If you have been injured in a passenger car or truck accident in Kentucky, the lawyers of Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer will handle your property damage claim for free if we represent you in a personal injury claim. We can move promptly to help you seek insurance money to repair or replace your damaged vehicle after a crash someone else caused. We understand that having reliable transportation is essential if you have medical appointments and physical therapy to attend after an accident.
In addition to compensation to repair or replace your motor vehicle, you also may be able to recover money for other personal property losses in a car accident or for real property damaged by a crash.
Call a Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer car accident lawyer, or one of our other Kentucky locations to set up a free legal consultation.
What Qualifies as Property Damage?
When we refer to property damage in a car accident claim, we are referring to damage to your motor vehicle. We seek to have the at-fault driver’s insurance pay you for the cost to repair your vehicle, or replace it if it has been damaged beyond repair. You also may seek compensation for any other valuable property damaged or destroyed in the collision such as a laptop computer, for example, if you can establish:
- It was damaged in the car accident.
- The value you have lost due to the damage and/or the cost to recover the loss by repairing or replacing the piece of property.
If your car is repairable, you would be entitled to compensation to repair damage from the accident. This is payment for repairs with the same quality parts that were on your car before it was damaged. This means replacement parts made by the original equipment manufacturer or after-market upgrades.
Payment for a totaled car should equal its Kelley Blue Book value (plus compensation for any upgrades).
While you are without a vehicle, you may rent a car and include the rental car costs as part of your property damage claim.
Any type of personal property you might transport in a car could be damaged or lost in a crash and therefore added to a claim, such as:
- A cellphone
- A laptop computer
- Eyeglasses
- A child’s car seat
- Luggage
- Clothing and accessories
- Emergency power or jump starter device
Personal property that may be damaged in a car accident also includes a pet or livestock. You may be able to recover the cost of veterinary bills required to treat an animal’s injuries. If your pet was killed in a car accident, you could seek compensation for the cost of replacing your pet.
Compensation for damage to real property may be recovered as well, such as damage to your home if it was hit by a vehicle. You could also seek compensation for damage to a fence, retaining wall, landscaping, or mailbox. If a car or another vehicle, such as a commercial truck, were to spill toxic chemicals onto your property after a crash, you may seek to recover the cost of any necessary environmental clean-up.
Settling a Property Damage Claim Before an Injury Case
Property damage claims are often separated from personal injury claims and can be settled sooner. In a personal injury claim, the individual who is injured must recover as much as possible medically before our attorneys can understand the full extent of the client’s losses due to injury. The value of the damaged property can usually be determined more quickly.
Filing a Property Damage Claim
As soon as you are able after a car accident, you should notify your auto insurance company about the accident. Some insurance policies require you to report any accident, regardless of fault.
Ultimately, any compensation you receive will come from the at-fault driver’s auto liability insurance, or from your uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage if the at-fault driver is uninsured or does not have adequate insurance to cover your losses. In Kentucky, insurers must offer UM/UIM coverage as part of any auto liability insurance policy.
Minimum liability coverage in Kentucky, which most car owners buy, pays $25,000 for all property damage as a result of an accident. UM/UIM coverage is typically equivalent to your liability coverage.
Initially, you would file a third-party claim against the other driver’s liability insurance. The insurer would process the claim and either offer you a settlement or advise you that it was rejecting your claim. At this point, you may accept the settlement or negotiate for a better settlement from the auto liability provider and file a UM/UIM claim with your insurer.
If neither insurer were to offer you a suitable settlement, you could file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver (whose insurer would be obligated to defend them). This would require you to demonstrate that the other driver caused the accident, the accident caused your property damage, and you are due a certain amount of compensation to be made whole. This is the work a car accident lawyer can do for you.
The insurance company will have its lawyers ready to deny your claim and counter your demands. You should have a knowledgeable attorney standing up for your rights and demanding compensation on your behalf.
Let Us Handle Your Property Damage Claim for FREE
If you have been injured in a car accident that was someone else’s fault, we’ll handle your property damage claim at no charge along with your personal injury claim. Our experienced Kentucky car accident lawyers are known for their Kentucky Courage. We will demand the full insurance settlement you deserve after a car accident. We won’t charge a legal fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Contact Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer through our online form or call us at (859) 327-3383 today for a free meeting about handling your car accident claims.
