The United Parcel Service (UPS) delivers millions upon millions of packages to individuals each year around the country and around the world. Just about everyone is familiar with their brown trucks, but what happens if an individual is involved in an accident with a UPS vehicle? Who pays the medical bills and property damage expenses of those involved? Here, we want to examine what you need to do if you are involved in an accident with a UPS truck.
Steps to Take After a UPS Truck Accident Occurs
There are more than 100,000 UPS trucks on the roadways across this country, and this number will likely continue to increase as the popularity of online shopping also increases. As more and more individuals grow used to having items delivered to their door soon after clicking the order button, delivery services will have to expand their operations. But UPS trucks can be involved in accidents too.
If you find yourself involved in a collision with a UPS vehicle, you need to follow various steps both immediately as well as in the days that followed the incident to help ensure your well-being and give you the best chance at recovering compensation for your losses.
- Make sure the police come to the scene. To make sure law enforcement officials come to the scene of the incident so they can perform an investigation and provide an accident report. The insurance carriers are going to need this accident report in order to move forward with the claim, and it is important to make sure the scene is documented.
- Get yourself checked for injuries. If you or somebody you love has sustained any type of injury as a result of the incident, you need to go to the doctor for an evaluation. Even if you do not feel any pain right after the incident occurs, you need to assume that you have sustained an injury and go for an evaluation anyway. Insurance carriers will want to see that you went to the doctor quickly in order to establish a link between the incident and any injuries.
- Gather evidence. You may be able to gather evidence at the scene of the incident but only do so if it is safe. This can include you using your cell phone camera to take photographs or video footage of the entire area. This includes footage of vehicle damage, license plate numbers, injuries, debris around the area, and more. Get the names and contact information of any eyewitnesses written down as soon as possible.
- Report the incident to your insurance carrier. You need to report the UPS truck accident to your insurance carrier the same day the incident occurs. You do not have to go into much detail with your insurance carrier. Simply tell them what happened, where the incident occurred, and that you are seeking medical treatment. Give your insurance carrier any information you obtained related to the UPS driver and vehicle.
- Contact an attorney. You need to call a UPS truck accident attorney as soon as possible. A Philadelphia accident attorney will get involved quickly and begin to gather the evidence before it can be discarded or destroyed. Your lawyer will handle any communication with insurance carriers or other parties involved, and they will handle all negotiations for compensation on your behalf.