if you’re found to be 40% at fault for the wreck. Making matters worse is that if you’re found to be 51% or more at fault, then you’ll be denied compensation altogether.
These outcomes can leave you without the financial resources that you need to pay for your medical care and spur your recovery forward. You may struggle to make your rent or mortgage payment as a result, and you could end up facing a long-term financial battle. You want to avoid that sort of outcome, of course, which is why you’ll want to figure out how to minimize claims that you contributed to the accident in question.
How to combat comparative fault arguments
As you’re preparing your personal injury claim, you should anticipate that the other side is going to try to blame you for the wreck. Therefore, you should carefully do each of the following if you want to minimize any argument that you were comparatively negligent:
- Diligently assess witness accounts so that you know exactly what they’re going to say.
- Obtain police reports to see if there’s any indication in those documents that you may have been partially at fault.
- Consider having an accident reconstruction conducted so that an expert can give an opinion as to fault and causation.
- Be honest with your attorney about any mistakes that you may have made that could’ve contributed to the accident.
- Refrain from making any statements that can be construed as being apologetic or otherwise accepting some of the blame for the accident.
- Refuse to give any sort of recorded statement to an insurance company until you have discussed the details of that statement with your attorney.
Be ready to fight for what you deserve
Even when the evidence seems stacked in your favor, there can still be legal challenges that you face in your case. And even seemingly minor arguments can end up blocking your access to a significant amount of compensation.
That’s why you need to be prepared to make the strong, comprehensive legal arguments that are necessary to position yourself for true success. You may find that working with a competent legal professional is a great way to ensure that those arguments are well thought out and targeted to the issues at hand, which is just one of the many reasons why you may want to consider reaching out to a legal team to assist you with y