Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
My Brother was recently (at no fault of his own) rearended by another motorist. The impact was so bad, that his vehicle (a good running truck) was totaled and now is barely running. My wife and I insisted that he be checked by a doctor because of pain in his back, knee and neck, which he did, and for several days now, he has been resting, missing work.
The estimate to repair his truck was around $4000.00 (without straightening the frame).
His medical expenses (so far) has been about $500.00, and we don't know if he has any permenent injury.
The problems are these...
1. He has no medical insurance.
2. He is self employed.
3. He had no vehicle insurance (at the time of the accident).
4. A local attorney advised us that my brother would ONLY be able to get the blue book value of his truck (around $2000.00), some medical expenses, and NO RECOVERY FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING, due to not having current vehicle insurance.
I am wondering if this is true, or does my brother have any other recourse to recover any other damages, like pain and suffering, lost work time, and/or long term medical coverage.
Thank you
Steve Crary
916-534-2883
2 Answers from Attorneys
He is entitled to the value of the truck loss of use of the truck from the date of the accident until an offer is made for the truck and he is entitled to loss of income if he can substantiate it which is often difficult when the claimant is self employed.If he did not have insurance he is not entitled to general damages.He is also entitled to recoup his medical expenses that are related to the accident.If you would like to discuss this further call me at 916-448-8831.
There is an ambiguity in your question, though, that I want to address.
When you used the term "vehicle insurance", did you mean that your brother had no driver's insurance at all or just that he hadn't insured his truck? Every driver is required to have liability insurance, but the law does not require drivers to insure their vehicles. If you meant that he had no insurance at all (which is what I think you meant), then Mr. Nelson's answer is correct.
Your brother can seek damages for pain and suffering if he was insured. If he wasn't insured, then he can't. Either way, it doesn't matter whether he had insured the truck.
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