Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

You can be compensated

If the other driver is at fault, he and his insurance company should be expected to compensate you and your passenger for all loss resulting from the accident. This would include property damage, medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Problems come up when you try to get the insurance company to agree on an amount. The insurance companies are in the business of making money. As such, they have every reason in the world to pay you (and try to get you) less then you may be entitled to.

Auto Liability Insurance Limits

Mr. Harding's reply to your message leaves out one important detail. The other driver's insurance presumably has a policy limit, and you will probably not get very far if you try to get the company to pay more than this amount. For example, if the total medical bills come to $45,000 and the policy has a $25,000 limit per incident, I don't think the carrier will offer more than $25,000. You can sue the driver to get more than this, but the insurance company will probably pressure you to settle for the policy limits.

I'm sure that Mr. Harding didn't intend his message to suggest that you could recover all of your damages from the carrier if they exceed the policy limit, but I want to make sure you don't get the wrong impression.

An addition to Mr. Harding and Mr. Hoffman

Both Mr. Harding and Mr. Hoffman have answered your question. It is important to add that if the insurance companies paid what they are supposed to, those of us who represent the injured in these accidents would need to find a new profession. The fact is that the insurance companies know how to use the legal system against the injured person without an attorney so that they will pay less than they are supposed to pay or even pay nothing at all. I suggest that you prepare for battle with your own attorney -- after all, the insurance company is already preparing to do battle against you and you don't even know it!