All states have specific personal injury laws that apply to all legal claims, whether they stem from automobile accidents or premises liability claims. Workplace injuries are typically adjudicated according to workers’ compensation rules within a state, but sometimes these claims can also eventually find the way to standard court as well.
It is important to understand the rules in a particular state controlling personal injury claims because accidents happen every day and claims always arise in some manner. The state of Washington is no different.
Auto Accident Injury laws
The largest share of personal injury claims in any state is usually connected to an automobile accident. All drivers in Washington are required by law to carry minimum liability insurance of 25/50/15. However, it is estimated that up to 30% of drivers are non-compliant. This means that increasing the level of personal injury insurance on your policy is important and can be done in two methods. One choice can be adding a PIP rider to the policy, which often only amounts to a small premium increase.
Another is carrying an uninsured or under-insured motorist rider in case an accident occurs involving an illegal motorist. This type of coverage is typical in states requiring no-fault settlement of accident claims, but Washington is a “fault” state, meaning that all negligent drivers can be pursued for damages in any accident case. Also, all drivers in an accident scenario are evaluated for comparative fault and assigned a percentage, including injured drivers.
Premises Liability Cases
Premises liability cases are settled by the same rules of fault but normally are connected to accidents resulting in injuries incurred on personal or commercial property. These cases can often include multiple negligent parties, just like car accident cases, and are also controlled by pure comparative negligence. This is the legal doctrine following that all accidents could potentially be the fault of various factors that must be evaluated for contribution to causing the injury. This can also include the injured plaintiff. It is also the component of a personal injury claim that insurance company claims adjusters use to attempt to deny or lessen the value of a personal injury claim.
The focus in premises liability claims is on personal assumption risk regarding the actions of the injured party and whether or not the respondent had a duty of care to that injured claimant. The final determination is similar to auto accident cases, but there is no minimum insurance coverage, and cases tend to be very strongly defended unless they are standard obvious low-level injury cases within available insurance coverage.