Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

The number one thing is to focus on treating your injuries. This stage of investigating the extent of your damages is the #1 priority for the insurance company to disrupt. They will try and settle early and low, before you have a chance to find out just how hurt you really are. It may take months before you complete your treatment. Most often people get some chiropractic or physical therapy, and if that fails they get an MRI and soetimes find a slipped or herniated disc, which is serious and costly. You must be patient; don't let the enemy rush you or pressure you.

If you have no health insurance, you will need an attorney to vouch for the merit of the case, or no doctor will be willing to treat you on a "lien." Even if you have health insurance, you're not required to use it, and in fact it's usually not in your best interest to use it. In the long run, health insurance will only save money for the insurance company of the guy who hit you. Plus it will decrease the perceived value of your case, and you will get less pain and suffering.

Having a lawyer also serves to increase the value of the case, by showing the insurance company that you're ready to go to court. They will offer you more money to avoid the expense of litigation. In settlement negotiation, it's essential to come on strong right from the very beginning, so you should "lawyer up" as soon as possible.

We aggressively litigate cases in Ventura county, so don't hesitate. If you want to get started, call us toll-free today: 877-LION-FOR-LAW (546-6367) or email [email protected]

Frankly if you and your wife are intending to represent yourselves in this matter, you're about to step into the mine-fields of insurance litigation. You will not get a fair shake!

Few tips here, take good pictures of your car, the other person's car (if available) any and all bruises and other injuries. Also, take the pix of the scene as well as other pertinent evidence such as skid marks, which you should also measure if the police didn't do it. Get your car to a reputable shop and have the damage appraised. Get on the internet and print out all similar cars (same year, make and model, similar mileage) that are available for sale within 50 mile radius. This will give you a good indication of your car's fair market value. Next, go to car rental web sites and print out daily rental pricing for similar cars so you can ask for loss of use of your car.

As for your personal injuries, make sure to go to your primary care doctor for full evaluation, referral and treatment. Once you have all your out of pocket expenses, your medical bills and your other damages assessed, you will then be able to make a demand for settlement.

Evaluation of your settlement demand is not something I can provide in this email.

Lastly, do not give a recorded statement to the other party's insurance company without having it carefully discussed with a lawyer first.

Unfortunately, speaking as a former defense counsel who did some plaintiff's work later on, you are not going to get what you "deserve" because juries do not like soft tissue injury claims and insurance companies offer what they think a jury will award, not what you are entitled to. They probably will not pay you for time lost from work because of no car, just as they will not pay for the time you incur in finding a rental vehicle, taking your car in for repairs, or just about anything else but time lost from work because of your injuries. insurance companies also look with question upon chiropractic treatment but not physical therapy [although they are similar] and it is best to get your primary care Dr. to refer you for whatever treatment and tests you get.

It is a complicated subject that none of us can fully discuss in this limited forum.

Feel free to call us at 213.388.7070 for a free consultation.

My firm handles car accident cases all over the State of California. You may call me for a free consultation at 800-816-1529 x. 1.

My website is located at www.thepersonalinjury.com .