Ehline Law Handles Wrongful Death Cases and Legal Remedies for Our Clients
Wrongful deaths can occur in various ways, and every case is unique with its own set of facts. Insurance companies are often involved in a car accident or death due to medical malpractice.
If you are wondering what such a claim involves and whether an insurance company may cover your wrongful death lawsuit or survival action, here is everything you need to know.
A Wrongful Death Lawsuit Versus a Survival Action
Wrongful Deaths
It is essential first to consider the term “wrongful death.” It is a legal term referring to the death of an innocent person due to negligence or the wrongful actions or crime of another person or party.
This can include an individual, organization, or government agency. In California, surviving family members have the legal right to sue the party responsible for the death of their loved one to recover damages. These damages could include the loss of financial income, outstanding medical expenses, and inheritance obtained by the deceased.
Survival Actions
Many pursue wrongful death lawsuits in conjunction with survival actions. A survival action is comparable to a personal injury claim that the deceased person could have filed if they were alive.
Unlike a wrongful death claim that deals primarily with the losses or damages of the immediate family, a survival action covers the pain and suffering of the victim before death.
Does Car Insurance Cover Wrongful Death Claims?
Car insurance companies often cover wrongful deaths that occur in a car accident. The important thing is to demonstrate that the driver of the other vehicle was negligent, which resulted in the car accident that resulted in the death of your family member.
Regarding car accidents, negligence can manifest itself in various ways, including driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, failure to comply with traffic laws or ignoring street signs and demarcations, driving a vehicle that was not worthy, or intentionally causing the accident for malicious reasons.
If an accident occurred due to a defect or car problem, the manufacturer may be liable in this case. In such cases, serving family members can obtain a wrongful death settlement from the driver’s insurance company and the vehicle manufacturer.
Does Homeowner’s Insurance Cover Wrongful Death?
In some cases, an innocent person may have died in a home. Such scenarios include fires that occurred in the home and other such incidents. If your attorney can prove negligence, homeowners’ insurance covers wrongful death in most cases, according to the liability section of the homeowner’s policy.
However, these policies commonly include detailed exclusions and limits to the payout amounts. That is why it is essential to name all parties who are liable. This means suing all responsible parties, which could be more than one individual or organization. These cases can be pretty challenging and hard to win, especially if multiple parties are involved. The help of an experienced wrongful death lawyer can be the difference between winning and losing your wrongful death claim.
How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Claim?
If your loved one’s death was due to someone else’s negligence, it is essential to act quickly to obtain a wrongful death settlement. The timeframe to file a wrongful death suit for a family member is two years after the incident resulting in the victim’s death. If you do not file your claim within this timeframe, otherwise known as the statute of limitations, you may not be able to retrieve any damages.
What Damages Can You Claim?
When claiming for wrongful deaths, the legal system allows you to include the following in your claim:
- Medical expenses that the victim incurred as a result of bodily injury from the accident
- Funeral bills
- Loss of financial support that you would have received from the victim
- The pain and suffering of the family because of the loss of their loved one
- Loss of consortium for a spouse or domestic partner
To find out all the damages you can claim, get in touch with Ehline Law for a free case review.
Contact Ehline Law Firm Today!
If your loved one has left you with a pile of medical bills, funeral costs, and lost wages, you should file a lawsuit to pursue financial compensation for these expenses. These lawsuits are never easy, so you must hire a wrongful death attorney with extensive experience handling such cases.
At Ehline Law Firm, we have a team of dedicated, aggressive, and experienced attorneys in Los Angeles who can help you pursue the compensation that you rightly deserve. We are wrongful death and personal injury law firm that focuses on maintaining an excellent attorney-client relationship with every client that walks through our doors.
You can rest assured that you will get the support you need to pursue legal action without the struggle and emotional strain. Contact Ehline Law at (213) 596-9642 today for a free consultation with an award-winning wrongful death attorney near you!
