If you’re a truck driver or own a truck driving company, then one of the biggest risks you face is truck accidents. Trucking accidents can be incredibly expensive to deal with, and they can involve many related costs.
So, how much should you expect to pay after a truck accident?
To understand this, you’ll need to understand all the different costs associated with truck accidents. Knowing this is also important for helping you choose the right auto insurance policy to cover these costs in the event of an accident. We’ll break this all down in the guide below.
How Much Does a Truck Accident Cost?
Determining the overall cost of a truck accident can be difficult, as there are so many costs involved.
However, as an average figure, a commercial truck accident that includes an injured person could have an average cost of $148,279. If the truck accident involves a fatality, then this cost can increase significantly to over $7 million.
Clearly, commercial truck accidents can be seriously expensive, which is why it’s crucial to be properly prepared for these potential costs. Having the right commercial truck insurance policy in place is a critical part of dealing with these accidents.
Even if you know how to avoid commercial truck accidents, there’s still the possibility of being involved in an accident that is not your fault.
The REAL Cost of an Accident
A commercial truck accident can be incredibly expensive to deal with, mainly because accidents have so many costs involved with them.
Here are some of the major costs that a trucking company can expect after a semi-truck accident.
Direct Costs of an Accident
Direct costs can be broken down into two categories: third-party loss and first-party loss.
Vehicle Damage
- Third-party loss: Costs associated with repairing or replacing vehicles belonging to parties not at fault in the accident. The at-fault party’s liability insurance typically covers this.
- First-party loss: Costs for repairing or replacing the insured vehicle. Collision insurance covers this.
Cargo Damage
Damages to the cargo being transported, including the loss or destruction of goods. The liability insurance of the party responsible for the accident covers this.
Injury and Medical
- Third-party loss: Medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and compensation for pain and suffering of anyone not at fault in the accident. This is covered by the liability insurance of the at-fault party.
- First-party loss: Immediate and ongoing medical bills for the driver and passengers of the insured vehicle. Covered by personal injury protection (PIP) or medical payments coverage.
Towing Costs
Costs associated with towing the insured vehicle from the accident site to a repair facility. Optional towing and labor coverage typically cover this in an auto insurance policy, but it could also be an out-of-pocket expense.
Vehicle Storage
Any costs related to storing the damaged vehicle, especially if it needs to be held for an extended period during the claims process. Coverage for this might be included in the auto insurance policy or it could be an additional option.
Indirect Costs of an Accident
Truck accident cases also involve a long list of potential indirect costs.
While some indirect costs of a truck accident case are easy to identify and calculate, others can be more difficult to figure out. Here are a few common indirect costs that might be involved in a truck accident settlement.
Fines and Penalties
There could be fines or penalties after an accident, which add extra costs to dealing with the accident.
Loss of Revenue
Accidents can disrupt business operations, leading to revenue loss from downtime, delivery delays, and contract fulfillment challenges.
Accident Investigation
Conducting thorough investigations to determine accident causes can be expensive. This could be done by internal resources or external experts.
Company Image
Accidents can tarnish a company’s image, potentially resulting in the loss of customer trust, business partnerships, and market standing. This could result in a loss of future revenue.
Insurance Premium Costs
Accidents often lead to increased insurance premiums, as trucking companies hold a higher perceived risk for insurers.
Lost Time at Work
Employees involved in or affected by accidents may lose productive work hours on paperwork, investigations, and recovery.
Cost to Rehire or Retrain
You might need to replace or retrain employees impacted by an accident. This process can be time-consuming and expensive for a trucking company.
Serious Truck Accident Injuries Can Leave Permanent Damage
Beyond the direct costs involved in a commercial truck crash, more serious truck accidents can result in permanent, serious injuries with lasting consequences. This can have an enormous long-term impact financially.
The impact of such incidents often extends beyond immediate medical concerns, affecting individuals’ long-term well-being and quality of life. These types of accidents with severe injuries generally involve major truck accident settlements and cases.
Settlements in these cases extend beyond covering the immediate damage of the trucking accident and are designed to cover the long-term costs that the trucking accident might have caused.
Having an experienced and trustworthy truck accident attorney on your side is essential if you ever experience an accident that leaves permanent damage. This will help you get an appropriate settlement to cover the entire impact of the accident.
Make sure you understand what truck accident attorneys operate in your area when setting up your business.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to note that the specific coverages and limits involved in covering these costs will vary based on insurance policies and the insurance company involved.
In some cases, the responsible party might be required to cover these costs out-of-pocket if they don’t have proper insurance coverage for the accident.
Of course, a major cost involved in dealing with a semi-truck accident is purchasing a new vehicle to replace the one damaged in the accident.
If you need to do this, then you’ll need to get the right commercial vehicle financing to help you purchase the new vehicle. Get in touch with us at Mission Financial Services to see just how easy truck financing can be.
