The American Automobile Association (AAA) has over 56 million members in North America. While the group’s services transcend auto insurance (it is better known for its roadside assistance services), most clubs operate their own auto insurance agencies that allow customers to purchase insurance through certain companies, such as Auto Club Enterprises Insurance Group, that were established specifically to serve AAA members. The AAA may have served you well in the past – when you were broken down on the highway and needed a tow, for example. When it comes to an auto accident claim, however, the dynamics of an AAA claim work the same way they do with any other insurance company. AAA is a business, not a charity, and in order to profit, it must minimize its expenditures. Since paying out a claim is obviously an expenditure, you can expect the same treatment from an AAA-affiliated auto insurance company as you can from any other insurance company. And that means your interests are fundamentally in opposition to each other – you are seeking money, and they are seeking to minimize their business expenditures, including the amount of your claim. Since auto insurance companies are professionals at what they do, and since negotiating auto accident claims is a large part of what every auto insurance company does, you are at a built-in disadvantage unless you negotiate auto insurance claims for a living – or unless you hire someone who does. At Malman Law, personal injury law is what we do all day, every day. We have been doing it full-time for decades, and we bring home a verdict or settlement for our client 95 percent of the time. We realize that you may need money quickly. Although we are certainly not inclined to accept a low settlement offer from an insurance company simply to achieve a settlement as soon as possible, we will be aiming for the quickest possible resolution of your claim as long as you are fully compensated. We are not afraid, however, to duke it out in a courtroom if the other side insists on being stubborn. Our success in courtroom litigation, however, has earned us a reputation that discourages insurance companies from forcing us to sue in the first place – which is why the vast majority of our clients’ claims are settled out of court. “Two years ago I was involved in a trucking accident involving a 14-wheeler truck that nearly disabled me for life. Steve fought to make sure that I received the most possible compensation for my injuries. I was about to take the insurance company’s lowball offer, but decided to call Steve first — it was the best decision I’ve made yet.” – Malman Law Client
An insurance company has no motivation to pay your claim unless it knows you can force it to pay by winning a lawsuit against it. Without the ability to win a lawsuit, you have no negotiating leverage. For this reason, the best approach is to prepare a h3 case and present it to AAA during negotiations. If they remain intransigent, you can always file a lawsuit later.
Insurance companies are skilled negotiators, and they can be tricky. Imagine, for example, being pressed to state the exacttime of the accident, only to discover later that the insurance company is claiming that since you knew the exact time, you must have been looking at your cell phone or watch instead of watching the road, thereby causing the accident. This is only one example of what is contained in the invisible bag of tricks that an insurance company brings to the settlement table.
Yes, you do. First of all, the insurance company may be wrong. Second, even if they are right, under Illinois comparative negligence rules, you are still entitled to at least some compensation if you were less than 50 percent at fault for the accident.
Not necessarily, but your chances will greatly improve if you can prove intoxication. To win, you must also prove that intoxication caused the accident, and that the accident was mostly the defendant’s fault notwithstanding any error you might have made yourself (running a red light, for example).
Under Illinois law, you must prove three elements to win a negligence case arising from an auto accident injury:
Although most auto accident cases are based on negligence, a reckless or intentional act by the defendant will also support liability.
Theoretically, you can recover any damages that would not have arisen if the accident had not occurred. The most common types of damages are:
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2 years ago I was involved in a trucking accident involving a 14-wheeler truck that nearly disabled me for life. Steve fought to make sure that I received the most possible compensation for my injuries. I was about to take the insurance company’s lowball offer, but decided to call Steve first – it was the best decision I’ve made yet
NOAH TAFFELPersonal Injury Victim