Injured in a Truck Accident? How a Driver’s Independent Contractor Status Could Impact Your Claim

MARSHALL, Texas. If you’ve been hurt in a truck accident, you may be entitled to make an insurance claim, and sue the truck driver as well as the trucking company for your injuries. Truck accident claims can sometimes be more complicated than claims involving passenger vehicles because there may be more than one responsible party involved. Both truck companies and truck drivers may have a role to play in an accident, because truck companies might be responsible for maintenance of vehicles, hiring of drivers, and scheduling. Truck companies and drivers may have high value insurance policies, with some of these policies being as high as $1 million. In many cases, insurance will be sufficient to cover all damages. However, if you have been catastrophically injured in a truck accident, these high limit policies may sometimes not be enough to cover all your damages.

Truck companies and drivers may additionally be responsible for paying for injuries and damages that are not covered by insurance should the damages exceed the amounts covered by insurance. However, if a truck company hires its drivers as independent contractors, the company might sometimes pass the liability onto the driver, who may have less money to pay for damages than the parent company. This is where claims involving truck drivers and truck companies can get complicated.

For example, companies like Amazon are increasingly relying on independent contractors to deliver goods. According to Vox, Amazon Flex workers are independent contractors. This means that they are not employed by Amazon. If these workers get into accidents while they are delivering products, the personal injury claims process could get complicated.

Many insurance companies that provide insurance for private vehicles won’t cover damages for accidents that take place when a worker is using a vehicle for a job. And sometimes, companies that hire independent contractors to deliver goods may claim that the responsibility for coverage is not theirs. This can leave victims of accidents in a tough position. In this case, some victims might still choose to sue the company for which the driver was contracted.

Workers who are classified as independent contractors may also lose out on benefits like worker’s compensation that could help them pay for medical bills should they be injured while driving a truck. According to the Insurance Journal, oilfield truck drivers are often classified as independent contractors by oil companies. If they are hurt or killed in accidents, companies may claim that they have no responsibility to pay for injuries or losses. However, reports indicate that many of these workers have been misclassified. If you or a loved one was hurt in an oilfield truck accident, you may have the right to seek damages for your personal injury if you were misclassified.

According to the Insurance Journal, 1,566 workers were killed in oilfield accidents. These numbers don’t consider the many more people who might have been injured or those who are living with disabling injuries. Oil companies may not always report all the injuries that are taking place on oilfields, meaning that government oversight may not always be aware of the challenges these workers are facing. If you have been hurt in a trucking accident on the job, you may have important rights under the law and you may have been denied important rights if worker’s compensation isn’t covering your injury. You may be entitled to sue the oil company for your injuries and losses if the company’s actions were responsible for your truck accident.

The Cooper Law Firm are truck accident lawyers in Marshall, Texas who work with victims and their families to help them seek the maximum possible compensation permitted under the law after a crash. Our firm can review your case and help you fight for your rights. Visit us at https://www.cooper-law-firm.com/ to learn more.

Cooper Law Firm
501 N Third St,
Longview, TX 75601
Telephone: (903) 297-0037