Car accidents out on the freeways and highways not only injure those involved but cause severe, costly damage to vehicles which are involved in the accident. A rear- ender caused by a truck for example could damage the trunk, even to the point of completely destroying it.
There are other parts of the rear end of a vehicle that can be damaged too, such as the muffler, an essential part of the working of a gasoline vehicle. If you have been involved in a rear-end accident and you were not only injured but your vehicle’s muffler was damaged as well, you may be able to include the muffler damage in your PI claim.
Filing a Claim with Muffler Damage
You can only file a PI claim that includes muffler damage if you have proof that you were not to blame for the accident but you know who did. As soon as you have sufficient evidence to prove who caused the accident you can then file a personal injury claim that includes damage to your vehicle. You should carefully list all the damage to your vehicle so that you can get the full cost of the repairs.
What is most important is that you will need to prove the muffler damage took place at the time of the rear-end accident and not at some other time. This is the most difficult part of the damages claim as minor damage at least to your vehicle’s muffler could have happened quite easily at an earlier date.
The garage repairing your vehicle should be able to tell from the condition of the muffler when the damage took place. The amount of rust that has formed on the muffler is a good indication of when the accident took place.
Specific Evidence Needed for Proving Muffler Damage
You can prove the muffler damage in several ways such as providing:
- photographic evidence of the damaged muffler;
- an assessment of the muffler damage by the garage which is repairing the damaged vehicle;
- a police report describing the type of damage done to the vehicle which shows there is rear-end damage.
All this evidence should become part of your PI claim, which will be submitted to the insurer of the at-fault driver
Why you Should Work with a PI Lawyer When Filing for Muffler Damage
It is never easy to win a PI claim on your own as only too often an insurer will try to get away with offering a token amount which would barely cover your basic financial hardship. A PI lawyer typically knows how insurers work and will present a foolproof case including the muffler damage which will be hard for the insurer to deny. Fill out the Free Case Evaluation today!
