Who is responsible for the accident if we hired a company to transport a consultant? 25 Answers as of February 17, 2012

If the truck that "smashed" your pickup truck was at fault for the accident, that vehicles insurance will pay. If, by truck, you mean a commercial vehicle, it is likely that that vehicle would have carried several million dollars worth of insurance. If your driver was also your employee, your driver has a Worker's Compensation claim against you and a third party action against the truck. If the decedent was your employee, the decedents family has a Worker's Compensation claim against you and a third party wrongful death action against the truck. You're hospitalized driver and the decedents family need to hire experienced personal injury attorneys as soon as possible to investigate this matter. Please note that my response assumed that your driver was not at fault. The scenario changes, significantly. If your driver was at fault. Your own insurance carrier should be able to explain this.

As far as the hospitilization of the driver is concerned, it is the worker's compensation carrier for the employer of the driver who should pay. As far as liability for the dead passenger, it is the liability carrier for the vehicle that caused the accident. Depending on the circumstances, an accident can be the fault of more than one party, so the liability may be spread among the insurance companies for the different vehicles involved.

There is a question as to whether you were an independent contractor or employee of the firm that hired you. You either file a workers compensation claim against the firm that hired you, or you file a Personal Insurance Protection (PIP) claim with the insurer of your vehicle.

I am having difficulty ascertaining who is at fault from what you wrote. The sentence "A vehicle from us was accidentally smashed by a truck and my pickup vehicle is a total wreck" is vague and open to more than one interpretation. I am assuming by this that a driver, employed by you, was driving your pickup when he was hit by another pickup and that the accident was the other pickup's fault. If so, the other pickup would be liable for the damages. If the at fault driver has inadequate insurance to cover the damages, then you may have underinsured coverage to take up the slack. The company that hired you would have no liability unless your company would be considered, under workers compensation law, a statutory employee of the company who hired you. Whether you are a statutory employee depends on a number of factors, such as whether the company that hired you is you one exclusive client, the degree of control they exercise over you performance, et. If your company is a statutory employee, the company that hire you may be liable for any injuries under workers compensation laws.

The company that you hired to do the transport should be liable, and should be insured for the losses. If you are sued, you should "tender" the defense to the insurer for the transport company.

First, there are issues of employee/employer relationships which could give rise to worker's compensation issues. If not an employee, then agency relationship may be the issue. In addition to the issue of who is responsible as an employer or principal, there are also issues of liability.

You should report the accident to your auto insurance company immediately. If the driver of your vehicle was an employee of yours you should also notify your Workers' Compensation carrier.

A benevolent company will pay for their driver's bills. They were making a profit riding the back of the driver so they should pay. When Obama care kicks in, all of us will have an automatic payroll deduction for health insurance so it won't matter. Even now, the driver should file with his health insurer and see if they will start paying. Was the dead guy at fault?

The primary insurance would lie with the owner of the vehicle that costs the accident. If the driver of your vehicle was an employee, you should have had worker's compensation coverage. If that is the case and the injury happened on the job, worker's compensation is probably liable for the injured employee's medical care and lost wages.

You should consult an attorney that represents injured people in personal injury cases. It sounds like you might have claims against the driver of the truck and that driver's company, but without the Traffic Accident Report and many more facts, I cannot be certain. You should be aware that there are statutes of limitations that make it important to pursue your rights as soon as possible.

I recommend that you contact a top personal injury law firm, such as ours, immediately. There needs to be an immediate investigation to determine what happened and who is at fault. The at fault driver (and his or her insurance company) will be responsible to pay for the injuries and damage. There may also be additional corporate liability.

We represent lots of Wrongful death cases and would be honored to represent the family. In Michigan, medical care is paid by the Worker's Compensation carrier first and any differential in Comp and Auto goes to the Auto carrier of the injured individuals insurance company regardless of fault. The liability claim goes against the negligent driver and the owner of the vehicle.

If the accident occurred in New York State the driver would be covered by his employer's worker's compensation for his medical expenses. Who was he employed by if it is you, then he would be covered by your worker's compensation. Secondly, the host vehicle's owner would have insurance for the vehicle and would be primarily responsible for personal injury and medical expenses if he was not employed.

The driver/owner of the vehicle that is responsible for the ' accident '. In other words, the party at fault.