When you climb into the car with another person, you’re trusting the driver with your safety. Luckily for many of us, our friends or family members are courteous and take care to protect our safety. But not all of us are so lucky.

You were a passenger in a car accident, which is a difficult position to be in. Just like the driver, you’re suffering major injuries and building up debt for your medical bills. Worse, you weren’t even a driver, so there’s almost no way you could have caused the crash. What are you supposed to do?

Fortunately, with the right legal help, there’s a chance to win compensation for your damages. If you were a passenger and your driver crashed, at attorney can provide the help you need.

Who Is Responsible?

After your accident, you’ll need to file a claim with the responsible party’s car insurance company. But you weren’t one of the drivers, so who is responsible for your injuries?

Many victims of these accidents will need to file a claim with both drivers’ insurers. One or both of the drivers’ recklessness caused the injuries you suffered. Unless it’s clear that only one driver caused your injuries, it’s often best to file with both parties’ insurers to get your full compensation.

If the insurers don’t want to pay, you can be left in a difficult situation, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of options. If you were injured because a driver made careless mistakes, you can recover compensation through an insurer or directly from the at-fault driver. Either way, an attorney can help.

What Can I Receive?

Being the passenger in a car accident can make it difficult to determine the amount of compensation you’re owed, too. After all, you won’t be seeking repairs for your vehicle, although you may seek compensation for other financial losses, such as wages you’ll lose at work while you’re recovering from your injuries.

Your lawyer will take a close look at your situation to determine what kinds of damages you should receive compensation for. These might include the following:

  • Lost wages
  • Current and future medical expenses
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional trauma
  • Household services

Your attorney could even use your role as the passenger to help you get the full compensation you need. You weren’t driving, so it would be difficult to pin any of the blame for the accident on you. That means you deserve full compensation for every damage you’ve suffered.

Who Can Help?

When you’re a passenger in a car accident, you find out quickly how difficult and frightening an auto crash can be to deal with. You might feel alone, especially if you’ll need to pursue compensation from the friend or family member who caused the accident.

But you don’t have to deal with your claim alone. With a lawyer from Craig Swapp & Associates on your side, you can expect the guidance and aggressive representation you need to get full compensation. It’s a little complicated, especially because you were a passenger, but we can fight for what you’re owed.

We’ll start with a free claim evaluation so you know what approach we’ll take with your claim and what to expect. For more information, simply call 1-800-404-9000 or complete the online contact form below.

Written By: Ryan Swapp     Legal Review By: Craig Swapp