Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: Fair compensation for hit and run

I am in receipt of your message.

In California, the owner of the truck would be responsible for up to $15,000.00 per person for bodily injury damages (medical bills and wage loss and pain and suffering) and up to $5,000.00 for property damage. If your medical expenses are only about $1,000.00, these minimal limits on the owner of the truck should be sufficient and you may not have to worry about who the driver was.

However, you should confirm with the owner's insurance company that there is no coverage poblem. That means, that the claim's adjuster for the other insurance company confirms with you that the truck itself is listed on the policy and that the driver of the truck had permission to use the truck and that the truck was not a stolen vehicle. It does not help you if the owner admits that his truck was involved in the accident if his insurance company is going to deny coverage because of a non-permissive driver.

Determining fair compensation as well as pain and suffering is very subjective and I would need to know a lot more about your injuries, medical bills, time off of work and other details. You should submit copies of your medical bills and any other expenses to the other insurance company and let them make the first offer.

If you are in the Orange County area, I would be glad to look over your case and provide a free consultation for you. If you are outside of this area, try to find a personal injury attorney in your area who would give you a free consultation to help you out. Good luck.

Yours truly,

SAM M. EAGLE, ATTORNEY AT LAW

10101 SLATER AVENUE, SUITE #218,

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA 92708

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 714- 963-5123 FAX: 714-964-9993

E-MAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]

WEB ADDRESS: WWW.EAGLELAW007.COM

Re: Fair compensation for hit and run

Determining fair compensation for pain and suffering on your case is one of the primary functions of a personal injury attorney. Properly valuing a case can only be done after carefully considering numerous factors. For example, how much work did your boyfriend miss? Are either of you still in pain? Was the other driver working when he hit you? How significant was the impact? Where did the accident occur?

Without an attorney, you are not likely to receive an adequate settlement offer from the insurance company, regardless of whether you come up with a number first.

In other words, unless you are willing to take a lowball offer (if you even get an offer), you should consult with an attorney.

Re: Fair compensation for hit and run

What is fair is not the question. In my opinion, there is no way to place a �fair� dollar value on a traumatic event or a bodily injury. I suggest that your question should be, what is the settlement value of my injury/incident. In my experience, the answer to that question falls far short of what is �fair�.

An insurance company will only pay what they believe is in their best interest to pay. How are you going to motivate them to pay? You will either settle your case at a number that the insurance company feels is in their best interest to pay or you will hire an attorney. If the attorney is good and has a reputation with the insurance company, the insurance company will be motivated to pay �more.� A good law firm will make them pay by going toward or to trial. Will the �more� that the insurance company pays offset the attorney�s fees, costs, hassle and time delay? That is the second big question.

In some cases I advise potential clients not to hire an attorney. I lay out a negotiation strategy for them to follow complete with the amounts to demand, counter-offers and the amount to accept. These are the cases where I believe the client can do better on their own with some coaching than I can do for themselves �net in their pocket�. �Net in the pocket� is the only thing that matters when the case is over.

Have no delusions, a personal injury claim/case is not about truth, justice, fairness or your rights. It is about recovering what the traffic will bear for your type matter. �What the traffic will bear� is a matter of literally hundreds of factors, not just what happened and what are the injuries. Who the defendant is, who the insurance company is, who the plaintiff is, who their law firm is, the jurisdiction and hundreds of other factors come into play.

If you really want to know what your claim is worth to settle, consult with an experienced personal injury law firm that has been in the business at least fifteen years and who goes to trial on their cases. They will provide you a free consultation. Keep in mind that you will receive the same number of different opinions as the number of people you ask. Go with who you trust.

John Bisnar, Bisnar & Chase, www.bestattorne.com, [email protected], 800-956-0123.

Re: Fair compensation for hit and run

Very difficult to answer this. Need to know the amount of the medical bills, the damage to your car, the amount of lost income, the nature of your injuries,etc. Once I have this information, I will be able to advise you further. However, I would like to suggest that you stop trying to save a dollar by being your own lawyer. You are not any match for the insurance co. What your attorney will get for you will more than pay his/her fees. Good luck.