The Process of Personal Injury Compensation Award Settlement
After an auto accident, you get injured, your car gets damaged, and you incur many other financial and emotional damages. When it is not your fault to be in such an accident, you deserve compensation. In its most simplest explanation, that is what accident settlement award is all about. However, auto accidents compensation award settlement depend on whether you and the party at fault have auto insurance. The Napolin legal team works tirelessly to assure the most reasonable yet just settlement for our clients.
The Steps Your Personal Injury Attorney will take toward Compensation Award Settlement
First, we must understand that each case is different. But the following steps represent the general process you should expect after hiring a personal injury attorney.
1. Free Consultation
Napolin Law Firm offers free consultation to understand your accident, case and to give an opportunity to learn the process and shop around for lawyers. If you have been in an accident, you should call us today to take advantage of our free consultation policy.
2. Investigation
During this period, our team investigates your case and collects information and documents. Part of the documents we collect are police reports, accident scene photographs, witness testimonies, medical records and bills, employment history, and insurance policies.
3. Demand Letter
Once we collect all the documents, we determine the rate of damage that you incurred as a result of this accident. Damage, here, refers to physical, financial and emotional damage. Your physical damage includes your physical health and property damage. Your financial damage is your current loss of wages and future potential loss of wages due to the accident. Finally, your emotional damage is your distress and accident trauma. Based on these damages, we draft a demand letter to the insurance company demanding a settlement amount that is reasonable and just given your pain and suffering.
4. Settlement Negotiation
In most cases, negotiations take place back and forth and a demand is finally accepted. In the rare cases, we may need to file a personal injury lawsuit with the court, enter into meditation and then trial to finally settle. But this only happens with more complicated cases, where we see a settlement with no trial does not do our client any justice. However, most personal injury cases settle without trial.
Compensation Award Settlement when Plaintiff has no Auto Insurance
In California, Prop 213 is a state law that restricts uninsured drivers from collecting non-economic damages resulting from an auto accident if the accident was not their fault.
The basic reasoning behind this law is that as a driver, you must have auto insurance. Not having auto insurance means you are not able to provide someone compensation in case of an accident you case. If you are not able to do so, then you should not be able to claim such benefits when you are a victim of an accident that is not your fault. However, this does not mean you receive absolutely nothing. Instead, you may recover your medical damages but you will not receive any pain and suffering.
Settlement when Defendant, Party at Fault has no Auto Insurance
In the unfortunate event of an accident where the party at fault has no auto insurance, we will need to file a claim with your own auto insurance. Uninsured Motorist Coverage is coverage that you can purchase from your insurance company. Not everyone has UIM in their insurance policies. But such coverage protects in cases where the other party has no insurance or in hit-and-run cases.
If you have UIM, you will receive full benefits including pain and suffering. However, if you do not, you will only receive benefits that cover some of your damages but not your pain and suffering.
Hire a Personal Injury Attorney for Best Settlement Awards
Accidents, whether car accidents, slip and fall, work injuries, there are time frames and policies in place that limit your claim. Therefore, it is important to move fast after an accident to ensure your best protection. Even if you are not sure whether you want to retain an accident injury attorney or not, call us to schedule a free consultation to simply understand the process. Afterwards, you can decide what you would like to do. Napolin Accident Injury Lawyer advise that victims injured in accidents speak with a professional to discus their legal rights and pursue optimal compensation award settlement.
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