Understanding How South Carolina Injury Claims Work
When you file a personal injury claim in Aiken, you allege that negligence occurred that caused you harm. This is also the type of claim you file in the aftermath of an Aiken car crash or truck accident that was not your fault. An insurance adjuster will be assigned to your claim. They will look at the evidence they independently secure or that you provide them with and balance that against the damages you seek. The best-case scenario is if an insurance adjuster agrees that the damages you seek are fair and they cut a check.
Unfortunately, there are many times when the adjustment will attempt to undercut your losses or shift some of the responsibility for the Aiken injury accident onto you. They can do that because South Carolina law allows for comparative negligence in personal injury cases. That means you could be held responsible for a portion of the accident, and your final settlement would be adjusted accordingly.
However, just because an insurance adjuster decides how much they are willing to pay does not make that the final word. You can submit a counteroffer. Getting support from an Aiken personal injury lawyer can make a difference.
At The Solomon Law Group, LLC, we can help you make that initial insurance claim and ensure that you’re presenting the right documentation to support it. We will also handle all future communication with insurance adjusters on your behalf. If they reject a fair settlement amount demanded of them, we can discuss the option of accepting their offer or whether you should consider taking your case to trial.
Building a Case With an Aiken Personal Injury Lawyer
When you file a personal jury lawsuit, you become a plaintiff. That means you have the burden to prove any allegations of negligence and establish that the damages that you’re seeking are reasonable. In a criminal case, the burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. However, in a civil matter like Aiken personal injury cases, you only have to prove your case by a preponderance of the evidence. That is a fancy legal way of saying that you need to provide “clear and convincing evidence.”
Any evidence you use to substantiate your claim needs to establish the following four elements of negligence, including:
How the Defendant Owed You a Duty of Care
A defendant has a duty of care to provide a safe environment for any licensee or invitee that comes into their property in the context of a premises liability case. For example, a store owner needs to ensure that the floors in the store are safe to walk on. Similarly, a fellow motorist owes you a duty of care to share the road safely with you.
The Defendant Breached Their Duty of Care
Using the property injury example above, a breach of duty of care means that the property owner dropped the ball, leading to a hazardous condition. To continue the example, the store owner didn’t mop the floors after a spill or rain was tracked in. And in terms of the car accident example, a motorist got behind the wheel of their car while intoxicated. That drunkenness’ caused the motorist to have impaired judgement which led to a crash.