Personal Injury

After an injury, the insurance adjuster who calls is professional, sympathetic, and paid to close your claim for as little as possible. That is not a moral failing on their part; it is the job. The mistake is treating that call as neutral.

Utah adds its own wrinkles — a no-fault PIP system, a modified comparative fault bar at 50%, and a general four-year filing deadline that is much shorter for claims against governmental entities. Several of those deadlines can expire before an injury has even finished healing.

What this includes

• Car, truck, and motorcycle collisions
• Pedestrian and bicycle injuries
• Uninsured and underinsured motorist claims
• Premises liability — slip and fall, negligent security, unsafe conditions
• Dog bites and animal attacks
• Product-related injuries
• Wrongful death claims on behalf of statutory heirs
• PIP and medical payment coverage disputes
• Insurance bad faith where a carrier unreasonably denies or delays

How a claim proceeds

1. Treatment first. Gaps in medical care are the single most common way a legitimate claim loses value.
2. Investigation — the police report, scene evidence, witnesses, and available coverage, including your own UM/UIM policy.
3. Documentation of damages: medical expense, lost income, and the parts of the loss that do not show up on a bill.
4. A demand to the carrier once treatment has stabilized enough to know what the case is worth.
5. Suit and litigation where the offer is not serious. Most cases resolve before trial; that is a reason to prepare for trial, not to skip it.