CALL (800) 863-5312 TO SPEAK WITH AN ARIZONA ROYALTY TRUCK ACCIDENT ATTORNEY FOR FREE
If you or someone you love was injured in a truck accident in Arizona, you may be entitled to compensation after the crash. In addition to dealing with injuries and property damage, accident victims are often stuck dealing with insurance companies, whose objective is to provide the bare minimum compensation requested.
The attorneys at Zinda Law Group are committed to defending the rights of truck accident victims and helping them seek the compensation they deserve. Our team of accomplished personal injury lawyers has extensive experience dealing with insurance companies, like Royal Truck Insurance. Call Zinda Law Group at (800) 863-5312 for a 100% free case evaluation with our experienced Arizona Royalty Truck accident attorneys today.
John (Jack) Zinda
Founder / CEO
Over 100 years of combined experience representing injured victims across the country.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationArizona Driving Statistics
Every year the Arizona Department of Transportation produces a report on Motor Vehicle Crash Facts, which serves as a compilation of traffic crash reports provided by law enforcement agencies around the state. The report reflects crash data for all Arizona roadways, including city streets, county roads, reservation roads, and state highways.
The Motor Vehicle Crash Facts report from 2019 indicates there were 129,750 vehicular accidents across the state of Arizona. The report further demonstrates that commercial vehicles, large trucks, and buses were involved in 5.05% of all vehicular accidents in that year. More specifically, Tractor trucks (both with and without their semi-trailers) and other combination trucks were involved in 76 fatal accidents and another 2,553 accidents which resulted in injuries.
Neil Solomon
Partner
Real results matter. We do not get paid unless we win your case.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationWhat Legal Steps Should You Take After a Truck Accident?
The answer to this question depends greatly on a variety of factors but principle among these factors are:
- The severity of the resulting injuries
- The clarity of fault allocation
- Whether or not the incident is covered under an insurance policy
While these factors are important for lawyers to consider when assessing the value of the case, they are not of paramount importance to accident victims. Instead, accident victims should first treat any physical or psychological injuries and then consider taking legal action.
The first legal steps in deciding whether to pursue compensation for a personal injury are (1) to determine if an insurance policy covers the incident and (2) to decide whether to hire a personal injury attorney.
Jason Aldridge
Attorney
Standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to answer in your time of need.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationDoes an Insurance Policy Cover the Accident?
If you’ve been injured and you think someone else might be legally responsible, you will want to find out whether that person has insurance coverage that will cover any injury claim they caused.
Determining whether an insurance policy applies to the accident is important because it can determine whether or not a victim will actually be able to recover a damage award after a personal injury case. Having a positive judgment is one thing but collecting on that judgment is another story. Insurance companies are usually deep-pocket defendants, who are able to compensate accident victims for the negligent conduct of their insured. However, if the negligent driver does not have insurance and has few personal assets or income, then an accident victim may not be able to recover compensation at all.
You’ll next want to consider your own insurance coverage and the extend of your injuries. If you have health insurance and you weren’t seriously hurt and the attribution of fault for the accident isn’t clear, you most likely will not want to pursue legal action. However, if your injuries are significant and it’s clear that the other driver was at fault for the accident, you’ll likely want to proceed regardless of whether they were covered by an insurance policy.
Cole Gumm
Attorney
We are here to ensure you won’t have to face this difficult time alone.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationShould You Hire a Personal Injury Attorney?
Although you are not required to have a personal injury attorney to assist you with your claim, the insurance company that you are making your claim against will have a team of attorneys representing and fighting for their best interests. Therefore, hiring a personal injury attorney, who has your best interest at heart, may position your claim for an optimal outcome.
Personal Injury attorneys may help you establish your current damages as well as help you predict the extent of any future medical treatment that may be required. Additionally, personal injury attorneys have experience establishing non-economic damages or intangible damages, such as “pain and suffering” or “loss of consortium,” which are notoriously difficult to explain to insurance companies, judges, and juries.
Furthermore, there is some evidence to indicate that claimants who have legal representation often receive higher judgments and settlements. A study conducted by the Insurance Research Council suggests that people who have suffered personal injuries receive 3.5 times more in settlement compensation when represented by an attorney, as compared to injury victims who don’t hire one. In fact, the study found that in 85% of cases in which an insurance company decided to settle a personal injury claim, the injured party had hired an attorney.
May I Sue the Operating Company and Their Insurer?
Under the legal doctrine of vicarious liability, an employer can be held liable for the tortious actions of their employees if they occurred in the performance of their work duties. This doctrine applies any time an employee is working or engaged in activities that benefit their employer. This includes when a truck driver operates their vehicle for commercial purposes. In situations where the truck driver is working and operates negligently or recklessly, then both the employer and the driver may be liable for any resulting damages.
In addition to recovering from the truck driver and the operating company, Arizona requires that all motor vehicles operated on roads in the state shall be covered by liability insurance. The minimum levels of insurance coverage for motorists are:
- $25,000 for bodily injury liability to one person
- $50,000 for two or more persons
- $15,000 for property damage liability
Statutes that mandate insurance minimums mean that accident victims are more likely to receive some form of compensation from insurers.
While it may be more difficult to pursue a claim against a large company than it would be to be for an individual driver, there is a major benefit to vicarious liability. As stated above, Arizona auto insurance laws only require individual motorists to carry a minimum in coverage, whereas trucking companies and other commercial vehicle operators usually have much larger corporate liability policies. By pursuing compensation based on the trucking company’s liability policy, you can request a higher compensation without worrying about the limits of a driver’s individual insurance coverage.
How Does an Insurance Adjuster Affect Your Personal Injury Case?
Regardless of how the accident happened, when you’re seeking compensation for an injury, there’s a good chance you’ll be dealing with an insurance company. When a tortfeasor has a valid insurance policy that covers a particular type of incident, the victim may seek compensation through the insurer. Moreover, when an insurance policy covers an incident, and a claim is filed, an insurance “adjuster” is assigned to investigate how the accident occurred and to establish how much the insurance company is willing to pay for the claim.
The adjuster is an employee of the insurance company and their focus is to keep any payout they make as low as possible, to make sure the insurance company remains profitable. While insurance adjusters want to pay the victim as little as possible, they also must juggle the competing concern of a potential personal injury lawsuit if the victim is not satisfied. When assessing the value of a personal injury case, the insurance adjuster usually considers the same factors that a jury would when deciding what the claim would be worth. These factors include:
- Current medical expenses
- Foreseeable future medical expenses
- Lost income or lost productivity
- Non-economic damages (such as pain and suffering and lost consortium)
- Any other permanent side effects or complications from the accident
Insurance adjusters also consider the insured’s policy limits and the strength of the claimant’s case. An insurance company is never going to pay more than the maximum amount of the insurance policy; that is why it is important to include the defendant (personally), their employer, and their insurer as parties to the lawsuit. If your damages exceed the at-fault driver’s insurance policy limits, then you will need to collect the difference directly from the employer and/or the defendant.
GET HELP ON YOUR Arizona ROYALTY Truck insurance CLAIM
At Zinda Law Group, our Arizona attorneys have helped many truck accident survivors and their loved ones get their lives back on track after the negligence or recklessness of a driver caused their injuries. Our attorneys have the knowledge and resources necessary to help you seek maximum compensation for any associated medical bills, lost income, property damage, pain and suffering, and all the other costs caused by an accident with a Royalty Truck insured vehicle.
Our firm believes that injured clients should not have to worry about their ability to afford high-quality legal representation. This is why we offer 100% free consultations. Zinda Law Group operates on a contingency fee basis, meaning you will pay nothing unless we win your case. That’s our No Win, No Fee Guarantee.
If you or a loved one have been injured in a truck accident caused by an operator insured through Royalty Truck Insurance, call Zinda Law Group at (800) 863-5312 to receive your free consultation with our personal injury lawyers today. We are also offering free virtual consultations during the COVID-19 crisis.
Meetings with attorneys are available by appointment only.
Jason Aldridge
Attorney
We have successfully represented clients in a wide variety of cases across the country.
Available 24 / 7|Free Consultation
