car accident lawyer in sacramento

Helping Car Accident Victims with Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist

Car accidents are already a very stressful and difficult time for anyone to go through. If you were involved in an accident, suffered severe injuries, high medical bills, lost wages at work and property damage, the person at fault should be obligated to pay for it. However, imagine, if the other person who was at fault, didn’t have any insurance!

California has a mandatory insurance law, mandating everyone to have automobile insurance if they plan on driving a motorized vehicle on public roads. Unfortunately, many irresponsible motorists remain on the road without any automobile insurance.Resulting in an inability to pay for damages when being at fault of an accident. Even though the law requires it, there are those who are uninsured or underinsured and it’s important you contact a personal injury attorney in Sacramento for legal help immediately if you’ve been a victim of an underinsured motorist accident.

What to do if you’re hit by an uninsured motorist in California

There are around 4.1 million drivers in California that are uninsured! Meaning, half of all accidents in California may involve at least one uninsured or underinsured motorist. The first thing you need to do if you’ve been involved in any type of accident, is seek medical attention if you’ve been hurt badly. Next, you need to figure out if you carry uninsured motorist coverage, and if it applies to your case. Car accident lawyer in Sacramento at The Choyce Law Firm would be best to give you advice here.

“Uninsured motorist” coverage refers to protection in the event that a negligent vehicle operator without any insurance at all causes injury to the person who owns that coverage. It provides the same type of protection in cases where a negligent person does not have enough of their own auto insurance coverage to pay for all of the damages sustained by the insured person who owns the underinsured motorist coverage.

Some things you need to know about uninsured motorist coverage:

• It will only provide you with coverage if you are not at fault for the accident
• Coverage can come from the same insurance company you use for your liability coverage
• A claim must be filed with your insurance company within two years
• Insurance companies are prohibited by law from offering less coverage and less protection than is required by California’s statute
• Protection is extended to the “insured” person, not just the vehicle. That means you are protected if you are hit while walking, riding a bicycle or motorcycle
• There are various exemptions to the law, but in the vast majority of situations, if you have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, you will be protected against the negligent acts of those uninsured.

Make sure to contact an experienced personal injury attorney in Sacramento who can help you. Every case is different, and it requires legal representation for best compensation.

Think of these types of cases as any other case in which you would be suing someone for negligent behavior. If you’ve suffered substantial losses, you can be compensated for:

• Medical bills
• Loss of earnings
• Loss of earning capacity
• Daily suffering
• Physical injuries
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Contact a personal injury attorney in Sacramento immediately for help.

Call car accident lawyer in sacramento

If you have been injured in a car, truck or motorcycle accident due to the negligence of another, regardless of the nature of the underlying accident, it is important to contact experienced auto accident lawyers in Sacramento at The Choyce Law Firm to discuss your legal options. We have offices in Sacramento & Fairfield, CA for your convenience and have the resources and expertise to aggressively litigate your case in court, fighting to get you just compensation for your injury.

Call (916) 306-0636 today for a free consultation with our car accident lawyer in Sacramento regarding your injury case.

Sacramento accident lawyer

California Insurance Policies For High Winds

Under California law, an insurance company is given the ability to decide what perils it covers and under what circumstances. Policies cannot legally be marketed under false pretenses, but also are not required to contain all the perils you may require coverage for. Damage caused by wind and hail is usually covered under both homeowners and renters insurance policies (though earthquake is not!). If you have questions regarding your specific insurance policy, speak with a Sacramento accident lawyer.

If damage occurs, it is always important to contact your insurance company to report any damage and schedule a visit from a claims adjuster as soon as possible. You should make any necessary temporary repairs to prevent further damage, but hold off on any permanent repairs until a claims adjuster has visited your home and completed their inspection. It is also very important to keep records of all costs caused by the initial incident, in addition to any resultant costs, including but not limited to the following:

• Temporary fixes
• Emergency relocation
• Water damage due to the initial wind damage
• Debris removal

These additional costs are covered only when directly resulting from the winds. If a hole is created in the roof of your home by a repairman attempting to fix the initial damage due to wind, and a rainstorm comes and causes water damage to the interior of your home, the insurance company may not cover it as it was a result of the repairman’s actions and not directly caused by the wind damage. However, if the water damage is caused by negligence on the repairman’s behalf, it may be covered by the contractor’s general liability insurance policy. Every case is unique and only an experienced Sacramento accident lawyer can advise you on the best legal action.

Some damages from windstorms may not be initially obvious – check the following after serious storms that carry the potential for wind damage:

• Test all faucets and check for leaks
• Open all cabinet doors to check for damage to plumbing
• Flush all toilets and check for leaks
• If any parts of your roof are readily visible, check for “pockmark” dents from hail
• Check for hail damage to other metal surfaces of the home, for example an air conditioning unit
• Check your walls and foundation for cracks – especially around windows and doors
• Check to see if your floors are still level – if not, this could indicate a shifting in your foundation
• Keep an eye out in the days following a severe wind and hailstorm for water stains and yellowing in the walls and ceiling of your home – this could indicate hidden structural damage

Important questions to ask your insurance representative when filing a claim:

• Is my specific property covered under my insurance?
• Should I get estimates on the cost of repairs or replacements necessary?
• When can I expect my claim to be processed and approved?
• What is my deductible? How much needs to be paid out of pocket before coverage is triggered?

When the claims adjuster visits your home, he or she will assess the severity of the damage, inform you of the materials and labor necessary to fix the damage, and determine how much money you should receive due to the damage.

It’s not a bad idea to have an independent company assess the damage, especially if you feel your claims adjustor did not complete a thorough investigation or feel your insurance company has not properly accounted for the costs of repair. And it’s always a great idea to consult with a Sacramento accident lawyer.

Insurance Bad Faith Lawsuit

If there is an issue with the insurance company delaying, denying, or underpaying a claim, you can file an insurance bad faith lawsuit.

• In addition to the original claim, , the plaintiff may receive additional damages including emotional distress, economic loss (if the property is related to the plaintiff’s manner of income), and punitive damages (to punish the insurance company)

It is important to keep this option in mind from the beginning – you’ll want to keep close records of all correspondence with the insurance company, and the times of such correspondence. There is a time limit for filing an insurance bad faith lawsuit – the suit must be filed within a year of the initial damage.

If you have sustained serious wind damage to your home or other property, and someone has been hurt as a result, you should consult with a Sacramento accident lawyer immediately. An experienced attorney will be able to properly deal with the insurance company for you and help get you the compensation you deserve. If you have already gone through the claims process and feel cheated, we can help ensure your case is reviewed and responsible parties are held accountable.

Call The Choyce Law Firm For Legal Advice

Have you or someone you know been injured or had property damaged due to dangerous winds? Contact a Sacramento accident lawyer for a free consultation. You may be entitled to compensation.

SACRAMENTO INJURY LAWYER

UMBRELLA INSURANCE – HOW IT WORKS & WHAT IT COVERS

An Umbrella policy, also known as an Excess Insurance policy, operates how the name implies – it sits on top of the rest of your insurance policies like an umbrella, providing excess coverage for high liability situations.

• One umbrella policy can be written over multiple lines of insurance, and many homeowners have umbrella policies that simultaneously provide excess coverage for their homeowners and automotive policies.
• Your umbrella policy limits will remain untouched until the underlying insurance policy has reached its maximum limits, and most insurance companies will not allow the addition of an umbrella policy until you have purchased the recommended limits on your underlying insurance policy.
• For most insurance companies, this will mean that you need to have $1,000,000 liability limits on your homeowners policy to qualify for the purchase of an umbrella policy.

Why Have an Umbrella Policy?

An umbrella policy is the most cost effective and efficient way to set above standard limits for your insurance policy. The umbrella policy allows you to increase your protection across all your underlying policies with one quick and easy move, rather than adjusting each insurance policy separately. This affords you far more than just ease of adjustment, and can actually save you a lot of money too!

Insurance companies work on statistics, and the probability that you will make a claim on your policy, combined with the expected dollar amount of those possible claims, determines the premium you will pay to carry the insurance contract. The same goes for an umbrella policy, but because the probability that you will file a claim totaling more than your policy limit is far lower than the probability that you will file a smaller, more average sized claim, the premium that you pay for the same coverage in an excess policy will be less than the premium you would have paid increasing the limits of your underlying policies. Essentially, the excess policy is far less likely to be used, given that the underlying policy must exhaust all of its limits prior its use.

If you have any questions regarding your specific case, contact a Sacramento injury lawyer at The Choyce Law Firm today.

Individuals can carry excess policies with their underlying policy carriers, or they can carry umbrella policies with a completely different insurer. This can make it difficult to find all of the applicable insurance that a liable party carries, which could mean an individual involved in an accident will not receive all of the compensation that they deserve. Personal injury case payouts are often limited by the amount of insurance the liable party carries, and it is imperative that the attorneys you hire for your case are experts in finding the applicable insurance limits that will maximize your injury compensation.

Sacramento injury lawyer at this law firm has been fighting the insurance companies for years and are experts in the field. Call us for a free consultation today!

Call Sacramento injury lawyer

If you have been injured in a car, truck or motorcycle accident due to the negligence of another, regardless of the nature of the underlying accident, it is important to contact an experienced Sacramento injury lawyer at The Choyce Law Firm to discuss your legal options. We have offices in Sacramento & Fairfield, CA for your convenience and have the resources and expertise to aggressively litigate your case in court, fighting to get you just compensation for your injury.
 
Call (916) 306-0636 today for a free consultation with our Sacramento injury lawyer regarding your auto accident injury case.

SACRAMENTO INJURY ATTORNEY

California Automobile Insurance Policies

We are all required by law to carry automotive insurance if we choose to drive a vehicle, and that insurance is in place to cover any liabilities that may arise from our driving. Every state has a different set of minimum limits that a driver is required to carry, and these limits are imposed to ensure the monetary protection of all the other drivers on the road that you may come into contact with.

The three main types of insurance limits are the:

• “Aggregate limit” (this limit rarely applies to auto insurance),
• the “Per Occurrence” limit and
• the “Per Person” limit.

If you have been in a car accident contact a Sacramento injury attorney to get advice about your specific automobile accident case.

Aggregate Limit

The aggregate limit of an insurance policy represents the total amount of damages that can be incurred and paid out by the policy in a given policy year (insurance policies are often written on one year terms). For example, if your aggregate policy limit is $1,000,000, the total damages paid out resulting from one or multiple claims cannot total more than $1,000,000 in a given policy period. If you caused a car accident in January that paid out $800,000 in total damages, and you caused another accident in July that totaled $500,000 in damages, the insurance policy would not cover the entire second accident, it would only pay out a maximum of $200,000, because the $1,000,000 aggregate limit was reached ($800,000 + $200,000 = $1,000,000).

Per Occurrence Limit

The Per Occurrence insurance limit controls exactly what the name applies – the maximum amount of claim dollars that can be paid out resulting from one automotive accident, also known as an occurrence. As an example, if your insurance policy has a $300,000 per occurrence limit, and you caused a 10 car pile-up on the highway, your insurance policy will cover a maximum of $300,000 of damages in total, even if the total damages of the accident totaled over $1,000,000. The insurance company itself determines the payment schedule and who will receive payout dollars, but it is usually evenly split amongst the claimants if the insurance limit will not cover the total.

Per Person Limit

As the name implies, this limit controls the maximum amount that can be paid to any single claimant during an occurrence. We will bring you back to the last example to try and explain the per person limit. The 10 car pileup that you caused resulted in injuries sustained to 12 people. 10 of the 12 suffered minor injuries to themselves and their vehicles, but two of the individuals involved sustained serious injuries and their medical bills each total $300,000. The per person total on your insurance policy is $50,000, meaning that any individual claimant is only able to collect a maximum of $50,000 from your policy, regardless of their total damages sustained.

Insurance policies and the limits they carry can confuse for the most experienced professionals, don’t try and handle your case on your own! The injury attorney at this law firm have been securing insurance payouts for injuries sustained during automotive accidents for years and are ready to help. Call us for a free consultation today!

A Sacramento Injury Attorney Can Help Get You The Compensation You Deserve

Please give our office a call today for a free consultation with our Sacramento injury attorney – its OK if you didn’t follow the steps and have no idea who hit you, we can help!

Call Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer For Help

One of the best things you can do to protect yourself from being taken advantage of is to get legal representation. A knowledgeable Sacramento injury attorney at The Choyce Law Firm has years of legal experience handling personal injury claims with insurance companies. We understand the complex laws and procedures will fight on your behalf and can considerably help you get the compensation you deserve.
 
Give us a call at (916) 306-0636 to speak with a Sacramento injury attorney who can handle your case and take the burden off your hands.
 
The Choyce Law Firm
1438 Del Paso Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95815
(916) 306-0636

SACRAMENTO PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER

Dealing With Insurance Companies

California has more laws to protect insurance policyholders than any other state in the country. Unfortunately, this does not necessarily stop insurance companies from doing whatever they can to limit payouts and increase profits. In order to have a decent chance of receiving the compensation to which you are entitled, it’s important to understand your rights and the procedures in dealing with an insurance company. Speak to a Sacramento personal injury lawyer regarding your specific case.

The most important law to remember is that your insurance company is legally obligated to act in “good faith.” It has a duty to investigate, process, and deal with you fairly and to pay your claim fully, promptly and in your best interest.

Basic negotiating will resolve most insurance disputes. The following list is meant to serve as a guideline for how to deal with an insurance company:

• Seek legal advice. It is important to fully understand your rights. Don’t sign any releases or waivers without legal help of a skilled Sacramento personal injury lawyer.
• Don’t take the first offer. When bills pile up after an incident, it’s tempting to take the first offer that’s presented. Try to be patient and find ways to cover your expenses while you negotiate. There are several options for covering medical costs after a car accident or other incident. Most settlements are decided after quite a bit of negotiation, another reason it’s nice to have legal representation.
• Reach out to the insurance company as soon as possible. Don’t delay after the accident – it’s important to establish communication as early as possible. If you can, call the insurance company before seeking medical care (so long as it isn’t an emergency, of course).
• Maintain an honest and professional manner towards the insurance company throughout the entire process. Getting upset and saying inappropriate things can make it harder for you to have a positive relationship during the process and may affect negotiations. Lying can result in the denial of a claim and even a cancellation of your insurance policy.
• When submitting a request of any kind, e.g. for policy explanations, be sure to do so in writing. Be clear in what you are requesting. There are rules by which the insurance company must follow such as time limits and completion of requests.
• Submit all complaints in writing and in professional or courteous language. Also be sure to send it to the relevant individual who may address your concern such as a Sacramento personal injury lawyer.
• Through insurance representatives may seem friendly and pleasant, do not let that get your guard down. They do not intend to be your friend and usually do not intend to give you as much financial aid as you may think you deserve. Always communicate in a courteous manner, even if they are unfriendly or hostile.
• Understand that this is a business negotiation. Insurance representatives speak on behalf of their company – usually large, powerful, and absolutely for profit. The aim of all insurance companies is to provide the least payout in order to maximize profits.
• Keep track of all expenses related to the incident. Write down any levels of pain, if possible. Keep a diary of any emotional turmoil. Keep track of any spending or costs of travel associated with the incident in question. Keep all receipts and take pictures or videos whenever possible.
• Be sure to keep track of all time limits under the policy. Policies often have a one year limit to initiate legal action if a settlement can not be reached.
• Look for all possible sources of coverage. You may have homeowners insurance or credit cards that provide policies with some amount of coverage.
• In some cases, insurance companies go so far as to not represent their policyholders’ best interests. They may even deny an insurance claim in bad faith, meaning they do not properly investigate, do not recognize the claim at all, or act inappropriately and fail in their duty to the policyholder in some other way. Policyholders are usually at a disadvantage in these situations because it takes an in-depth understanding of insurance law and your specific policy to know whether or not the insurance company is treating you fairly.

Truly the best thing you can do when dealing with an insurance company is to have a knowledgeable and motivated law group on your side. The laws and proceedings can be complicated and missing a single deadline may jeopardize your ability to receive compensation.

Call a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer For Help

The Choyce Law Firm has years of legal experience handling tough settlement claims with frustrating insurance companies. Give us a call at (916) 306-0636 to speak to a Sacramento personal injury lawyer who can handle your case and take the burden off your hands.