Car Accident Lawyers
Before diving too deeply into what happens if you lie to the insurance company, we must understand the statute of limitations in the laws that govern Washington state. To do this we must first understand that there is a three year deadline for most car accident lawsuits filed in the civil court system, and we have to understand that Washington is a pure comparative fault rule which is slightly different than most states comparative fault rules because this rule allows financial recovery even if the claimant was partly or mostly responsible for the accident. You should reach out to a car accident lawyer if you have any questions about the laws of Washington state.
When it comes to the three-year law about filing the case through civil courts, it only applies if you are filing a lawsuit over vehicle damage that was caused by the car accident. But if you are filing instead for wrongful death, the wrongful death lawsuit has to be filed against the at-fault driver three years from the point of the person’s death. This is very similar to the deadline set by the three-year deadline for injury or detainment of personal property, which begins the day the damage was caused.
Comparative fault in Washington state is a little bit different than a comparative fault in other states, because even if you are found to be partly a thought or even mostly at fault, you can still recover damages. Your award will be reduced according to the share of negligence that you hold, so if the total award would be $100,000 but you are 10% responsible for the crash, your award would be removed by $10,000 leaving you with the reward of $90,000.
So let’s talk about what happens when you lie to the insurance company after a car accident and why you might need a car accident lawyer if you do this.
People sometimes believe that it is acceptable to withhold tax or give wrong information to the insurance company, often they are trying to save money for themselves and may think that they paid high premiums in the past and have not made claims that the insurance company actually owes them money. This is not true.
Withholding information from your insurance company is a poor idea and is considered fraud, and by doing so you could have your insurance policy canceled, your claim will be denied, your insurance premium will go up, you may even be denied insurance in the future, you can face fines and penalties and you can face criminal charges.
Reach out to a car accident lawyer in Southeast WA to find out if you have a case, and make sure to talk to your lawyer honestly and openly about your insurance policy and the accident that happened.
