Legal Options After A Boating Accident

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 767 people died in boating-related accidents. Also, during that year, just shy of 3,200 people suffered non-fatal severe injuries due to boating accidents. Although suffering harm from an accident can be an isolating experience, especially if you are recovering at home by yourself, it’s essential to understand that you’re not alone. Others are grappling with similar experiences and resources tailored to those experiences to help injury victims like yourself.

Additionally, it’s essential to understand that you don’t need to weather the legal and financial trauma of sustaining injuries due to a boating accident alone. Our firm has extensive experience representing the interests of boating accident victims, and we’re available to assist you with seeking any compensation to which you may be entitled. 

Personal Injury Damages

Pursuing compensation after a boat accident involves the same kind of effort that pursuing compensation after a car accident involves. Essentially, our firm must thoroughly investigate the circumstances of your boat accident to determine precisely what happened and whether anyone can be held legally and financially liable for those circumstances.

You may be empowered to file a personal injury lawsuit if a person, a manufacturer of boat parts, or even a government agency is partially or totally responsible for what happened to you. Most of the time, if another party’s negligence, recklessness, or intentionally dangerous conduct directly contributed to the cause(s) of a victim’s harm, that victim can sue the responsible party for damages. 

In California, the law extends as far in favor of the rights of injury victims as it possibly can. In a small minority of states, injury victims are effectively barred from seeking compensation if they contributed to the cause of their harm to any degree. In most states, victims can only sue others if they are more than 50 percent responsible for the injury. Yet, as California is a pure comparative negligence state, victims remain entitled to pursue damages from any party whose reckless, negligent, or intentionally dangerous conduct contributed to the causes of their harm, even when those victims are also partially liable. 

The significant consequence of partial liability is that the damages a victim may receive are reduced proportionally to their degree of fault. For example, if a boat accident victim’s harm is valued at $200,000 and it has been determined that they are 25% at fault for their harm, they can “only” pursue $150,000 from the other party/parties responsible for their injuries. 

Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Many boat accidents are work-related. You must explore your legal options with particular haste if you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits due to work-related injuries. You won’t need to prove fault when applying for workers’ comp benefits. As workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, you’ll remain entitled to receive benefits for work-related harm as long as you’re eligible to receive them in the first place and you weren’t drunk, high, picking a fight, or trying to defraud the workers’ comp system by intentionally sustaining an injury at the time you experienced harm. 

You’ll need to act quickly if you’re potentially eligible for this form of compensation because the workers’ comp benefits application process is famously time-sensitive. You’ll only be given a few days to take specific actions after your accident before being barred from receiving the compensation you’re owed. 

A Word About Social Media 

If possible, stay off social media until your case is fully resolved. This may seem extreme, especially if you rely on social media for news and connection. However, it is essential to understand that any social media activity, however private, may be used as an excuse to devalue your case.

It is common for opposing counsel and insurance representatives to scour social media in search of any activity that could be used against someone seeking compensation for injuries. Even seemingly mundane and harmless activity could land you in hot water. For example, if you post a picture of yourself raising your young child over your head, an insurance representative could accuse you of fraud because you claimed that you injured your shoulders badly in your accident. They do not know that this picture was taken before the accident. Unfortunately for you, it can be a complicated timeline to prove.

Don’t give insurance representatives and opposing lawyers any excuse to doubt the validity of your claims. If you can’t stay off social media altogether, be exceptionally careful when engaging on any platform until your case has been resolved.  

Connect With An Knowledgeable California Personal Injury Lawyer Today To Learn More

Suppose you’ve recently been injured in a boat accident, regardless of whether you were operating a boat when you sustained harm or whether your harm was partially your fault. In that case, you likely have legal options available. Connect with the Law Offices of Samer Habbas & Associates, PC, to learn about these options and your rights as an injury victim under California law.

We offer risk-free, confidential legal consultations to all injury victims at no cost. We genuinely believe that legal protections codified by law do individuals very little good unless they know what these protections are and how to avail themselves of them. As a result, it is our honor and privilege to provide personalized legal guidance to any injury victim needing clarification and support. To discuss your situation and our firm’s approach to personal injury representation, schedule a free case evaluation by calling (888) 848-5084 or contacting us online. We look forward to speaking with you.