Utah Boat Accident Guide
A serious boating injury can cause problems both physical and financial. The Utah Boat Accident Guide was created by Swenson & Shelley Injury Attorneys to help residents obtain maximum financial compensation.
If you have been hurt on a boat, you are probably feeling extremely frustrated and scared. Your finances might be at risk due to lost wages from being out of work as well as unexpected medical bills. Our Utah boating accident attorney is here to help you get the compensation that you need. Once you read up about your case, don’t hesitate to call our office to set up a free consultation to go over the details of your boating accident claim and find out what your legal options are.
Common Boating Accident Injuries
Typically when you are on a boat, there are not very many safety precautions. You may not be wearing a seat belt and many times people get on a boat without putting on their lifejacket. Because of the lax nature of being on a boat, the risk for more severe injuries increases. The most common boating accident injuries we see people get include:
- Broken bones and fractures
- Internal organ injury
- Traumatic brain injury or concussion
- Cuts and lacerations
- Paralysis
If you suspect you have an injury, the first thing you should do after your accident is seek out medical care. Your health is the most important thing and you want to make sure you are on the mend as soon as possible. If you delay seeking medical attention, you run the risk of having the insurance company deny your claim on the basis that your injuries could not possibly need compensation if they were not bad enough to send you right to a doctor. Even if you have adrenaline in your body and you don’t really feel the full extent of your injuries, you should still seek medical attention. It is also important that you get immediate medical attention so that we have documented proof of all the injuries you have sustained. We will use your medical records as a means to show the insurance company that they owe you compensation.
Utah Statute of Limitations
For most personal injury claims, including boating accidents, you have four years from the date of your accident to bring your claim or settle it in civil court. This might seem like you have so much time to contact an attorney, but it is not advised to wait a significant amount of time to do so. These cases can be complicated and your attorney needs time to find out who the liable party is, get all of your records together, and start building a strong case to present to the insurance company. Waiting will not be beneficial for you. In fact, the sooner you hire an attorney, the better. Additionally, you should not wait until four years to talk to an attorney. If the deadline has passed, there is nothing we can do to help you. If you wait until a week before, we most likely cannot help you anymore as we need that time to build your case.
Avoid Talking to the Insurance Company
When the insurance company for the liable party comes calling, the best thing you can do is refer them to your attorney. They will be asking you for a recorded statement and claim that it will help them help you in your case. This is not something you want to give them if you are interested in full and fair compensation. They are trained to ask you questions that put you in a bad spot. Any answers that you give that might make it seem like the accident was your fault or that your injuries aren’t too bad, they will use that against you in their pursuit to reduce your claim or throw it out altogether.
How Boating Accident Compensation Works
Utah is a shared fault state which means you can receive compensation but if you are deemed to be 50% or more at fault, then you will be barred. If you share fault less than 50%, then your compensation will be reduced. For example, if you are awarded $10,000 for your injuries, but have 20% shared fault, your award will be reduced to $8,000 to account for your role in the accident. That is why it is so important for us to keep you from making case-ruining mistakes by talking to the insurance company.