What to Expect in a Car Crash Claim
Every year, vehicle collisions kill or seriously injure millions of Americans. These inquiries usually include head injuries, broken bones, internal injuries, and other wounds that are normally permanent. As a result, these victims usually incur tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and they need money to pay them. If the accident was someone else’s fault, that someone else should pay that bill. You break it, you buy it.
Car accident cases usually settle out of court. But as outlined below, settlement is not a result, but a process. The process is normally relatively fast. About 70 percent of car crash claims settle within one year. Other cases drag on. Whether your car accident claim settled quickly or not, a good Carlsbad personal injury lawyer is with you until the end of the line.
Pre-Filing Negotiations
Usually, settlement negotiations begin once medical treatment is at least substantially complete. An Oceanside personal injury lawyer must wait until then to determine a claim’s settlement value. This figure, which is like a new car’s sticker price, must include all potential future medical bills and other future economic losses. If it doesn’t, the victim is financially responsible for these costs, at least in most cases.
The settlement value is also based on the victim’s amount of pain and suffering, the evidence and applicable legal theories in the case, and a few other factors, such as the defendant’s motivation to settle. Some insurance companies fold faster than Superman on laundry day.
Unfortunately, in most cases, car crash claims don’t settle quickly. Insurance companies typically use defenses, such as comparative negligence, to delay the process.
Comparative fault splits legal responsibility between the victim and tortfeasor (negligent driver). If Bill was speeding and Ted was drunk, jurors might divide legal responsibility between them.
California is a pure comparative fault state. If the tortfeasor was only 1 percent responsible for a car crash, the victim is entitled to a proportionate share of damages.
The Legal Process
To jumpstart negotiations and put pressure on the insurance company to settle, an Oceanside personal injury lawyer typically files legal paperwork.
Usually, the legal process in a car accident case begins with pretrial motions. If an Oceanside personal injury lawyer doesn’t lay a firm foundation, the judge could throw the case out of court, and the case could be over before it begins. That’s another reason lawyers take their time before they file legal actions. There are no do-overs.
Next, during discovery, favorable evidence that the other side tried to conceal, such as a critical witness statement, comes to light. The better the evidence, the higher the settlement.
Post-Filing Negotiations
After a lawyer files a case, and after the pretrial motions and discovery phases end, the judge usually appoints a mediator to assist with car crash settlement negotiations.
Professional mediators know how to bring two sides together on a compromise settlement figure. Furthermore, professional mediators ensure that both sides negotiate in good faith. As a result, post-filing mediation is about 90 percent successful in California.
Work With a Detail-Oriented San Diego County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Oceanside, contact the Pursley Law Firm. We routinely handle matters throughout the Golden State.
Source:
injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/overview/age-of-driver/
