Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

If she had prior liaibilty coverage on a different vehicle, that insurance would typically cover the new car for 15 or 30 days until she has time to inform the insurance company of her new car.

If she was at fault, she may be forced to pay for the losses to the other party. If she was not at fault, and has no liabillity coverage, she can only recover her out of pocket losses and will get nothing for pain and suffering.

The result depends on whether or not she has prior insurance from another vehicle. The worst case scenario is that she would be precluded from recovering "pain and suffering" damages. Also, as I'm sure you suspected, it means that if she is at fault, then she must defend herself against any damages claims. However, if your daughter has no assets, then most likely there will be no aggressive move to try and collect from her.

On the other hand, if she is not at fault, then she may have a case worth pursuing, even if she had no insurance. It depends on how badly she was hurt. It sounds like she hit her head. If she is having serious pain, and/or memory problems or attention problems, then she should consult with an attorney right away.

We have successfully handled difficult cases like this before. Feel free to contact us at (877) LION-FOR-LAW (546-6367) or by e-mail at [email protected]

The first thing you need to do is obtain a copy of the police report. Police reports are usually complete within 7-10 days. You should contact the police station that has your report and obtain a copy in person. If the Traffic Collision Report was written by the LAPD it takes quite a while longer to obtain the report. You will need to determine if your step daughter had insurance coverage for another vehicle. If so, then she will be covered for this new vehicle, because insurance carriers provide a grace period of up to 30 days when you get a new vehicle.

If your step daughter was not insured at the time of the incident and she was injured, she may still be able to recover medical bills and any out of pocket expenses, however she will not be able to recover any damages for pain and suffering, because she would be in violation of Proposition 213, which prohibits a person from recovering non-economic losses for compensation for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, and other non-pecuniary damages if the injured person was not insured at the time of the accident as required by the Financial Responsibility Laws of the State of California.

If she is determined to be at fault for the incident and she was not insured, she may be responsible for the damages to the other party, however in most of these types of cases the other party's insurance carrier takes care of the damages. The carrier then seeks reimbursement from the responsible party, however if the carrier determines that your step daughter does not have assets to go after, they may leave her alone and simply close the case.

Feel free to contact our office if you have any further questions (310) 277-0997. We will be happy to help you obtain the traffic collision report and offer any other assistance we can.