Charleston Accident Lawyer . Determining legal responsibility for an accident can be complicated, but often rests on whether someone was careless or\u00a0negligent \u00a0It’s easy enough to say that the person or business that caused an accident must pay for your injuries. But before you get to that point, you must determine who was legally at fault.<\/p>\n
Determining legal responsibility for an accident or injury \u00a0can be complicated, but often rests on whether someone was careless. It’s easy enough to say that the person that caused an accident must pay for your injuries. But before you get to that point, you must determine who was legally at fault.<\/p>\n
Most accidents happen because someone was careless. The basic rule is: If one person involved in an accident was less careful than another, the less careful one must pay for at least a portion of the damages suffered by the more careful one.<\/p>\n
Legal liability for almost all accidents is determined by \u00a0one or more of the following:<\/p>\n
When there is more than one person responsible for an accident, the law in most states provides that any one of the careless parties is responsible for compensating you fully for your injuries. The responsible parties must then decide between themselves whether one should reimburse the others.<\/p>\n
This rule about collecting from any responsible person provides you with a couple of important advantages. If one liable person is insured and the other is not, you can make your claim against the insured person for the full amount. And even if both are insured, you will have to settle your claim with only one insurance company. Initially, consider everyone you think might be responsible and notify each of them that you may file a claim for damages.\u00a0 Then, depending on what you discover about how the accident happened, or on which insurance company takes responsibility, you will pursue a claim against only one.<\/p>\n
Even if you were careless and partly caused an accident, in most states you can still get at least some compensation from anyone else who was also careless and partly responsible for the accident. The amount of the other person’s liability for the accident is determined by comparing his or her carelessness with your own. The percentage of liability determines the percentage of the resulting damages he or she must pay. This rule is referred to as comparative negligence.<\/p>\n