An update to keep you informed on how to handle personal injury situations
PICTURES ARE IMPORTANT
In a Slip-and-Fall or Trip-and-Fall type of claim it is very important to immediately preserve evidence of what caused the fall. Sometimes a broken step will be the cause of the fall. You need to have a picture of that. Sometimes the cause of the fall is a pothole. You need to get a picture of that. Pictures are sometimes the only thing that will allow you to be successful with your claim. Once the injury is reported to the landlord, usually they immediately make corrections or change things where the injury occurred. If there was a pothole, they will fill the pothole. If there was a spilled liquid, that will have been cleaned up. If there was a broken step, that will have been repaired. Fortunately most people carry cell phones that have the capability of taking pictures.
If you are too injured to take a picture yourself, have a friend, family member, or someone who is passing by to take the picture for you. It is critical to preserve evidence of what caused the injury. You will also need to keep and preserve the shoes that you were wearing at the time of the fall. You should also make note whether or not you were wearing glasses or using any type of cane or similar devise. As soon as you are able you or a family member should call an attorney to assist you in the claim. Usually an expert will be needed to evaluate the claim. Look to your local accident attorney, Kennith L. Peterson, to protect your rights.
ARE YOU COVERED? KNOW YOUR LIMITS.
The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson is your local auto accident expert. We service Yorba Linda, Placentia, Anaheim, Tustin, Brea, Fullerton, and surrounding areas. When we meet with clients who have been involved in automobile accidents, one of the first things that we ask our clients is the level of coverage that they have for uninsured / under insured motorists. A good percentage of the time, our clients do not know their policy limits in this regard. We usually have to take a look at the insurance policy to confirm what their coverage is. Many times the uninsured / under insured coverage is not at the same level as their liability policy. Many times it is only a 15/30 policy which means that the most that you can claim for an individual is $15,000.00. We encourage our clients to have the uninsured / under insured coverage to be the same as the limits for their liability portion of their policy.
The uninsured / under insured policy is really insurance for monies to be paid directly to the policy holder as opposed to the monies being paid to someone else. Recent studies estimate that as many as 1 in 4 drivers in California are uninsured. That does not take into consideration the number of drivers who are under insured. Under insured means that while a driver has insurance, they do not have adequate insurance to cover the damages that arise when they are involved in an automobile accident. If you take into consideration the uninsured motorists on the road, as well as the under insured motorists, you are probably talking about the majority of the drivers in California.
That means that it is very important to carry adequate uninsured / under insured automobile insurance. Our recommendation is to carry a minimum of 100/300 thousand uninsured / under insured policy. However, if you can afford it, the uninsured / under insured policy should be a 250/500 thousand policy or more. If you are carrying a 250/500 thousand policy for uninsured / under insured motorists and you are involved in an automobile accident, there will be at least $250,000.00 available in insurance to cover your medical costs, loss of earnings, and personal injury.
DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH INSURANCE?
I don’t think that insurance companies generally inform their clients adequately about the risk of having inadequate insurance coverage. In California you are legally insured if you have a minimal policy of 15/30 coverage. This gives up to $15,000.00 coverage for a single individual’s claim. It will pay out as much as $30,000.00 for claims from two or more individuals. When you purchase automobile insurance the question that arises is how much insurance do you need. It boils down to what risk an individual is willing to take by purchasing minimal insurance. In a worst case scenario a driver can be involved in an accident that causes millions of dollars in damages. Most insurance’s are not adequate for those types of cases. Studies show that the median award is $28,000.00. This means that while the 15/30 minimal policy is inadequate, a 50/100 policy is usually adequate.
However, if you own a house with any significant equity you really should have an umbrella policy that increases the coverage up to one million dollars. We have heard that insurance companies tell their insured’s not to be too concerned because most personal injury firms will only make policy limits demands.
I can’t speak for other firms but I know that, depending on the case, we do an asset check before we recommend to our client to make a policy limits demand only. Just recently our firm collected $145,000.00 over the $50,000.00 insurance which the driver had. In that case, even a 100/300 policy would have been inadequate. The defendant owned his home free and clear. He also had significant cash deposits in various accounts. That individual should have had a one million dollar liability policy to have been properly insured.
If you have been involved in an accident in the Placentia, Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Fullerton, or Brea area, look to The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson for local representation. We are the Placentia auto accident attorneys.
IF IT’S SERIOUS, GET AN ATTORNEY.
If you have been involved in an automobile accident and was seriously injured you need to get legal representation as soon as possible. Usually the insurance companies for the other side will attempt to contact injured parties shortly after the accident. They are trying to settle the claim as quickly as possible, for as little as possible. They are very aggressive in their attempts to obtain statements. They are trying to obtain all of the information which they can to protect their insured.
You need a trained and knowledgeable expert representing you at this time. The proper medical care and treatment should be the primary focus of someone seriously injured. An Attorney can ensure that a proper investigation
has taken place to ensure that all of the parties at fault have been identified. They can ensure that the injured party is not pestered by insurance claims examiners trying to settle claims prematurely for a fraction of their true value. This will leave the injured party better able to focus on obtaining the necessary medical treatment and getting well.
The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson serves the communities of Placentia, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Brea, Tustin, and Anaheim. When the claim is settled all aspects of the injuries and damages are considered. Past future medical care, future medical care, past pain and suffering, future pain and suffering, past lost wages, future lost wages, all aspects of the damages are claimed for. If you or a loved one has been involved in a serious injury immediately call The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson.