If you have been involved in an accident with a commercial truck, make sure that you follow the four tips below in order to ensure that you get the best offer available to you.

#1 Hire The Right Attorney

The first thing you need to do is hire an attorney to represent you. However, if you were involved in an accident with a commercial truck, you do not want to hire just any personal injury attorney. 

You need to hire a personal injury attorney who specializes in commercial truck accidents. Cases with commercial truck accidents requires your attorney to be knowledgeable about commercial trucking laws as well as all the different parties, from the driver, to the trucking company, to the government, who can be held responsible in the event of a truck accident. A lawyer with commercial truck accident experience will know what leverage to use in order to ensure that you get a fair settlement offer.

#2 Have All Your Paperwork Together

Before you pursue a settlement offer, you need to have all your paperwork together. You need to know the exact cost of damage to your vehicle that was sustained in the accident, as well as the replacement cost if your vehicle was totaled. 

You also need to have all your medical records together. This should include the total cost for all doctor's visits, tests, labs, treatments and hospital stays. If you were seriously injured and are still dealing with the medical side of things, you will need to gather evidence of your injury as well as what the long-term cost in treating it will be.

Additionally, you want to make sure that you have accident reports, witness statements and contact information and photo evidence all gathered together.

Having this information together will help your attorney move forward with your case and will make your settlement request more solid.

#3 Have All Negotiations Go Through Your Attorney

There is a good chance that after your accident you will be approached by the truck driver's insurance company and offered a settlement. They do this in order to settle cases as quickly as possible. 

However, you should not accept this offer, no matter how good it sounds at first. Chances are, they are offering you a lower settlement than they know that you deserve to see if you'll take it and they can close this case.

Refer any insurance representative who offers you a settlement to your attorney. Your attorney will make sure that the settlement offer is fair and that you are not being undercut. 

#4 Take Your Time With Settlement Negotiations

Don't rush through your settlement negotiations. If you want to get a fair settlement offer, you need to be willing to go back and forth with the insurance company. You don't have to accept the first settlement offer they present you will. Be willing to wait to get the offer you deserve.

If you have been involved in an accident with a commercial trucker, make sure you follow all four steps above to ensure that you walk away with a settlement that is fair to you. For more information, contact a company like Dunnigan & Messier P.C.