Maison Law represents people who are hurt in rental car accidents due to another driver’s mistake. Our Bakersfield personal injury lawyers aggressively seek compensation for our clients from reckless drivers and, in some cases, rental car companies. Please contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation for all local injury victims. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out what your injury may be worth and how to hold insurance companies fully responsible for recovery costs.
When Should I Contact a Rental Car Accident Lawyer?
If your rental car accident only involves property damage, you should be able to reach a fair agreement with your car insurance company and the rental car company without the help of a lawyer. But when you are seriously injured in a collision and another motorist is to blame, a Bakersfield rental car accident lawyer may prove to be an important protection. A serious injury might involve a fractured bone, a neck injury, or head trauma.
When your medical bills run high, insurance companies and insurers who provide protection through rental agreements can look for ways to get out of supporting you. They can try to blame you for an accident you didn’t cause. They may claim that your injuries are far less serious than your doctor says they are.
Your lawyer gathers the evidence necessary to prevent insurers from escaping responsibility. Then your Maison Law representative demands the maximum in support available for your injury.
Who Is Liable After an Accident Involving a Rental Car?
Traveling busy routes like Highway 99 or Ming Avenue every morning puts local drivers at risk of many different types of accidents caused by other careless motorists.
A fender bender is usually easily settled by insurance companies, but if one motorist is in a rental car, it can be a struggle to figure out what insurer is responsible.
Generally, an accident involving a rental car is resolved in the same way an accident involving two personally owned cars would be handled. Drivers are usually covered by their own car insurance policies when they get behind the wheel of a rental car. But when customers add additional insurance to their rental contract or have coverage through a credit card perk, things can get complicated.
These are just some of the insurance choices that could affect how you receive accident compensation:
- Another Driver’s Insurance Policy — If another driver strikes you while you are behind the wheel of a rental car, the driver’s auto insurance provider should be paying for the damage. This would also be true if the other driver is in a rental car and hits your family vehicle. The at-fault driver’s insurance should apply. The other driver’s insurance must cover the cost of repairing or replacing a rental car. The policy should also help you pay your medical bills and replace the income you lose while healing from an injury. Beware. In some cases, you may have to pay for the damage to a rental car while the at-fault driver’s insurance processes the accident claim. A rental car company will be demanding repairs to get the car back on the road so they can make money off it. You may have to pay and then be reimbursed by the other driver’s insurance provider later.
- Your Car Insurance — If you caused damage to your rental car, your car insurance may cover the damages. Many car insurance companies cover policyholders when they drive a rental car for personal use. It’s important to find out what your policy will cover before you sign a rental agreement. This gives you the chance to purchase additional coverage if necessary. Unfortunately, the support would likely come after you’ve had to pay a large deductible.
- Credit Card Coverage – Some credit cards provide accident protection when you charge a rental car. These protections usually repair or replace your rental car up to a certain limit. They might also cover vehicles that have been stolen or vandalized. Credit card protection may not cover the damage to another vehicle or the cost of injury support.
- Your Car Rental Car Coverage – Rental car companies like Enterprise offer many levels of insurance you can add on when you rent your car. There are also 3rd party rental car insurance providers who offer policies. Some cover any damage to a rental car and the damage to another vehicle. Other policies provide compensation to you and any other injured victims. Beware. This coverage may also come with a large deductible you must pay before coverage kicks in for the rest.
- The Rental Car Company – If a rental car company somehow contributed to your accident, your lawyer would demand full compensation for your damages. A rental car business may have given you a car with faulty tires or worn brakes. They may not have warned you of potential dangers in the area. These and other circumstances might leave a rental car company liable for your damages and injuries.
After getting into an accident involving a rental car, you should alert the rental car company as soon as possible. Do everything the rental car company asks you to do. It’s also a good idea to inform your own car insurance provider of what happened as soon as you can.
How Much Is My Rental Car Accident Worth?
Before you can get an accurate estimate on what your injury claim is worth, your lawyer will need to hear the details of what happened to you. Your lawyer needs to investigate every aspect of your case before estimating what your family could receive. Every accident is different, and every injury is very different.
There’s one thing you will hear very early on, the insurance adjuster telling you your injury is worth very little or nothing at all. Your Maison Law lawyer fights back against these ridiculous tactics and makes sure you receive everything you need to rebuild your life.
These and other factors would help determine how much your lawyer would demand in a settlement check on your behalf:
- Totals on hospital and rehabilitation expenses for as long as necessary.
- Estimated costs associated with a long-term injury or permanent physical disability.
- Support for the emotional trauma an accident can cause. The PTSD symptoms experienced from the moment of impact. The anxiety and depression a hard recovery can cause. The loss of enjoyment of life due to an injury. The loss of consortium (loss of intimacy with a spouse).
- Support for the hardship of dealing with chronic, physical pain.
- Totals on past and future lost wages due to an injury.
- Property damage.
- Wrongful death benefits. A family who has lost a loved one to a driver’s mistake is encouraged to file a wrongful death claim. This claim asks an insurance company for help with funeral costs. It also seeks to replace the income the deceased would have provided the family in the future.
Your attorney identifies every party that may owe you support after a crash. The other driver, a rental car company, and even your own car insurance provider could be required to help you recover.
The more injury claims you can file, and the more insurance companies involved, the better the chance that all of your hardships will get covered. It reduces the chance that you’ll be stuck paying recovery bills from an accident you didn’t cause.
Contact a Bakersfield Rental Car Accident Attorney
Anyone injured in a car accident is given up to two years to file an injury claim. Waiting beyond this deadline would usually result in the case being thrown out and victims left to pay all medical bills out of their own pockets.
Contact Maison Law to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with an actual Bakersfield car accident lawyer. We want to hear what happened to you. We’re going to answer your questions and make sure you are fully aware of the insurance tactics you’ll face. These shady practices are meant to limit the money you receive. Avoiding these pitfalls will be key to earning what’s fair for your car accident injury claim.
If you feel we can help you earn more for your injury, you don’t have to worry about how you’ll pay us. Maison Law works on a contingency basis. That means we don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our legal fees come out of a settlement an insurance company must pay you.
