Minnesota Bodily Injury Claim Lawyer

In addition to working with the no-fault insurance company, most cases will have a different insurance company on the bodily injury side.

The bodily injury insurer may be legally pursued to pay for unpaid medical expenses and wage loss, permanent injury or pain and suffering. In order for an injured party to bring a claim against the bodily injury insurer, the injured party must prove three elements:

• That another person was more negligent than him/herself in causing the accident (more than 51%);
• That the tort threshold has been reached; and
• The claim must be brought within the statute of limitations.

The four elements necessary to establish negligence are duty, breach of the duty, causation and injury. Minnesota liability laws have established the basic duty of all drivers is the duty of ordinary or reasonable care. The essential question asked is, "What would a reasonable driver do under similar circumstances?" The driver's negligence must be the cause of the injuries sustained.

The second essential element an injured party must show is that they have reached the threshold. The Minnesota Motor Vehicle Liability Law has established that in order to bring a claim, one of the five tort thresholds must be reached by the plaintiff.

• That a permanent disability has resulted from the motor vehicle accident;
• That a permanent disfigurement has resulted from the motor vehicle accident;
• Death has occurred from the crash;
• That the motor vehicle accident has resulted in over sixty (60) days of lost work time; or
• The cost of the medical and chiropractic treatment is in excess of $4,000.00(This does not include diagnostic x-rays or MRIs.)

If one of these five conditions occurs, the tort threshold has been reached ad a potential claim arises against the bodily injury insurer of the negligent driver.

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