If you have been injured in a car accident, you have probably experienced a good deal of pain. You have also probably acquired quite a few doctor’s bills and missed time off of work. If you were injured due to another driver’s negligence, you should be able to collect insurance money. How much money you will be able to collect may depend upon the type of injuries you have and how well you document your expenses.
What to do at the Scene
When you are in an accident, you should always call the police and wait for a law enforcement officer to arrive. Get the names of any witnesses and exchange information with the other driver.
If medical treatment is necessary, you will want to make a copy of each of your medical bills. Be sure to save the bills for any kind of alternative treatment you have as well. You should also save any receipts you have for over the counter or prescription medications.
If you have missed time off of work due to your accident, you should get the HR director of your company to document the number of hours you have missed. If you need any kind of assistance due to your accident such as child care or a house cleaning service, you should also document that.
Calling your Insurance Company
There are two different types of insurance rules in the United States; fault and no-fault. In a no-fault state, your own insurance company will pay for your accident-related bills no matter who caused the crash. In a fault or tort state, the person who caused the accident is responsible for the bills.
California is a tort state. More specifically, it is a pure comparative negligence state, which means a driver is responsible for the percentage of the accident they caused. For instance, if you are 45% responsible for an accident and the other driver caused 55% of the accident, 55% of your accident-related bills should be paid for by the other driver’s insurance company.
Many states will only let you collect insurance money if more than 50% of the collision is the other driver’s fault. However, in a pure comparative state, you can make a claim if the other driver was even 1% responsible.
An insurance company must pay for damages to your car as well as your medical bills. If your car is totaled in the accident, they should pay you for whatever the car was worth the second before the accident.
When you file an insurance claim, the insurance company will have 40 days to accept or deny your claim. If they accept the claim, they will make you a settlement offer. Before you accept their offer, you should talk to a personal injury attorney.
Insurance companies have teams of attorneys who are devoted to keeping the company’s money in-house. An experienced lawyer will be able to negotiate with an insurance company on your behalf. They will have a staff that can research the facts in your case and get you the best settlement possible.
Car accident lawyer Kenneth King has many years of experience in dealing with personal injury in California and will work hard to get you the money you deserve.
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