How Comparative Negligence Affects Your Claim in Idaho

If you suffered a personal injury caused by another party’s negligent actions, they may owe you compensation. However, Idaho’s comparative negligence laws can affect your claim because any fault assigned to you will reduce your recoverable damages. If you are more at fault than the other involved party, you cannot recover any of your losses.

An Idaho personal injury lawyer with our law firm can explain the role comparative negligence may play in your case. We can also defend you from tactics that use the law to try to reduce or deny your claim.

How Idaho’s Comparative Negligence Law Can Affect Your Claim

Idaho Statutes § 6-801 outlines the state’s comparative negligence law. It states that shared responsibility for an accident does not prevent you from seeking financial recovery as long as your degree of responsibility is not greater than that of the other parties involved. It also states that any amount of responsibility assigned to you will reduce your awards proportionally.

In practice, this means that if you have $100,000 in damages, but the court finds you 20 percent liable for the incident that led to your injury, you only recover $80,000. However, if the court finds you are 50 percent or more responsible, you cannot recover any damages at all.

Even if you expect to resolve your case without taking legal action, comparative negligence will matter. Insurance companies know the law and will apply it when offering you a settlement amount. They may also try to assign a greater degree of fault to you. A personal injury lawyer, though, could protect you from such tactics.

Types of Claims That May Be Affected by Comparative Negligence

Comparative negligence affects personal injury claims. These claims seek compensation for damages caused by another party’s negligent actions. Types of claims that may be affected by comparative negligence in Idaho include:

• Car accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Truck accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Bicycle accidents
• Slip and fall accidents
• Premises liability claims
• Wrongful death claims

If you or a loved one have suffered injuries due to another’s negligent actions, we can review your case and explain how comparative negligence could be applied to your claim.

Damages You Can Recover in an Idaho Personal Injury Case

Comparative negligence will affect the compensation you receive, but what damages can you pursue? Your recoverable compensation will vary based on the type of accident you suffered, the injury you sustained, and other factors unique to your claim.

In general, personal injury damages may include:

• Medical expenses, including hospital and doctor bills, physical therapy and rehabilitation, medical equipment, prescription drugs, mobility aids, nursing services, and life care
• Lost wages, earnings, and benefits, including income from missed work and compensation for reduced earning capacity if you cannot return to your job
• Pain and suffering, including monetary awards for physical, mental, and emotional pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment, and reduced quality of life
• Wrongful death of a loved one, including funeral and burial expenses, medical expenses, and the loss of your loved one’s financial support and household services.

How Long Do You Have to Act?

If you can seek compensation through an insurance claim, such as an auto liability policy or a property insurance policy, you should file it immediately. If you must take legal action, you typically have two years to file most personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits in civil court, according to Idaho Statutes § 5-219.

As with comparative negligence, insurance companies understand the statute of limitations. If you run out of time to file a lawsuit, you no longer have leverage over the insurers, and there is no incentive for them to offer you fair compensation. You could end up with a reduced or denied claim and no more options for seeking damages.

Do You Need an Idaho Personal Injury Lawyer?

A personal injury lawyer can help you understand comparative negligence and how it might affect your case. An attorney with our law firm can also stand up to insurance companies and opposing counsel who may try to blame you for your accident to decrease the at-fault party’s financial liability.

Our law firm can:

• Build a case proving the other party is liable: One of the best things you can do to combat comparative negligence is to build a strong case proving another party is liable and you are not. We can do this using evidence, which may include police reports, eyewitness accounts, expert testimony, photographs, videos, physical evidence, and medical records.
• Identify your damages: We can also use evidence to identify and pursue all of your economic and non-economic damages so that you do not leave money on the table. We can verify your losses using bills, pay stubs, receipts, and estimates of your future and ongoing expenses. We can also use testimony and medical information to establish your claim for pain and suffering.
• Negotiate with involved parties: We can aggressively negotiate for the maximum compensation possible. We will also push back against attempts to assign fault to you and reduce your settlement. We will not allow opposing parties to pressure you or engage in bad-faith tactics.
• Handle claim details: A legal representative can ease your burden after an accident by managing case details, including filing paperwork, tracking deadlines, and communicating with involved parties.
• Take legal action: If necessary, we can file your case in court and represent you at trial. We can make a compelling case proving another party is liable, and you deserve full and fair compensation.

Contact Sargent Law Firm Injury Lawyers to Learn How Comparative Negligence Affects Your Idaho Claim

If you or someone you loved suffered an injury caused by negligence, you may have a personal injury case. Though comparative negligence in Idaho can affect your claim, we have the skills, resources, and knowledge to combat any unfair blame.

An Idaho personal injury attorney with Sargent Law Firm Injury Lawyers can help you navigate the legal process. We are dedicated to helping injured people recover. Our law firm has secured over $40 million in settlements and judgments for clients. To learn more about how we can serve you, contact us online or call 24/7 for a free case review.