Construction sites are havens for dangerous materials, unchecked equipment, and, occasionally, negligent horseplay. While most site managers and crews should look out for your well-being should you pass them by, some don’t. Those negligent parties can cause dangerous accidents that permanently change the way you live your life.
Whether you’re contending with permanent or temporary losses after a construction site accident, South Bend lawyers can help you get back on your feet. Vaughan & Vaughan can work with you to hold the right parties financially accountable for your economic stress.
You can contact a South Bend personal injury lawyer today to learn more about your right to accident compensation.
Who to Hold Responsible for a Construction Site Accident
Before you can file a personal injury claim against the party liable for your construction accident, you need to know who you can blame for your losses. More often than not, evidence gives the game away. Video footage, photos, and bystander testimony can all outline the negligence that resulted in your accident.
There are instances wherein liability isn’t so straightforward, though. Contracts may have some say over who you can hold liable for construction accident losses. You may also discover that other parties played a role in your accident, forcing you to divide the blame between multiple parties.
The parties that most often appear in Indiana construction site accident claims can include the following:
Site Managers and Corporate Representatives
If you’re injured by construction crews or related parties working as employees within a corporation, you may have the right to hold that corporation financially liable for your losses.
Most companies offer their employees some form of coverage via an existing insurance policy. These corporations may have their legal departments step in should you make it known that you intend to sue. Corporations often prefer to settle construction accident cases to avoid the financial and temporal cost that comes with going to court.
You don’t have to let a corporate legal team intimidate you, either purposefully or not. The personal injury lawyer who oversees your case can ensure that these parties don’t take advantage of you as you fight to hold their employees accountable for your wrongful losses.
Individual Employees
Many construction companies hire independent contractors in an effort to avoid assuming liability for their crews’ behavior on a site. If you get injured and discover that an acting party works on an independent contractor contract, you may sue that individual but not their corporation.
Why? Independent contractor contracts, on construction sites and in other fields, create a client-supplier relationship between the contractor and contractee. Independent contractors often have to invest in their own insurance to keep themselves safe on job sites, as their “clients” won’t offer them support in the wake of an injury.
Other Parties
Not every construction site accident happens because of site negligence. Drivers who behave inappropriately in a construction zone can put you in harm’s way. So can packers who deliver tools to the site. Even the manufacturers who produce the materials and equipment used on a worksite can bear some of the blame for your losses.
How do you divide blame for your losses between these parties? When in doubt, let a South Bend construction accident lawyer do the heavy lifting for you.
Our team can weigh contracts against evidence to determine what specific circumstances, on-site or otherwise, led to your accident. We can then name applicable parties responsible for your losses before going to court. You can count on our team to keep you in the loop should we have to divide fault for your accident between multiple entities.
Your Case Will Get
The Attention It Deserves
How to Take a Construction Site Accident Claim to Court
If you want to take a construction accident claim to court, you need to complete your claim, including accusations of fault, within Indiana’s personal injury statute of limitations. Indiana Code section 34-11-2-4 allows injured parties like you to take up to two years to gather the evidence needed to make your claim.
It is difficult to fight for fair compensation if you try to file a personal injury claim after your case’s statute of limitations expires. With that in mind, consider booking a free case evaluation with an experienced lawyer shortly after your accident. A consultation is not a commitment. You don’t have to pursue legal action if you don’t want to.
Instead, a free case evaluation lets you get to know more about the representatives you may work with and the services they offer. You can bring any questions you have about the civil process as you decide whether or not to move your case forward.
Understand the Value of Your Case
Vaughan & Vaughan prioritizes your access to fair and comprehensive construction accident compensation. With that in mind, we make the process of calculating your case’s value as transparent as possible. We can integrate our estimate of your case’s value into the claim we file with a civil judge so you, they, and a liable party know what support you expect.
The losses that we can integrate into a construction accident claim can include the following:
- Emergency medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Lost opportunities to return to work
- Property damage and restoration
- Long-term medical care
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Stress
There is no fee
unless you win
Vaughan & Vaughan Offers Survivors Like You a Free Case Evaluation
Construction crews and their site managers have an obligation to keep you safe from preventable harm. Crews that fail to uphold their duty should help you recover from your losses – but you have to hold them responsible first. You can meet with a construction accident lawyer in South Bend today to discuss how best to get your life back on track.
Vaughan & Vaughan offers construction accident case evaluations free of charge to survivors like you. If you have questions about your right to compensation or want to learn more about the civil process, get in touch. We’re ready to sit down and help you pave a personalized road to recovery.
