For more than 100 years Iowa Courts have recognized a person’s right to bring a claim against another for injuries caused by fault,Guest Posting also known as negligence. Whenever you are hurt by anyone’s negligence, including that of another car driver, corporation, manufacturer, store merchant, or someone else you have a “personal injury” claim. Car and motorcycle accidents (injuries caused by a negligent driver), dog bites (injuries caused by a dog or other animal), falls (injury because someone did not take care of the walkway for example), nursing home (injuries sustained by a resident of a nursing home) and product liability (injury by harmful product) are all subtypes of personal injury cases.
However, if your injury happened while you were working (what is known as a workers’ compensation case) special laws apply. For example, in a workers’ compensation case the employee does not have to prove fault or negligence like they would in a car accident or personal Albany injury case. However, the trade-off is that the employee’s damages are limited. In an Iowa workers’ compensation case, an employee is generally not allowed to recover pain and suffering or loss of quality of life damages against the employer. The exception to this rule is if you can prove that a co-employee committed “gross negligence”. Also, if you were injured by someone who does not work for your employer or a defective product caused your injuries then you may be entitled to additional damages. You should consult an attorney to find-out if your case meets one of these criteria.
Regardless of the type of case that you have, one misconception is that the insurance adjustor is there to help you with your injury case. The insurance adjustor works for the other side and has no duty to protect your rights or even tell you what the law is. Just because you are reasonable with the insurance adjustor does not mean that the insurance adjustor will be reasonable with you. Remember, insurance companies would rather collect premiums than pay claims so they train their adjustor to pay you as little as possible. Sometimes this means intentionally frustrating you in hopes that you will give-up and go-away. If you decide to try to handle your case on your own, it is important that you do not lose your temper or make threats to the insurance adjustor. If the adjuster makes a ridiculously low offer, it may be difficult not to show emotion. However, getting angry will not convince the carrier to offer more money. In the eyes of the adjustor it means that you have a short temper which will certainly not help your case.