Centerville features a bustling business district and heavily traveled roads connecting with interstates and other cities. If you’re involved in an accident on one of these thoroughfares, you could suffer serious injuries that prevent you from working for weeks, months, or, in some cases, permanently.
When medical bills accumulate, you may turn to your insurance company for help.
Many people believe their own car insurance should cover all their bills due to Utah’s no-fault laws, but this is only true in limited situations. The state’s no-fault statute is meant to eliminate lawsuits over less severe car accidents, freeing the courts to address the more serious cases.
For this reason, all Utah drivers are required to carry $3,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance.
When you are injured in a car accident, and your medical expenses are less than $3,000, your PIP policy should cover them. If your insurance carrier rejects the claim, you should check with an attorney to be sure their reasons are valid.
However, many people have medical bills exceeding $3,000 following a car accident, and the minimum required PIP policy will only cover $3,000. At this point, you can seek to recover your remaining medical expenses and other damages from the at-fault driver’s liability policy (which is also required).
The first step is to locate a copy of your car accident report and discuss it with an experienced car accident attorney. At Valley Law Accident and Injury Lawyers, we offer free consultations so you can learn more about your case and the options for recovering damages.
How Can You Get a Centerville Police Department Car Accident Report?
The Centerville Police Department accepts accident report requests via email or mail. The records request form can be accessed here.
The request form asks you to provide as much detail as possible about the accident. We recommend starting with the date, location, and approximate time of the collision.
The responding officer most likely provided you with a case or incident number, which should be included.
Next, you’ll be asked for your name and standard contact information. In the following section, you must specify whether you want to review the records or require copies. The Centerville PD charges $5 for reports, $10 for photos, and $25 for videos (if available).
We always recommend taking your own photos after a car collision, but if you can’t do so, the police department’s pictures might be helpful.
Utah’s privacy laws limit who can access car accident reports to those with an interest in the accident or their representatives (such as insurance agents or lawyers). The next section of the request forms asks you to explain your connection to the accident.
If you were involved as a driver, passenger, injured party, or owner of involved property (like a vehicle), you should be able to select “subject of the record.” You may be asked to explain your involvement in more detail later and should be prepared to provide a photo ID.
When you’ve completed and signed the form, you can print a copy and mail it to:
If you have questions or concerns, call the Centerville PD at (801) 295-3477 during regular business hours.
What Should You Do After Receiving Your Police Report?
The next step should be to talk with a car accident attorney. We’ll review the report and look for “contributing factors,” which an insurance adjuster will use to determine fault in the collision.
A car accident can have multiple contributing factors, some of which may be attributed to both drivers. Others could be beyond anyone’s control—weather, wildlife, etc.
Frequently, clients ask us for clarification about who is at fault, or they may believe they were at fault. Some might even think they can’t recover damages if they contributed to the accident.
Fortunately, this is not always true. Under Utah law, you can still seek compensation if you were partially at fault, as long as you are under 50 percent responsible.
A frequent follow-up question is, “Who determines fault?” One common belief is that fault cases are always decided in a courtroom, but that rarely happens.
Most of the time, both drivers’ insurance companies negotiate with each other until they arrive at a determination of fault.
This process will occur whether you engage a car accident attorney or not. However, your lawyer can fight for a fair estimation of fault.
In some cases, the insurance adjusters may not accurately attribute fault to the involved parties. For instance, they may decide you were 30 or 40 percent responsible when the reality is more like 15 or 20 percent.
This can be a problem for the injured party because their final settlement is reduced by their own percentage of fault. So, if the insurance companies think you were 30 percent at fault, your settlement will be much smaller than if they determine you were 15 percent responsible.
Fortunately, your attorney will work to achieve a fair determination of fault. Additionally, we’ll carefully calculate all your damages and ensure the insurance company doesn’t underestimate them (another common way your settlement could be unfairly reduced).
Where Can I Go for Help With My Car Accident Claim?
The Valley Law Accident & Injury Lawyers team is here to support you with your car accident or personal injury claim, whether you’re located in Centerville, Salt Lake City, or elsewhere in Utah. Contact us for a free consultation, during which we will review your accident details, answer your questions, and discuss your concerns.
Our experienced legal experts will then explain your options for pursuing compensation. There’s no obligation, and you only pay us if we win or settle your case successfully.
Established by attorney Brigham Richards, Valley Law Accident & Injury Lawyers is committed to protecting the rights of injured people and their families. Mr. Richards is devoted to his clients, focusing on responsibility and treating each client as the utmost priority.
Fluent in both English and Spanish, he strives to achieve the best possible outcome for every client following a personal injury. Work with him and his team at Valley Law when you call (801) 810-9999.
Additional Questions?
We have helped many clients recover from injuries resulting from car accidents in West Valley, Salt Lake City, and the greater Utah area. We are here to help you recover after an accident. If you've been injured, don't hesitate to call Valley Law Accident and Injury Lawyers for a free consultation. We have recovered millions for our clients and we are ready to fight for you.
The responding officer most likely provided you with a case or incident number, which should be included.
