The first workday after an injury may bring practical questions that the accident report does not answer. Can you safely do the assigned job? Who has the doctor’s restrictions? Has anyone identified the insurer or arranged follow-up care? Address those questions while the details of the incident are still clear. This article focuses on…
“My employer filed the claim” can mean that an accident report reached the insurer. It does not necessarily mean a disputed claim has been filed with Louisiana’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration. Knowing which step has actually occurred matters when treatment or wage benefits are unpaid and a filing deadline is approaching. For an…
A diver may surface with an injury even when no one topside saw an accident. The dive profile, communications, equipment condition, and first symptoms can explain different parts of what happened. A report that says only “completed welding assignment” may leave out the facts that matter to both treatment and an injury claim. Underwater…
Louisiana’s comparative-fault calculation has two separate steps: determine the injured person’s percentage of negligence, then apply the legal consequence of that finding. For claims governed by the amendment effective January 1, 2026, the consequence changes sharply at 51 percent. A 50 percent finding permits a proportionately reduced recovery; a 51 percent finding generally bars…
A mistaken sentence in a recorded statement and a mistaken arrow in a police diagram create different problems. One concerns what you said; the other concerns how someone documented the collision. Neither should be ignored, and neither automatically decides who caused the crash. The useful response is to identify the precise error, preserve the…
A trucking insurer may deny ordinary policy coverage because the tractor was not listed, an exclusion applies, or the carrier failed to meet a policy condition. An MCS-90 endorsement can matter in that situation. It provides a separate federal payment obligation for certain judgments, subject to the endorsement’s terms and the applicable transportation rules….
For many interstate trucking companies, $750,000 is the familiar minimum liability figure. It is not a reliable answer to the question that matters after a serious crash: how much insurance is actually available for this loss? The answer can change with the carrier’s authority, the vehicle’s weight, the cargo, the companies involved in the…
The amount a trucking company must carry is not necessarily the amount available for your claim. A federal filing may identify a required minimum, while the actual policy provides more coverage, contains a disputed exclusion, or shares its limit among several claims from the same crash. To answer the coverage question after a Louisiana…
A driver qualification file is useful because it can show what a trucking company knew and checked before allowing a person to drive. It is not a complete account of the collision. A missing review note may raise a compliance question, while dashcam footage or dispatch records may answer a different question about the…
A tanker photograph can tell you that a truck carried a liquid. It cannot, by itself, tell you what the liquid was, which federal insurance minimum applied, or how much coverage is available for an injured person. Those questions require the shipping records, the carrier’s operating information, and the actual policies. That distinction matters…
An insurer’s letter assigning you 51 percent of the fault deserves a careful response, but it is not a court judgment. The percentage is the insurer’s position on the available evidence. You can ask what conduct and records support it, identify mistakes, and have the claim evaluated before accepting a settlement or release. The…
A truck can be repaired before anyone on the injured person’s side examines it. A camera may overwrite the crash footage while the insurer is still gathering statements. A preservation letter identifies the evidence that needs to survive long enough for a fair investigation and asks the people who control it to stop routine…
A photograph posted after a wreck may show what you were doing for a moment. A surveillance video may show more. Either can matter when an insurer compares your activity with the limitations you claim. Neither should be dismissed automatically, and neither necessarily supplies the whole medical picture. The immediate response is to preserve…
An insurer may point to a small dent or a low repair estimate and argue that a collision could not have caused the claimed injury. Vehicle damage is relevant evidence, but a photograph and a repair price do not answer every question about an occupant’s medical condition. The claim needs an examination of both…
Before signing a medical authorization after a Louisiana accident, read the permission it actually gives. Which providers may release records? Who may receive them? What information and dates does it cover? When does the permission expire? A form labeled “HIPAA authorization” can still authorize a much broader disclosure than you expected. The insurer needs…