A crash takes seconds; the consequences take years. While you deal with doctors and a totaled car, the other driver's insurer is already building its file. You should have someone building yours.
Huntington traffic produces predictable wrecks: rear-end collisions on I-64 and the 31st Street and 6th Street bridges, left-turn crashes on US-60, pedestrian and campus-area collisions around Marshall, winter pileups on 5th Street Hill. Predictable doesn't mean simple. Fault is contested, injuries get minimized, and the carrier's first number is an opening bid dressed up as a favor.
Three things decide most car cases. Liability: the crash report, scene photos, vehicle damage, and — increasingly — vehicle data and nearby camera footage. We move fast to preserve all of it. Damages: complete medical documentation, including the injuries that show up weeks later; never let a gap in treatment become the insurer's favorite exhibit. Coverage: West Virginia minimum limits are $25,000 per person / $50,000 per crash (W. Va. Code § 17D-4-2), which serious injuries exhaust instantly. Your own underinsured-motorist coverage, household policies, and any employer coverage often matter more than the defendant's policy — and carriers rarely volunteer that.
Deadlines: generally two years to file in West Virginia (W. Va. Code § 55-2-12) and in Ohio (Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10). Comparative-fault rules in both states cut off recovery at 51% blame — which is precisely why adjusters work so hard to shift the story. Let them argue with our reconstruction, not with you.
Questions
What should I do in the first week after a crash?
Get examined even if you feel "mostly fine" — adrenaline hides injuries. Photograph everything. Report the claim, but decline recorded statements. Keep the vehicle and its data preserved if the crash was serious. Then talk to a lawyer before you talk numbers with anyone.
The other driver got a ticket. Doesn't that settle fault?
It helps, but it isn't binding in the civil case. Insurers contest fault even against their own cited drivers. Independent proof — witnesses, physical evidence, data — is what makes fault stick.
What if the other driver had no insurance?
West Virginia requires uninsured-motorist coverage on every policy (W. Va. Code § 33-6-31), so your own policy is often the path to recovery. Using it should not raise your rates for a not-at-fault crash — and we handle your carrier as firmly as anyone else's.
