Your car does not need to be totaled for you to file an injury claim and seek help with your hospital bills. An at-fault driver is responsible. Any car accident claim can seek money to replace a totaled vehicle. A car accident claim can also include medical bills arising from a crash and injuries.
You should be more concerned about winning enough in compensation to cover all of your medical bills and lost paychecks for as long as you are in recovery. Insurance companies like to slip away and leave you to pay part of your own recovery costs.
Maison Law offers a free case consultation with a skilled California car accident attorney to help you determine what you should be asking for and how to hold a car insurance company 100% responsible.
Deciding If You Need a Lawyer After Your Car Has Been Totaled
If a car accident leaves your vehicle totaled, but you somehow emerge without any serious injuries, you may not require the help of a lawyer. The vehicle repair or reimbursement process has become pretty standardized, and you can usually receive fair treatment when filing a case yourself.
You should speak to a lawyer if you or someone you love has been seriously hurt in a collision caused by a careless driver. The higher medical bills and lost income go, the more insurers will work to avoid blame.
A lawyer is an important protection for your case if you require support for a serious injury, such as:
- Broken arms or legs, or any bone fracture
- A Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- A neck or spinal column injury (including a serious case of whiplash)
- A lingering back injury
- An injury causing a permanent disability or disfigurement
- Muscle, tendon, ligament, or organ damage
A skilled car accident attorney can keep unhelpful insurers honest throughout the claims process. Your lawyer would fully investigate the circumstances of a collision, collecting physical evidence to make sure the blame sticks to the right driver. Medical evidence collected from doctors would show how badly you were hurt and how long you’ll require support.
Your lawyer then demands the maximum in compensation for you. You always have the right to file claims on your own, but an experienced attorney can often secure thousands of dollars more for you and your family.
Determining What You’ll Need in an Accident Claim Involving a Totaled Car
After an accident, when a car has been damaged so badly that it would cost more to fix than it’s worth, insurers often “total” the vehicle. The insurance company for the other driver would send a settlement check so that the victim could purchase a car of similar value.
In California, insurers are allowed to declare a vehicle “totaled” if what the car is worth (with the salvage value added) would be less than the cost to repair it.
Adjusters would then value your car based on the sale prices of vehicles in your city in a similar condition, with similar age and mileage.
Victims hurt in an accident caused by a reckless driver could also include their injury damages when filing a car accident claim. They can file an injury claim, even if their vehicles don’t receive any major damage.
What Is Compensated In a Car Accident Injury Claim
An injury claim should be filed after any injury that results in a medical bill or causes considerable discomfort for victims. Ambulance fees, emergency response charges, and ER costs should all be covered.
Car insurers for at-fault drivers are often willing to cover these costs for paramedic services and a quick check-up in a hospital. It’s when the injuries are more serious and medical invoices will be expensive that insurers put up a wall in front of those at fault.
Insurance adjusters can look for ways to shift the blame for the accident. They can use their company doctors to declare the victims’ injuries less serious. It’s all an excuse to pay the victim less in a settlement or reject the claim outright.
It’s often up to an experienced lawyer to take on a giant insurer to earn fair treatment for victims. A lawyer uses strong evidence to force insurers to accept liability and act quickly to send victims the support they need.
That support should include payment on medical bills for as long as necessary. It should include full replacement of all checks the victim has missed while out of work. The pain experienced and the mental trauma victims are left to cope with must also be compensated.
A totaled car usually means a major impact was involved. This kind of force can easily cause life-threatening harm. Families who lose a loved one in such a collision can also ask for support in a wrongful death claim.
Contact a California Car Accident Attorney
If you suffered a serious injury and a reckless driver caused your accident, you should discuss your case with Maison Law in a free case consultation. Contact us to set up a meeting with a real lawyer to go over your options.
We are ready to answer questions for any injured California accident victim in this no-obligation case review. If you need a lawyer to help you bring home more in support, you don’t have to stress about how you’ll afford to pay a lawyer. Maison Law isn’t paid unless the case is won. Then our fee comes out of the settlement check a car insurer it forced to write for you.
