Personal Injury (PI) is a term that encompasses claims by individual persons for damages to their physical and financial health, emotional well being, and to their reputation. The most common type of PI case involves bodily injury resulting from an auto accident but encompasses matters such as slip and fall accidents and dog bites.

In addition to filing a police report, any driver involved in a motor vehicle accident in California must within 10 days of the accident file a combined accident report and verification of financial responsibility form known as an SR-1 with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). This is required whenever there is injury in the accident or where there is $750 or more of property damage. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4.0 or higher to view this form which you can download here.

Be sure to get the other driver's name, address, and license number and expiration date. Also get the driver's telephone number and insurance company's policy number and expiration date. Write down the other car's make, model, and license plate number, and ask to see the registration for the other vehicle. Additionally, get the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any passengers in the other car  and any witnesses. Additionally, you can also print out the accident report records form we have provided for you to keep in your car for your convenience.

Every automobile owners in California must carry a copy of their vehicle registration and proof of insurance. Additionally, you can print out the form we have provided to keep in your car to record additional informations in the event that you involved in an auto accident.

This can get complicated because you may have policies with two insurance companies-your regular health insurance, and the medical payments coverage on your automobile insurance. The other driver's car insurance may be obligated to reimburse you also.

Key items included wage loss, loss of earning capacity, medical expenses, damages for pain and suffering, anxiety and emotional distress. This is not a complete list of claims for damages however.

In PI cases, settlements or judgments typically involve a single payment or schedule of payments. These settlements do not generally involve open-ended responsibility of the defendant to continue paying the injured person's medical bills. It is recommended that the injured person preserve a portion of the settlements received to pay for future medical expenses arising out of the accident.

State law requires that in any case in which there is an injury, it must be reported to the local office of the California Highway Patrol (CHP), or to the local police department if the accident occurred inside a city limit within 24 hours of the time of the accident. It is preferable to have all of the vehicles remain at the scene of the accident and have the authorities arrive at the scene to investigate immediately after the accident.

If the other driver is at fault, his/her insurance company may make arrangements directly with you to pay for the damages to your car. In the case that the other driver's insurance company refuses to make these arrangements, you may have to deal with your own insurance company first and have your insurance company seek reimbursement, if you are entitled to reimbursement. Be careful when dealing with the other driver's insurance company because they may try to rush you into a smaller settlement of your PI claims before you have an opportunity to evaluate the full extent of the accident. We always advise the injured party to seek help from an attorney when dealing with insurance companies.

You always need to notify your own insurance company of an accident regardless of who's at fault.

Unfortunately, around two-fifth of all drivers in California do not have auto liability insurance. If you are involved in an auto accident with an uninsured driver who is at fault, the uninsured motorist provisions of your own policy will apply provided that you have uninsured motorist coverage.

Typically PI cases are handled on a contingency basis, which means that the attorney fees are based on a percentage of what is recovered in the case. These fees are not set by law but are negotiated between the parties to the attorney-client fee contract. Under a percentage contingency fee, if there is no recovery, there is no fee.

You should first try to resolve the issue with your insurance company, agent or broker. If you do not receive a satisfactory response in a timely manner, then you should contact the California Department of  Insurance using the Request for Assistance form that we provided here or you can file the Request for Assistance through the interactive web.

In California, and generally speaking, the deadline to file a lawsuit to protect your rights is 2 years from the date the accident occurred. However, depending upon who the party-at-fault is, or if there is one that is known in cases of uninsured motorists claims, statutory deadlines may be different. Minors also have different statutory deadlines. 

It is recommended that potential claimants not rely upon general deadlines and contact ELEANOR L. MILLER & ASSOCIATES immediately as each case is different as is each claimant.