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Trouble Getting Car Repaired After An Accident?

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Trouble getting car repaired after an accident? People work hard for their cars.  Whether its a part-time job while still in school to get that first used car or the luxury car you’ve worked so hard for in your adult life, cars are special.  Getting cars repaired or paid for can be the difference between staying in good standing at your school or job and thus, it is important to deal with the insurance companies efficiently and correctly.

Picking a Reputable Shop to Get Your Car Repaired After an Accident

In California, you have the right to select your shop of choice and you DO NOT have to use one suggested by the insurance company.  The first thing that will usually happen is that the insurance company of the person who hit you will send out a person to investigate the damage.  that person will then come up with an estimate (usually minimal and incomplete) and will give you a copy of that estimate to take to a shop of your choice and sometimes they will give you a check for the amount of the estimate.

With that said, it is important to find the right place that will do the work right and seek out verifiable damages.  When you take your car to the shop, they will then do a full inspection (put the car up on a lift) and find damage to the vehicle missed by the initial inspection.  From that point on, the shop will deal directly with the insurance company so that the insurance company can verify the additional damage and approve the costs of fixing it.  You do not want a body shop in Tijuana handling this.

How Will You Get Around While Your Car is Getting Repaired After an Accident?

While your vehicle is in the shop, you have the right to a rental paid for by the insurance of the person that hit you.  Most insurance companies will not pay for insuring the rental vehicle, so you should review your own insurance to see if a rental vehicle is covered to prevent you spending money unnecessarily.   Don’t forget that you’re entitled to a vehicle of the same quality.

What if you have a second vehicle that you can use?  You are entitled to the loss of use of your vehicle while it is in the shop.  This is generally arrived at by figuring out what the daily rental value of your car is.  For example, if you drive a 2015 Nissan Altima, the rental value might be $30 per day.  If your car is in the shop for 10 days, you would be able to assert a claim for $300.

The ins and outs of when the vehicle is declared a total loss will be dealt with in a future post.

If you need help or have questions with regard to your damaged vehicle,  the attorneys at Ray Padilla Law, APC will be happy to discuss your potential case with you for free. Call (619) 431-1187.

The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only and is not to be considered a substitute for advice from a qualified attorney. If you require legal assistance, we highly recommend you speak to a qualified attorney. By reading this post, you agree this information is for informational use only and agree to hold Ray Padilla Law, APC harmless for any losses or damages as a result of this information.

How to Stay Safe During Summer Road Trips

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Every summer, millions and millions of families across California and the United States hit the road on family road trips.  If you will be doing the same, keep safety on your mind.

California law states that each child must be properly restrained in a child safety seat, booster seat or other restraint system in the back seat, until the child is 9 years old or at least 4 feet 9 inches in height.  Exceptions are:

  • When there is no rear seat.
  • The rear seats are side-facing jump seats.
  • The child passenger restraint system cannot be installed properly in the rear seat.
  • All rear seats are already occupied by children under the age of 12 years.
  • Medical reasons require that the child not ride in the rear seat.  The court may require satisfactory proof of the child’s medical condition.

Additionally, the law states that a child may not ride in the front seat of a mother vehicle with an active passenger air bag if the child in: under one year of age, weighs less than 20 pounds, or is riding rear -facing in a child passenger restraint system.

Finally, nothing works better than setting the right example.  If you wear your seat belt, so will your children.  The California Highway Patrol website offers much more information on how to stay safe on the roadways.

 

The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only and is not to be considered a substitute for advice from a qualified attorney. If you require legal assistance, we highly recommend you speak to a qualified attorney. By reading this post, you agree this information is for informational use only and agree to hold Ray Padilla Law, APC harmless for any losses or damages as a result of this information.

Low Impact Car Accident – Don’t Be So Quick To Determine That You’re Fine

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Typical Scenario After A Minor Accident

Anyone who has ever been involved in a car accident, no matter how small, knows that immediately after the crash they feel many different emotions.  You get a rush of energy, you worry about others in the car, you may get angry, nervousness might creep up, happiness that you’re not terribly injured, etc.  All of these feelings and emotions (mainly the adrenaline) overshadow some of the pain or injuries that you may have suffered in the immediate moments after a car accident.

Most people get out of the car, go check to see if the other person is fine, tell the other person that they’re not hurt, check the damage and if the damage is not terrible they exchange insurance information and go on their way.  When the person who hit you then speaks to their insurance, you can be sure that their insurance will want an exact play by play of what you did and said immediately following the accident.  They will then try and use all that information against you later once the adrenaline has worn off and your symptoms develop.

The Science Behind A Minor Accident

Scientific data shows that the impact does not have to be very significant to cause an injury to your spine.  The article on whiplash injury published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery on June 30, 2009, points out that 90 percent of whiplash injuries occur with speeds less than 14 mph.  It also explains that many crash tests done with human subjects have shown results concluding that a car crash with a velocity of just 2.5 mph was sufficient to cause symptoms.  Interestingly, a speed of 8.7 mph was required to cause visual damage to the vehicle.  Injuries they point to are not only symptoms of neck pain and stiffness,  but also forgetfulness, post-trauma disorder and even depressive symptoms after six weeks.

Even a low impact accident is worth speaking to an attorney about, especially if you develop symptoms after first feeling fine.  The attorneys at Ray Padilla Law, APC will be happy to discuss your potential case with you for free. Call (619) 431-1187.

 

The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only and is not to be considered a substitute for advice from a qualified attorney. If you require legal assistance, we highly recommend you speak to a qualified attorney. By reading this post, you agree this information is for informational use only and agree to hold Ray Padilla Law, APC harmless for any losses or damages as a result of this information.

IN A CAR ACCIDENT. SHOULD I DEAL WITH THE INSURANCE ADJUSTER ALONE? WHY YOU SHOULDN’T DEAL WITH AN INSURANCE ADJUSTER AFTER AN ACCIDENT WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY

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You’ve been involved in a car collision and are now considering going up against the insurance company and their adjusters alone.  Hopefully, you’re reading this having not suffered severe injuries; however, regardless if you were seriously injured or suffered only minor injuries, you should reconsider going at it alone.

There is no secret that insurance companies like dealing with people who are not represented by attorneys.  Why is that?  Well, simply put, they have a better chance of taking advantage of those people by either denying their claims or offering them unreasonably low settlement offers.

There have been many former insurance employees and people with inside information who’ve come out and talked about the many unethical practices of the insurance companies that have the ultimate goal of paying you nothing or less than what you deserve.

There was a nationwide class-action case, for example, wherein former Allstate employees testified that they were “trained to build rapport with customers and discourage them from hiring layers.” (Bartelme, Tony.  STORM OF MONEY: Insider tells how some insurance companies rig the system.  In an article written by Patrick Gunning titled if you love them, let them go, he explains that “insurance whistle blower Robert Dietz, adjusters at Farmers Insurance were ‘taught how to dissuade people from hiring a lawyer in the first place,’ ‘were evaluated annually for this talent,’ and ‘whenever adjusters allowed claimants to retain an attorney, they had to fill out a form to explain to supervisors how they let it happen.’” (Heckman, Candace; Low-ball offers nothing new in insurance industry. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.  May 14, 2003.)

Please understand that not all adjusters are like this and/or constantly working against you.  In fact, there are many adjusters who mean well.  Most adjusters, however, are simply overworked, underpaid, under appreciated and made to comply with standards like those mentioned above.

Insurance companies have a high interest in keeping you from hiring an experienced car accident attorney or resolving your claim before you do so keep that in mind before speaking with an insurance company before speaking with an attorney.