Yes, they can try to use the video. No, that does not automatically kill the claim.

If a driver blasted through a four-way stop in Lewiston and smashed into your truck, fault sounds simple.

Then the insurance company sends a private investigator to sit outside your apartment, trail you to the Hannaford, and film you lifting a sheet of plywood or helping your kid into the car.

That's where people get blindsided the second time.

For a carpenter, this matters because your case value usually turns on function. Can you swing a hammer? Climb staging? Carry a compressor? Get through a shift without your back locking up? If the insurer gets ten seconds of you doing one physical thing, it will act like you're magically fine for forty hours a week.

That's bullshit, but it works on juries and adjusters more often than people think.

Who pays after a Lewiston four-way stop crash

The at-fault driver's bodily injury liability coverage pays first.

In Maine, the minimum liability limits are higher than in a lot of states: $50,000 per person and $100,000 per crash for bodily injury. That helps, but it still disappears fast if you're a tradesman who misses months of work.

If the driver who hit you only has the minimum and your losses are bigger, your own underinsured motorist coverage can come into play. A lot of people in Androscoggin County don't realize their own policy may be the only reason a serious claim gets paid fully.

If you were driving for your employer or on the clock between jobs, another layer may show up too. In Maine, work injury disputes run through the Maine Workers' Compensation Board in Augusta. That's a separate track, and insurers love when people mix the two up.

What a carpenter's claim is actually worth

Not every stop-sign T-bone is a six-figure case.

If you went to St. Mary's or Central Maine Medical Center, got checked out, did some PT, missed little work, and healed up in a couple months, you may be looking at a modest settlement. Think low to middle four figures, maybe into the teens depending on imaging, wage loss, and how obvious the other driver's fault was.

If the crash wrecked your shoulder, neck, or low back and you're a finish carpenter or framer who can't safely lift, kneel, reach overhead, or drive between jobs, the value jumps fast. Surgery recommendations, injections, permanent restrictions, and lost earning capacity can push a claim into the high five figures or six figures.

The surveillance video hits right at that number.

Because this is what most people don't realize: the case is not just about pain. It's about credibility. If the insurer can argue you're exaggerating, it will discount wage loss, future treatment, and pain and suffering all at once.

What the private investigator footage really does

Video is rarely as devastating as insurers pretend.

A clip of you carrying one board from the truck does not prove you can work a full carpentry day on a muddy site in April, climbing in and out, twisting, lifting, and repeating that motion for hours. Lewiston spring weather alone matters here. Cold mornings, wet lots, and thawed-out job sites are brutal on a bad back or busted shoulder.

But if your medical records say "cannot lift more than 10 pounds" and the video shows you unloading a stack of subfloor, now you've got a problem.

The insurer is looking for gaps like these:

• activity that seems bigger than your restrictions
• social media posts that contradict your complaints
• missed treatment or long delays in care
• cash jobs or side work after claiming total disability

The hidden costs that chew up the payout

Here's where people get sick to their stomach.

Your settlement number is not the same as money in your pocket. Health insurance may want reimbursement. Medical providers may have balances. If you missed your night job and your main carpentry work, unpaid rent and maxed-out cards start eating the case before it even settles.

And if your truck got totaled, that property payment is separate. Do not lump it together in your head. A $9,000 vehicle check does not mean your injury claim is worth another $9,000. Different buckets.

In Lewiston, where people are trying to stay in the same school district and keep a roof over their kids, the real damage is usually lost earning power. A carpenter who can only do light duty or can't handle roofing, framing, or cabinet installs the way he used to is losing more than wages from a couple missed weeks.

That's why the investigator matters so much. The insurer isn't just trying to catch you walking normally. It's trying to shave tens of thousands off the part of the claim tied to your future work life.

If the stop-sign driver was plainly at fault, the fight usually stops being about who caused the crash.

It becomes a fight over whether your body is as damaged as your job says it is.