Who Decides Fault After My Car Accident?

Naturally, after your car accident event, you may be frustrated with the property damages you incurred and in pain from the bodily injuries that developed. In response, you may want to blame the other involved driver entirely. But at the end of the day, it may be your word against theirs, which can only get you so far in successfully obtaining financial compensation for your damages. Therefore, there must be a neutral third party to rule on who should be held liable. With all that being said, please read on to discover who gets to assign fault in my accident and how a seasoned Passaic County car accident lawyer at the Law Offices of August R. Soltis can fight to ensure this blame is shifted away from you.

Who decides fault after my car accident in New Jersey?

You should have called law enforcement to respond to the scene of your accident. When an officer arrives, they will assess the scene and visible damages, get statements from you and other involved driver(s), and speak with eyewitnesses to craft an official accident report. Importantly, this report does not automatically determine who is legally at fault for the accident, but it may heavily influence your auto insurance company.

With that said, when you file an auto insurance claim, an adjuster may assign fault based on the police report and other submitted evidence to determine your payout. It is rather likely that you will disagree with an adjuster’s decision, as they are notorious for minimizing or denying claims as often as possible. If so, you may turn this into a litigation issue.

That is, you may sue the party you believe to be truly at fault for your accident for damages in a personal injury claim. At this time, the New Jersey civil court will hear both sides of the story and review all the presented proof to calculate the final breakdown of responsibility.

Can multiple parties be at fault for my car accident?

Notably, the New Jersey civil court has the authority to rule multiple parties at fault for a single car accident event. This may be in reference to the state’s comparative negligence system. Here, a plaintiff and defendant can share fault, but a plaintiff must be found less than 50 percent to blame to be awarded financial compensation for their claimed damages.

Given this, your percentage of assigned fault may directly influence the ratio of damages you can ultimately recover. For example, if you are 25 percent at fault, you may receive compensation for 75 percent worth of your damages. However, if it is reversed and you are 75 percent liable, you may get 0 percent of what you are seeking.

You probably have more questions regarding this topic, and we would be happy to answer them for you. So please schedule an initial consultation with a competent Passaic County car accident lawyer from the Law Offices of August R. Soltis. We look forward to our conversation with you.