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Auto insurers are large, professional corporations with vast legal resources and money. After a severe car accident, the last thing you want to worry about is how you will pay your bills. You have a car in the shop or totaled. Moreover, you will have severe injuries requiring extensive medical treatment and healing, including physical therapy or surgery.
In short, you don’t want to waste your time on what seems like little things. Next, some insurance companies are excellent at providing services and claims handling. But typically, the opposite remains true in car accidents, especially without a car accident lawyer helping out with the personal injury portion.
California car insurance accident disputes occur a lot more than they should. Sadly, when accidents do happen, insurers low-ball you or drag it out.
Because of this:
- Many Los Angeles car accident attorneys believe insurance companies are downright dishonest in their ads about car accidents.
Most people recall the jingles on the radio and T.V. commercials.
For example, catchy jingles and slogans like:
- “safe drivers save 50%.”
- “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”
- “Nationwide is on your side.”
- “Farmers get you back where you belong.”
- “Liberty Biberdy.”
Can you remember some of these crazy commercials about car accidents and the claims process? What about the GEICO caveman? “Even a caveman can do it.”
So all of this propaganda is constantly flooding consumers. And many consumers buy from these big companies because they become convinced they will be reimbursed in case of an accident. But at the end of the day, no catchphrase will convince an insurance adjuster to pay you. It’s the opposite for the car accident lawyer dealing with these deplorable insurance companies daily.
With the billions spent in advertising each year, insurance companies have a vested interest in not paying you when you are injured in an accident. And sadly, most of us learn this when we get in a wreck and try and reasonably resolve the accident claim after hiring auto accident attorneys.
The premise of what many consider false advertising is that they keep their word and honor their policies. You call them right up, and they take care of the issue in minutes flat. They pay out what they are supposed to when they are supposed to. However, many insurance companies do not operate on that premise.
Instead, many insurance companies are structured around the idea that it should be difficult for a policyholder to access their money. And they act in a way that is the opposite of what you signed on the dotted line for. As a result, many of the legal cases we handle in our law firm revolve around insurance issues.
The lengths that insurance companies go to to avoid paying out their policyholders are often obscene. As you probably guessed, we’ve seen it all before. In dozens and dozens of cases, we’ve seen insurance companies try to use loopholes and legalese to get out of cutting a check for car accidents. That is not acceptable to us. And if they can talk in legalese, we are more than fluent. We don’t let anything get by, especially not for a client in need. Below we discuss some key elements surrounding insurance disputes and how Ehline Law can help with your car accidents 24/7.
Why Choose Ehline Law For Your Liability Auto Insurance Problems?
Michael Ehline is the Ehline Law Firm Personal Injury Attorneys APLC based out of Los Angeles.
- He and his car accident attorney team have decades of experience handling car crash insurance dispute cases. It is one of our core specialties.
- Our team of auto accident attorneys has worked on hundreds of similar topics around car accidents with serious injuries.
- This experience makes our team incredibly skilled in handling the situation that you are in right now. We often see the same tactics being used time and time again. And it never gets old.
That is why our passionate car accident lawyers fight the insurance companies on their terms and ensure that our clients get what they need when they need it after suffering a personal injury. Ehline Law is set up as a boutique law firm intended to help our clients on a one-on-one basis.
This personalized approach often means that we can settle our cases out of court. We save the extra time and stress of a trial if the insurance company agrees to its policy in black and white.
While this may seem like an easy process from the outside, far too many accident victims can tell you that a long and complicated process is often involved, that is what our law firm is here to help with.
I’ve personally handled hundreds of such cases over my long legal career. And I understand many of them from the opposite perspective. I was never an insurance bigwig, but I did work several blue-collar jobs after leaving the Marine Corps.
Before entering into law, the experience taught me the games that large corporations play to extract every penny from the average person.
What Are Some Common Auto Liability Insurance Claim Disputes We Assist Clients With When Insurers Fail To Honor Promises?
- Provision of or Reimbursement for a Rental Car – Most policyholders should consider purchasing rental car accessibility as part of their coverages. Failure to do so after a car wreck means you will have no car or be forced to pay out of pocket for a rental vehicle if you crash your car.
But even if you carry this coverage, your insurance providers don’t always act promptly. Once you provide proof, it’s part of your policy; they should quickly set you up with a loaner/rental car. An act like this is an unnecessary expense most of the time or tries and stick you with a clunker. Even though the claim you submitted to the at-fault party’s insurance company remains legally on the risk to cover reasonable expenses for a similar substitute auto.
At the same time, they investigate liability; you are car-less. And this is the reason why you get your coverage now. Your own insurance company can seek reimbursement in a subrogation claim later. And this is assuming you won the share. Typically, you send your car to a repair shop and have up to 30 days’ worth of rental car coverages for a substitute vehicle.
In any event, the whole thing may seem rigged against California consumers, especially without a great lawyer.
- Calculating Whether Your Car Was a Total Loss – Under California law, liability insurers are supposed to honor their contractual obligations to repair or replace your vehicle.
To do this, your adjuster looks at the fair market value of your car with wear and tear versus total repair costs. Typically, they will not use the Kelley Blue Book. Instead, determining “fair market value” will be based on the local market where you reside. Typically, your insurer hires what they call a neutral third party to review the local Auto Traders in your area. These people they hire are biased in favor of the insurer, and it shows. For example, they will use models of cars for sale with similar mileage of the same year.
But when we review their standards, we often find the comparison cars have blown transmissions or other mechanical problems that the “neutral” evaluator did not disclose in their comparison package. They also try and lowball you for any custom features like Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires or anything else you did to upgrade your vehicle.
And this is why you must do your analysis. Attorneys usually stay out of this process because they don’t get money from your property damage claim. But the better injury lawyers will at least help you through the process so you don’t get screwed. Moreover, at least three estimates for repair costs calculation purposes may not include original parts, etc.
And almost always, that diminishes the resale value of your car. The repair shop does not always use OEM parts because it’s preferred or recommended by your insco. Without a lawyer, you are bound to get duped.
- Claims Adjuster Inspections Vehicle Repairs – Most of all, even with comprehensive and collision coverages, your insurance company and the at-fault party often delay claims and play games. Because California law allows them to take time to make reasonable inspections, they often abuse this right. And when they finally show up to properly inspect your car, you usually have to argue over the repairs and original parts. However, California consumers do have the right to have their body shop estimate repairs.
- Nishihama and Medical Treatment Costs – A recent case, Nishihama, allows the court to reduce or significantly discount your medical reimbursement payments, even though they cost YOU more. Insurers love this because you end up with ruined credit, and they get out of paying the reasonable and necessary payments for your bodily injury claim. And this remains another reason why you need an excellent attorney. A man or woman who represents themselves has a fool for a client.
- Reducing or Refusing to Pay Intangible Damages Pain and Suffering and Associated With Los Angeles Car Accident Claims: Although there is no pain and suffering calculator or bill to base pain on, plaintiffs are entitled to intangible damages. And often, these factors make up the majority of the plaintiff’s restitution award. Adjusters like to pretend these damages don’t exist. And some old-school car accident lawyers in Los Angeles think their clients should get three times the amount of the medical bills. But this is an old wives’ tale. An attorney like Ehline will use their technique to bring you these non-economic damages for your mental and physical pain and suffering. And these can include making arguments that the client has lost “enjoyment of life” due to the Los Angeles car accident case.
An example could be horrible burns from a car fire. A painful melted face can disfigure a person even with plastique surgery. Adhesion from a fallen motorcyclist’s road rash can limit your range of motion and cause extreme discomfort when bending your elbow or knee. Because of this, negligence law allows you to be paid for this grief, inconvenience, humiliation, anxiety, etc. To learn more, take a look at CACI 3905A.
Holding Defendants Accountable After Car Accidents
These car accident laws are used as part of a car accident lawsuit to hold the defendant’s feet to the fire over a claim for common car accident injuries. No matter what excuses the adjuster makes about your auto accident. The law requires they pay up for the injury’s negative effect.
Usually, a lousy injury impacts life at home or work (for example, what if you can no longer work, or even do yard work, go to the gym, etc.?). Because of this, past, present, and future trauma, pain and discomfort from surgical procedures, and painful physical therapy are on the table as recoverable damage after a car wreck.
- Denial of Accident Liability – Ok, this remains a common ploy when a party has no lawyer. Typically, the shifty claims adjuster hems and haws over who was at fault for the accident. Moreover, this occurs even when there is overwhelming evidence the other party was 100% at fault. And even if the insurer does not deny the claim outright after an auto accident, they will try and argue pure comparative negligence and only offer partial value for your case.
- What About the Eggshell Skull and Pre-Existing Medical Condition Argument? Under the eggshell skull theory, the at-fault party must pay you for any exacerbation of a pre-existing injury from a prior accident or disability. But adjusters try and turn this around. For example, they might say that nothing was “exacerbated” and that all your alleged auto accident injuries are “pre-existing.” A proper plaintiff’s lawyer will not tolerate this perversion of California law. The insurance company should not latch on to this argument regardless of prior medical conditions or past accidents. Unfortunately, proving a worsened injury often requires expensive experts, and insurers know this to be the case. Because of this, they assume you will weigh those costs and settle for less than the maximum compensation for a typical Los Angeles car accident.
- They are using Your “Delay in Treatment” As An Excuse – In the age of COVID-19, even after a crash, good luck getting a doctor’s appointment after a car accident. Most of the time, the injured victim remains in shock for several hours after a crash.
And with shock comes increased adrenaline suppressing your pain and trauma from a Los Angeles car accident. Because of this, many car accident victims with terrible injuries fail to take an ambulance to the hospital immediately. They figure, “Hey, I am alive,” and assume discomfort will disappear in a couple of days. Bad idea!
Moreover, since the pain failed to manifest itself right away after a car accident, they try to go to the hospital later or get an appointment to see a doctor. As the bruising and soreness set in, weeks could pass before you can see a physician. Insurance companies latch on to this delay.
They will try and argue about any injuries you have caused later, after the collision, or just try to get money. Of course, this is absurd. But to navigate through these unreasonable arguments, you need a pitbull Los Angeles car accident lawyer to battle with the adjuster.
Mediating During Insurance Disputes?
Not every case of an insurance dispute following a car accident claim is malicious. In some instances, driver A and Driver B have different insurance companies. Perhaps they are close to the value of what would make each driver whole after a Los Angeles car accident.
But usually, disagreement exists over some aspects of the crash (often having to do with fault.). Because of this, there will be a battle over the claim’s numerical dollar values. In short, there is simply a need for a moderator in some car accident cases– our firm excels at that. Auto accident attorneys do this for a living, so it’s generally wiser to speak to a car accident attorney after a car crash before calling the insurance company and giving them a recorded statement.
In other cases involving serious injuries, our talented car accident lawyers have seen insurance companies refuse to cover their policies for a valid accident claim, let alone handle some basic medical expenses. Often this has to do with the cost of paying fair compensation for car repairs or medical bills arising from a car accident personal injury claim over disputed liability after a bad car accident.
Although it happens less with rear-end collisions, bodily injury claims are rarely fairly compensated without a lawyer battling the other party’s insurance company. Insurance claims don’t always involve mere bodily injury coverage. A wrongful death lawsuit was likely to result when the injuries sustained lead to a fatality in your family. These are common in head-on collisions and common in California auto accidents.
Many insurance companies like Farmers, GEICO, USAA, Mercury, Progressive, or Infinity blanch at their high total policies and refuse to pay out when the insured tries to file injury claims over someone else’s negligence. They use false arguments to avoid paying the full value for a car accident claim while the crash victims face mounting medical bills. Often people pay for high-dollar insurance policies with their insurance provider on purpose so they can cover these potentially catastrophic injuries, including those from a hit-and-run crash.
And then, when they turn around to call their insurance agent during a time of need, they find themselves unable to collect from their insurer or the negligent driver unless they sue for financial recovery. All insurance companies promise to get them to sign up with them vanish once they are needed. Our firm specializes in going after insurance companies in car accident cases.
Often, we first approach this with a gentler approach, requesting mediation with our team. However, if the company jerks us around too, we go to hardball against the at-fault driver, mechanic making a faulty vehicle repair, or vehicle manufacturer.
Moreover, this often includes a full-on suit, which may or may not come before a jury. As a result, many insurance companies decide to settle rather than have to face us in court after a car accident. We can save our clients time and stress during the legal process, including full-court battles.
Why Does Ehline Law Make the Difference for a Car Accident Claim?
Our experience handling hundreds of these cases in the past makes a difference for our clients. Hundreds of satisfied former clients can attest to the same thing. Furthermore, our team remains specialized in insurance cases to help our clients– as quickly and as painlessly as possible after most car accidents.
We understand that you have far too much on your mind following a car accident to worry about dealing with property damage liability or whether distracted driving is why you became injured victims. We do the work for you, so you can heal and get back to work.
Car Accident Victims With Insurance Company Claims Get a Free Consultation Today
Our team wants to help solve that as soon as possible. We work on contingency– and don’t ask for a cent unless we recover from your car accident. And we can, in some cases, pay for the cost of medical treatment upfront. We stop at nothing to help you– and no insurance company will prevent us from doing so. We offer a free consultation, so we have time to listen to you without the pressure of feeling rushed. And if we take your car accident case, we won’t take a fee unless we win.
Remember, the call is free, and we are here to let you talk about yourself with a local injury attorney specializing in your particular case. To learn more about your legal rights to payment, call (213) 596-9642.
Ehline Law Maintains locations and meeting places in Long Beach, Torrance, Marina del Rey, Santa Monica, San Bernardino, and Riverside. We can visit your home or bedside anywhere in Northern, Central, or Southern California.
