PROVO, UT CAR ACCIDENTS—WHAT TO DO. WHO ARE THE PARTIES MY INJURY ATTORNEY WILL BE DEALING WITH?
The most common personal injury cases in Provo, Utah are two car accidents. Two car accidents can be rear-end collisions, t-bone or intersection collision to name a few.
Here are the major players to a two a Provo car accident, who to contact and what to do:
- At-Fault Car. The at-fault car is the car that caused the Utah car collision.
- At-Fault Driver. The driver of the at-fault car causing the Utah car accident.
- At-Fault Insurance Carrier/Company. The at-fault insurance carrier is the insurance company who insures the at-fault car. Sometimes you have a two fault carriers. The first at-fault carrier is the insurance company insuring the car that was at-fault. The second at-fault carrier can be the at-fault driver’s personal car insurance because he was driving someone else’s car at the time of the car accident.
- At-Fault Insurance Adjuster. Your main adjuster your attorney deals with is the third party at-fault insurance adjuster. You can also have PIP, property damage and UIM adjuster assigned to car accidents.
- UIM/PIP Insurance Company. This is your own insurance company. “UIM” stands are Underinsured Motorist Coverage and “PIP” is Personal Injury Protection Benefits. Each of these types of car insurance benefits are attached to your own car policy of insurance and are called first party insurance benefits.
- Police Report. Under Utah law most car accidents require that the police be called and a report issued. Sometimes multiple agencies can respond to a Utah car accident scene and you have to get the report from each agency. Police or investigative reports generally are not available for a few weeks and can contain, body camera footage, photographs, accident reconstruction, a police officer narrative and witness statements. 911 calls are often also made which can reveal valuable witness commentary on the accident. Most agencies require you to submit a freedom of information request. The Utah Highway Patrol has an online request, but your returns are often highly redacted.