Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Car accident

All of these attorneys have good ideas, and it should illustrate to you that you have made assumptions that have foreclosed remedies available to you.

I understand people's reluctance to hire an attorney, but you should be able to get a personal injury attorney to help you on a contingency basis. This would mean you would not have to pay any fees, unless your case settled or there was a judgment in your favor.

A good personal injury attorney won't just take an insurance adjuster's word for it. The driver may have been covered under a secondary policy, which is an issue I believe Mr. Stone was aiming at. You should have filled out an SR-1 after the accident, and then requested an SR-17. The SR-17 response from the DMV will tell you whether or not the driver had insurance, and all of the insurance the owner of the vehicle had.

Save yourself money and time, and hire an experienced personal injury attorney.

Very truly yours,

Re: Car accident

You can ask for anything you like. You can get whatever you can prove to the court is attributable to the accident.

Re: Car accident

Maximum is $7,500. Put amounts of each of the items listed -- bring documentary proof of the amounts -- and a reasonable amount for your pain and suffering. Then, once you get a judgment, you will have to collect.

Re: Car accident

Why would you limit yourself to small claims? You need to get a lawyer without delay. Also, who says the driver was uninsured? Do you have it in writing from the insurance company, under oath? And no, don't call the insurance company. Get a lawyer to do your case the right way.

Re: Car accident

$7,500. If your damages are greater than that, you may want to consider hiring an attorney to pursue your claims. An attorney would take the case on a contingency, which means the attorney doesn't get paid unless the attorney gets a recovery for you. If you are interested in this, feel free to call.

Re: Car accident

Assuming that the other driver was excluded [but why ?], the actual owner of the vehicle still has $15,000 in liability responsibility merely from owning the vehicle involved in the accident. If you have underinsured coverage, then your car insurance company has a maximum possible liability of the difference between the maximum amount of your coverage and the amount of the other owner's and drivers coverages. You need to check the exact policy language as to why they will not pay for a rental and why the couches would not be considered the contents of your vehicle so part of your own property damage coverage. Did you purchase any insurance coverage when you rented the trailer?

You probably do need an attorney to write to your and the other insurance carrier and read the insurance policies, but you probably would want to handle that on a hourly basis unless the attorney you retain for the personal injury claim will do that work as part of his/her contigency fee charge.