The collision with an 18-wheeler on the I-15 corridor leaves you shaken and in pain. While you recover in your home near the industrial centers of Midvale, your phone rings.
An insurance adjuster for the trucking company offers you a quick settlement check to cover your initial medical bills and a little extra for your trouble. This offer often tempts victims facing mounting expenses and vehicle repairs.
However, accepting this money usually constitutes a massive financial mistake. Midvale truck accident injuries frequently involve complex trauma that doctors cannot fully diagnose in the first few weeks.
Insurance companies know this reality, and they use speed to purchase your claim for a fraction of its true value. You need to recognize this tactic for what it acts as: a strategic move to limit corporate liability.
The adjuster works for the trucking company, not for you. Their goal involves closing the file before you realize you need surgery or before your doctor diagnoses a permanent spinal injury.
Parker & McConkie rejects these premature offers. We investigate the crash, consult with medical professionals, and determine the true lifetime cost of your injuries. We ensure the settlement reflects the reality of your future rather than just the bills sitting on your counter today.
Core concepts of settlement timing
- Speed benefits the insurer: A quick settlement offer almost always indicates the insurance company fears a much larger payout if you hire an attorney and fully diagnose your injuries.
- Releases are permanent: Signing a settlement agreement ends your right to seek further compensation forever, even if your condition worsens or requires new surgery.
- MMI matters: You should generally wait until you reach Maximum Medical Improvement, or MMI, to value a claim because this point defines your permanent limitations.
What Are Insurance Settlement Tactics?
Insurance carriers call this tactic swoop and settle. Insurance settlement tactics refer to the strategic methods adjusters use to minimize payouts, such as offering quick cash to unrepresented victims before the full extent of their injuries is known.
They contact you days after the crash when you feel vulnerable and stressed about money. They present themselves as helpful problem solvers who want to get you paid immediately. This friendly demeanor masks a calculated financial decision.
They are aware that truck accident claims often exceed six or seven figures due to the severity of the damage. They save their company millions if they can get you to sign a release for a significantly lower amount.
We analyze the motivation behind these early offers to protect your interests.
- Capping liability: The insurer wants to lock in a low number before diagnostic imaging reveals a herniated disc or a traumatic brain injury.
- Avoiding litigation: They know that once a lawyer gets involved, we will uncover evidence of driver fatigue or maintenance failures that increase the claim value.
- Exploiting uncertainty: They rely on your fear of the unknown to make you accept a sure thing now rather than waiting for a fair amount later.
We act as a shield against this pressure. We tell the insurance company to back off while you focus on your medical treatment. We force them to wait until the full picture of your damages emerges.
Why Is Settling Before Maximum Medical Improvement Dangerous?
Maximum Medical Improvement, or MMI, represents the point at which your condition stabilizes and no further significant improvement is expected, even with continued treatment. Settling before you reach MMI forces you to guess about your future needs.
Determining the value of your case at this point is a gamble with your financial future. A doctor might think your neck pain comes from a sprain, but six months later, it turns out to be a nerve injury requiring fusion surgery.
Settling early means you will have to pay for that surgery out of your own pocket.
We carefully track your medical progress to ensure we time the demand accurately.
- Stabilization: We wait until doctors declare your condition stable so we know exactly what permanent impairments remain.
- Future projections: Doctors can predict with high accuracy what maintenance care you will need for the rest of your life once you reach MMI.
- Economic calculation: We cannot calculate lost earning capacity until we know if your permanent restrictions prevent you from returning to your job.
We refuse to gamble with your financial security. We ensure the settlement demand relies on concrete medical prognoses rather than optimistic guesses.
Does Utah’s Comparative Negligence Law Affect Early Settlements?
Yes, significantly. Utah Code § 78B-5-818 establishes a modified comparative negligence standard. This means if a jury finds you 50% or more at fault for the accident, you recover absolutely nothing.
Insurance adjusters use early settlements to lock in a narrative of fault before all the evidence comes to light. They might offer a low amount by claiming you were partially to blame, hoping you will accept it before we can download the truck’s Electronic Logging Device (ELD) data.
This data often proves the truck driver was the one at fault, not you.
- ELD evidence: This digital log proves if the driver was speeding, braking late, or violating hours-of-service regulations at the moment of impact.
- Fault allocation: Adjusters try to pin 50% of the fault on you to zero out your claim, but the ELD data can shift that liability back to the trucker.
- Preserving evidence: Settling early often means giving up the right to investigate the truck’s black box, which is the key to proving full liability.
We ensure that fault is determined by hard data, not by an adjuster’s opinion. We refuse to let them use the 50% rule to scare you into a bad deal.
How Do Midvale’s Industrial Corridors Increase Risk?
Midvale sits at a central junction of commerce in the Salt Lake Valley. The industrial zones near the Jordan River attract construction vehicles and heavy machinery transport that mix with commuter traffic.
The I-15 corridor through Midvale sees thousands of long-haul trucks daily. This density of large trucks creates a constant risk for local drivers, especially near the busy interchanges at 7200 South and 9000 South.
We see distinct patterns of severe injury arising from these local trucking routes.
- Highway speed rear-ends: Traffic slowing for the I-215 interchange often leads to loaded trucks slamming into stopped cars, causing massive spinal trauma.
- Intersection T-bones: Trucks running red lights on wide arterials like State Street strike passenger cars on the side, where occupants have the least protection.
- Construction zone crashes: Narrow lanes and shifting patterns near road work projects lead to sideswipes that force cars into barriers or other vehicles.
- Underride accidents: Cars sliding under the trailer of a truck turning across 7200 South often suffer catastrophic roof crush damage.
These high-impact crashes create complex medical needs. We use the specific dynamics of the crash to justify the severity of your injuries to the insurance company.
What Long-Term Costs Do Victims Often Overlook?
Bills today only show the ambulance fee and the ER invoice. You likely do not see the costs that will arise five or ten years from now. Truck accident injuries often cause degenerative conditions that worsen with age.
Arthritis develops in fractured joints. Spinal hardware wears out and needs replacement. A quick settlement ignores these future liabilities.
We work with life care planners to identify the expenses that will arise down the road.
- Future surgeries: Many orthopedic injuries require follow-up procedures or hardware removal years after the initial fix.
- Home health care: Limiting your mobility as you age may mean you need assistance with daily tasks like bathing or cooking.
- Vocational retraining: Losing the ability to perform your physical job forces you to face the cost of going back to school to learn a new trade.
- Chronic pain management: You may need ongoing medication, injections, or physical therapy to manage pain for the rest of your life.
We include these costs in our settlement demand. We present economic reports that account for inflation and rising healthcare prices. We ensure the money lasts as long as your injury does.
Why Is the Release of Liability Form So Critical?
The document the insurance adjuster wants you to sign is a “Release of All Claims.” This legal contract is powerful and final. Signing it and cashing the check releases the truck driver, the trucking company, and the insurance carrier from any further liability.
It does not matter if your doctor finds a new fracture the next day. It does not matter if you lose your job because of the injury next month. You cannot reopen the case.
We review every document the insurance company sends you.
- Identify broad language: Insurers often draft releases that cover known and unknown injuries to protect themselves from future claims.
- Prevent premature signing: We advise you to refuse to sign anything until we have a complete picture of your damages.
- Negotiate terms: We ensure the release accurately reflects the agreement and does not inadvertently waive rights to other claims, such as PIP benefits.
We protect you from signing away your rights. We ensure that when you do sign, the compensation is sufficient to cover your lifetime needs.
How Does the Statute of Limitations Protect You?
While insurance companies push for a settlement within days, the law gives you much more time. Under Utah Code § 78B-2-307, you typically have four years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit for negligence.
This extended timeline exists specifically to allow injuries to manifest and stabilize. We use this time strategically to build your case.
- Medical Observation: We use the statute of limitations window to observe your recovery and ensure no complications arise.
- Evidence Gathering: We take the time to track down witnesses and subpoena maintenance records that the trucking company might try to hide.
- Negotiation Leverage: Knowing we have time to file a lawsuit removes the pressure to accept a lowball offer immediately.
We ensure the insurance company knows we are willing to use the full legal timeline to get justice. We refuse to let them rush you into a bad decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I accept a check for property damage only?
Yes, but be very careful. Insurance companies sometimes include language on the property damage check that releases them from bodily injury claims too. You must have an attorney review the check and any accompanying documents before you endorse them.
What if I already signed a release?
Overturning a signed release is very difficult. However, we might be able to reopen the case if the insurance company used fraud, coercion, or misrepresentation to get you to sign. We review the circumstances of the signing to find any legal exceptions.
How long does a truck accident settlement take?
A fair settlement takes time. Cases involving severe injuries often take 12 to 24 months to resolve because we must wait for you to reach MMI. We prioritize the right result over a fast result.
Will my health insurance pay my bills while I wait?
Yes. You should use your health insurance to pay for treatment after your PIP runs out. Your health insurer will place a lien on your settlement to get paid back later, but this ensures you get the care you need now.
Do I have to go to court?
Most truck accident cases settle out of court. However, we prepare every case as if it is going to trial. This preparation pressures the insurance company to offer a fair settlement to avoid the risk of a jury verdict.
Demand What You Deserve
The trucking company wants to save money, but you need to save your future. Parker & McConkie serves accident victims in Midvale, Sandy, Murray, and throughout Utah.
We provide the strength, the strategy, and the dedication you need to win.
