If your life or your loved one’s life was suddenly inexorably changed by the careless or reckless acts of an uninsured driver, you need a Los Angeles auto accident lawyer who can get you the medical care you need. Our Harvard educated Super Lawyers can put their knowledge and skills to work for you to get you compensation for the time that you’re unable to work and to help you provide for your family. If you or your loved one did not have car insurance at the time of the accident, you may not be entitled to full compensation for your injuries under California law. If you caused the accident, lack of insurance does not excuse you from your financial obligation to the victim’s family.
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Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Unfortunately, uninsured motorist coverage is optional, and it varies greatly by insurance company, policy, and coverage limits. Your policy may cover bodily injury and / or property damage caused by a driver who does not have car insurance. It may or may not cover underinsured drivers, and your policy states, or does not state, that it covers hit and run accidents. Your optional coverage only pays you when the uninsured driver is the at-fault party, and it may only pay your deductible not covered by your collision insurance.
West Coast Trial Lawyers
Our Los Angeles auto accident lawyer is actually a team of personal injury lawyers who have recovered more than $35 million dollars for their clients. Our personal injury lawyer is also an experienced criminal law attorney who can work jointly as co-counsel in the most complicated of personal injury cases. Our personal injury lawyer offers the following legal services:
• Personal injury
• Family
• Probate
• Business or corporate
• Criminal
Cause of the Accident
The police officer’s accident report contains the date and time of the accident, the at-fault party when possible, all vehicles involved, and the location of the accident. The cause of the accident is not always clear. OnStar contains valuable information about your accident. Maybe, a traffic signal was not working the day of the accident. Maybe, a driver was intoxicated. Maybe, brakes failed. Our Los Angeles auto accident lawyer looks for all possible causes of the accident. The at-fault party pays compensation to the accident victim based on determinations of negligence. You can find a recap on the following by visiting https://westcoasttriallawyers.com/ca/los-angeles-car-accidents-lawyer/
Types of Negligence
Comparative and contributory negligence does not bar you from receiving compensation for your injuries. If a traffic light malfunction caused you both to enter the intersection at the same time, you both caused the accident. Driving while intoxicated is contributory negligence. If you were struck by a commercial vehicle or an employee performing a duty to his or her employer, the employer or the owner of the vehicle is also liable for your injuries. Owners of improperly maintained vehicles and repair shops who incorrectly installed brakes, for example, may also be financially liable for your accident. If the uninsured motorist is a teenager, his or her parents are also responsible for your accident. Contact West Coast Trial Lawyers for additional information.
Compensation for Your Injuries
You need to retain an accident attorney as soon as possible after the accident because you may be entitled to workers’ compensation if you were working for an employer or traveling to or from work when the accident occurred. Workers compensation claims involve you employer and must be filed within days of the accident. Workers compensation pays your medical bills, expenses, and a percentage of your salary until you’re able to return to work.
Third-Party Lawsuit
Third-party lawsuits can be complicated even when liability is clear because assuming liability for emergency medical expenses does not obligate the defendant to pay for all medically necessary treatment if the condition could have been pre-existing or as a result of another cause such as obesity, high blood pressure, or diabetes. A third-party lawsuit is filed against the negligent parties in an accident case to compensate accident victims for their:
• Medical bills
• Rehabilitation
• Property damage
• Lost wages
• Emotional distress
Social Security Disability
Social security disability benefits are for those who have worked for at least ten years. The application process is lengthy and may be denied initially and won on appeal upon submitting additional information and medical evidence. It may take a year before you see your first payment, but social security benefits pay you monthly and also pay half or your benefit for each of your minor children. Social security disability also provides medical insurance for you and your minor children.
Dependent Children
If your family law problems are sudden because your family member died without a will leaving minor children without a legal guardian or is too badly incapacitated to care for the children, our family law attorney can quickly resolve your child custody and financial child support issues. The California court can appoint a guardian-ad-litem to help you determine what is in the best interest of the minor children. Our probate lawyer can work with the designated next of kin of the deceased to put the deceased’s assets in trust for the children and bring a wrongful death lawsuit on their behalf.
Wrongful Death
If your family member died as a result of the collision with the uninsured driver, our accident lawyer can bring a third-party wrongful death lawsuit to settle your family member’s final expenses, pay for the funeral and burial expenses, and compensate you for the loss of a spouse or a parent. The wrongful death lawsuit seeks financial compensation for the death of a loved one by estimating the amount of money the deceased would earn from his or her death date until his or her retirement date. Our attorney can help you execute the deceased’s estate by creating a trust to contribute financial support payments to the children and lastly, distribute the remaining compensation to the children when they graduate from high school or college.
Private Investigators
While the immediate situation looks bleak, your uninsured motorist probably has assets in addition to the car he or she was driving or will in the future. Our network of associates includes private investigators who can locate evidence, witnesses to your accident, and even hit and run drivers. The private investigator can help you collect on a judgement in your favor. Using computer software, the third-party investigator can compile financial reports from the uninsured driver’s social media, public records, and credit reports to give you an accurate view of the hit and run driver’s assets. Private investigators can access motor vehicle records, the vehicle owner’s data, the lien holder’s account number, and insurance policy information. Motor vehicles include assets, such as, business equipment, boats, trailers, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, and jet skis that can be liquidated to compensate you for your injuries.
West Coast Trial Lawyers
Contact our personal injury lawyer to discuss the intricacies of your collision with an uninsured motorist. Our multilingual law firm brings peace of mind to accident victims by helping with all the legal problems resulting from the accident. Our law office has ten California offices and is available 24 hours per day, seven days each week, to offer you a free consultation or evaluation of your personal injury claim.
