Maison Law represents Chico accident victims hurt in collisions caused by Walmart delivery drivers. Our personal injury lawyers can help you force Walmart to accept responsibility for its employees and provide full recovery help. Please contact us after an accident caused by a Walmart “Spark” driver. We provide a free, no-obligation consultation for all local injury victims.
Should I Call a Lawyer After a Walmart Spark Accident?
If you suffer only car damage and/or very minor injuries, you may not need a lawyer’s help with your case. However, if a Walmart employee caused you to suffer a serious injury, it’s a good idea to talk over what your case is worth with a skilled Chico Walmart Delivery Accident Lawyer.
You may first need an attorney to help you prove that you weren’t to blame. Then you could require a lawyer’s help to make sure Walmart accepts 100% of the financial responsibility for every medical bill and other hardships you face in recovery.
These are just a few of the benefits of having a skilled attorney when taking on Walmart:
- Fully investigate your case
- Have evidence prepared if Walmart tries to blame you for the collision
- Have medical evidence ready if Walmart tries to question the severity of your injuries
- File your claim for you while allowing you to focus on getting better
- Use experience at the negotiating table to secure the most for your injury
- Rejecting “lowball” settlement offers that don’t cover all of your hardships and demanding more
- Ready to file a lawsuit against Walmart and take the company to court if it refuses to accept liability
These types of cases are usually settled before they reach a courtroom. But an experienced attorney does represent the threat of a lawsuit, making Walmart lawyers work harder to provide you with a fair settlement. Walmart wants to avoid the cost of going before a judge and jury. They also want to steer clear of the bad publicity.
Does Walmart Provide Insurance to Cover Its Spark Drivers?
No. Not in most cases. Walmart does provide car accident insurance to its Spark drivers. Spark drivers must have their own car insurance, and this is what would be drawn from if the driver strikes another car and injures the occupants.
Walmart does not consider these delivery drivers full employees like a Walmart big rig driver. Spark drivers are independent contractors.
On its website, Walmart says Spark drivers are part of the “Gig Economy.” It’s a term for a business model that uses workers who perform jobs on short-term contracts. It’s a sad fact. Walmart makes a lot of money on these drivers, only to leave them and potential accident victims without support.
This is a problem for victims in car accidents for many reasons:
- A Spark driver may carry the minimum coverage allowed by California. A policy with low limits won’t always cover every bill victims have as they recover. The coverage can run out, even if the Spark driver admits fault. The remaining bills are the victim’s to pay.
- The Spark driver’s car insurer refuses to pay for the accident. Some major car insurance companies won’t cover their drivers if they are delivering for a company like Walmart at the time of the collision.
- A Spark driver’s coverage may have expired, and Walmart simply hasn’t checked to see if it was maintained.
With all these reasons that might keep compensation out of the hands of injured and desperate accident victims, it’s easy to see why Walmart should be more responsible for its business.
Holding Walmart Liable for a Spark Driver Involved Accident
Walmart sends out its delivery contract drivers each morning and afternoon. The quick deliveries only add to the busy traffic on local roads like East Avenue and Mangrove Avenue.
More cars and more distracted drivers are sent out on our roads. Delivery drivers can be focused on the Walmart app that instructs them on where to go and their time deadlines. They may look up from a screen only to see that traffic ahead has stopped, and a rear-end collision becomes inevitable.
It’s Walmart’s business model that’s to blame, and Walmart shouldn’t be able to hide behind its contracts and legal protections when drivers and passengers get hurt.
Your Chico Truck Accident Lawyer would be gathering evidence and then turning up the pressure on Walmart to accept blame.
Your lawyer may examine these and other aspects of Walmart’s Involvement:
- Walmart’s safety efforts to make sure its drivers (contract and non-contract drivers) are careful on their delivery routes.
- Walmart’s requirements (or lack of requirements) for delivery drivers to use safe vehicles with proper maintenance.
- Walmart’s hiring practice. Did Walmart hire a driver with an unsafe record?
These and other investigations could be enough to force Walmart to help you if you are injured in an accident caused by one of its employees.
Your Maison Law attorney would focus on getting as much as possible from a driver’s insurance provider. If it didn’t cover your full recovery costs, your attorney would then file a lawsuit against Walmart.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do after an accident with a Walmart Spark Driver?
Victims should check on everyone involved in the accident if able. Contact 911 and request an ambulance if someone is hurt. Then, if the scene is secure, you can start to collect evidence right there where the crash occurred. You should get photos of the damage to both cars. Not all Walmart Spark cars are clearly marked. Show any Walmart signage or labeling you find. Show a car full of packages if that’s what you find. Get information from the driver, including insurance and work ID information if possible. Get witness contact information. Contact your own car insurance company in case you must seek help from the underinsured driver portion of your policy later.
What can I ask Walmart to compensate me for after an accident?
Victims should demand help with all medical bills and their lost income while they can’t work. Their physical pain and emotional trauma must also factor into a settlement check. Families who lose a loved one to a tragic fatal accident can also file a wrongful death claim against Walmart and seek support. They would seek help with funeral expenses and any remaining medical bills left behind. Close relatives must receive help in replacing the income that the victim may have provided to the family every month.
How long do I have to file a claim against a Spark driver?
A victim in an accident in California generally has up to two years after an accident to file a claim for damages against at-fault drivers and the company they drive for.
Contact a Chico Walmart Spark Delivery Accident Attorney
If you have been seriously injured or lost a loved one due to a careless Walmart delivery driver’s actions, contact Maison Law for a free accident consultation. It’s a no-risk way to find out how much you should demand from insurance companies and how to force those at fault to accept responsibility.
Allow your Chico Walmart Delivery Accident Lawyer to handle the frustrating claims process while you focus on healing. There’s no obligation when you meet with us, but if you feel we can earn you more, you don’t have to worry about how you’ll afford a lawyer. Maison Law doesn’t get paid unless we win your case. Then our fee comes out of the settlement money Walmart is forced to give you.
