Seattle Third-Party Liability Lawyer

What Is a Third Party Claim?

When you’re injured due to someone else’s negligence, you can file a third-party claim against their insurance company to pay for your losses. This is different from a first-party claim, where you would file the claim with your own insurance company.

Think of it like this. If your car was damaged in a parking lot and you can’t find the responsible party, you could file a first-party claim with your insurance company to pay for the damages. But if someone left a note or there’s video footage that captured the other party’s license plate, you can file a third-party claim with their insurance company to recover the damages.

Who Can Be Held Liable in a Third Party Claim?

Third-party claims can be complex because there may be multiple third parties responsible for your injuries. For example, if you’re in a truck accident, the truck driver is likely responsible for the accident due to negligent driving. But when other factors contributed to the accident, like the cargo loading company improperly loading the freight or the maintenance company that failed to inspect and repair the truck, you’ve got multiple third parties that need to be held accountable.

There’s a vast array of third parties that could be accountable for your injuries. Depending on the nature of your claim, third parties could be:

• Government agencies that don’t maintain safe roads
• Bars or restaurants that overserve customers who drive drunk and get into accidents
• Contractors and subcontractors on construction sites
• Manufacturers of defective products

Third Party Claims in Workers’ Compensation Claims

If you were injured during the normal duties of your job, you may also be able to pursue a third-party claim outside of your workers’ compensation claim against the party that contributed to or caused your on-the-job accident. For example: 

• A repair tech goes to an apartment building to fix the plumbing and trips and falls on stairs the property owner failed to repair. They can pursue a claim against the building owner.
• A delivery driver is hit by a negligent driver while on their route. They can pursue a third-party claim against that driver.
• A carpenter working at a commercial construction site is injured by materials that fall from a crane. They can make a third-party claim against the subcontractor who was operating the crane and against the crane company if the equipment was defective.

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