Farmers Auto Insurance Claims

Chicago Attorneys Fighting for Car Accident Victims

After a car accident, your emotions may be running high, and you may feel confused. It is crucial to stay calm. You should not admit fault or apologize, and you should take photographs of the property damage, skid marks, and injuries. You will need to exchange information with the other driver, including the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all of the drivers and passengers in the accident, as well as the car license numbers, models, and makes of the cars. You will need to get each driver's license number, insurance company, and policy number, and you should obtain the names and addresses of all possible witnesses. This information will be needed whether you are pursuing a first-party Farmers auto insurance claim or pursuing litigation that involves a driver who has Farmers auto insurance. The Chicago car accident lawyers at Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Eagle, Johnson & Bareck provide aggressive representation to accident victims in these matters.

Farmers Auto Insurance Claims

You can purchase many kinds of car insurance from Farmers Auto Insurance. These include liability coverage, as well as uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, collision insurance, comprehensive coverage, and personal injury protection (PIP). Each type of coverage covers different types of contingencies. For example, liability insurance coverage, which is mandatory under Illinois law, provides protection in case of litigation brought by a person injured in a car accident. Liability insurance coverage is used to cover an injured plaintiff's damages, including medical expenses, lost income, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, property damage, or funeral and burial expenses.

In order to establish liability and recover damages, you would need to show that the defendant caused the accident by failing to drive safely. A defendant can breach the duty to drive safely in many ways, including by texting while driving, speeding, weaving, tailgating, driving aggressively, drunk driving, and failing to obey traffic signals and signs. For example, if the defendant was driving 90 mph in a 55 mph zone, and they rear-ended you, it is likely that a jury would find that there had been a breach of the duty of care. For another example, if the defendant was texting while driving and drifted into the oncoming lane, where they hit you head-on, it is also likely that the jury would determine that there had been a breach of the duty of care.

After an injury-causing accident that you believe was caused by the other party, you should seek out legal counsel. The other party's insurer, whether it is Farmers or another insurer, may contact you and try to get information from you. Often, the adjustor will speak in a friendly way, but you should not assume that the adjustor is on your side or owes you anything. An insurer owes a duty to its insured, but not to you. It is important to talk to your own attorney and avoid giving information to the other party's insurer.

You should also contact your own insurer and file a claim. If your insurer is Farmers, you will need to provide the claims representative with the date and time that the accident occurred, where the accident happened, and a description of how the accident happened. You will need to provide your driver's license, vehicle registration, policy number, the same information for the other drivers involved in the accident, witness contact information, the police report and incident number, and the name of the officer who came out to the scene. You should contact Farmers to file the claim and report the accident to your insurer, even if you think that the other person is at fault and want to sue. This is because your insurer is supposed to protect your interests, while the other drivers' insurers will be concerned about protecting the interests of their insured.

When you are making a claim, you can ask the claims representative about the specific coverage that you have, as well as the deductibles that you have for collision or comprehensive coverage.

Enlist a Chicago Lawyer to Protect Your Rights Following a Crash

If you are concerned about a Farmers auto insurance claim, you should get advice from an experienced personal injury attorney. At Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Eagle, Johnson & Bareck, we represent victims in Chicago, Champaign, Quincy, Aurora, Rockford, and Springfield, as well as other communities in Cook, Adams, Sangamon, Champaign, Winnebago, and Kane Counties. You can call us at 312-263-6330 or toll-free at 800-444-1525 for a free consultation.