Maison Law represents people who are hurt in rental car accidents due to another driver’s mistake. Our Visalia 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 Visalia 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?
Local residents traveling busy routes like Highway 99 or Riggins Avenue will see plenty of dangerous moves and close calls caused by careless drivers. A crash between two personal vehicles may leave both drivers involved calling their auto insurance providers.
But if one motorist is in a rental car, the battle to see who should be paying for repairs and emergency room bills can get a lot more complicated.
In some cases, an accident involving a rental car would be resolved much like an accident involving two personal vehicles. Many people who rent cars rely on their normal car insurance to cover them if an accident occurs.
But there are other insurance options that may be purchased or that are included with certain credit cards that can play a role in how an accident is resolved.
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.
- Your Car Insurance — If you caused damage to your rental car, your car insurance may cover the damages. The rental car company would want to repair or replace the car before they lost a lot of profit while the car was unable to be rented out. Many car insurance companies cover policyholders when they drive a rental car for personal use. It’s important to ask 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.
One big advantage of having a skilled Visalia car accident lawyer handling your case is that 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, 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.
What to Do After a Visalia Rental Car Accident?
You will likely have to prove who was to blame in your accident for several insurance companies and the rental car company. It’s important to have strong evidence ready for the battle ahead with unhelpful car insurance providers.
Your attorney will be securing all evidence available, but some of the best evidence can quickly disappear right after a collision. If you are able, you should try to document the scene immediately after the crash.
But first, dial 911. If you are hurt, get checked out by paramedics. Then, if the scene is secure, and you can move around, get as much photographic evidence as possible. Get pics of the damage to cars, your visible injuries, and the license plates of each vehicle.
Make sure to get contact information from drivers and witnesses. If an officer doesn’t provide it, get driver’s license and car insurance information from all motorists involved.
Alert the Rental Car Company as Soon as Possible. You might find a sticker inside your rental car that contains a phone number to call in an emergency. The rental car company will probably want to fill out an accident report of its own. Do everything the rental car company asks you to do.
Alert Your Own Car Insurance Provider. Just like if you were in your own car, you’d want to inform your insurer about your accident.
Compensation Available for Victims After a Rental Car Accident
Your lawyer will work with you to create a complete list of every hardship you and your family endured after the accident. This support you receive in a settlement check must cover your current damages and any care that could be necessary in the years ahead.
In some cases, your lawyer would be filing claims against more than one insurance company for your benefit.
Your Maison Law attorney would demand support for a few things you may not have known could earn you additional support on a car accident settlement check:
- Hospital and medical expenses.
- Estimates for the support you could need over a lifetime after suffering a permanent physical disability.
- Travel costs as you may have to visit doctors out of the area and travel to appointments while you are on crutches or in a wheelchair.
- Support for the emotional trauma you are left with. Anxiety and PTSD symptoms you experience due to the trauma of a car crash. The depression you face during a long and difficult injury rehabilitation also factors in.
- Support for the physical pain you endure and the chronic pain that may be present in the years to come.
- Past and future lost income while you miss work.
- Damage or destruction of personal property.
Contact a Visalia Rental Car Accident Attorney
Contact Maison Law to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with an actual Visalia 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 we can’t help you earn more, we’ll tell you that. But we want to make sure Tulare County victims and their families aren’t taken advantage of by corporate lawyers and insurance adjusters. If you feel we can help you earn more for your injury, you don’t have to worry about how you’ll pay us. We work 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.
