Though most people don’t like to think about it, car accidents are a fact of life. They even happen when people are driving rental cars while visiting a state. That is why the sales reps at car rental places always sell and upsell various types of insurance packages to renters. So that brings up the question, “what do you do if you total a rental car while visiting California?” You first hire a personal injury lawyer in Porterville. You then seek their valuable advice.

You need to file the claim with the insurance company. Your lawyer will tell you to file a claim with the defendant’s insurance company if you get into an accident that was his or her fault.

Settlement discussions

Once the claim has been filed, you, your personal injury lawyer in Madera, the defendant, his or her legal team, and the insurance company will sit down to discuss and negotiate a settlement. The insurance adjuster will review your claims file to ensure that you provided enough information which proves that the defendant was at fault. The insurance adjuster will also check to see if evidence in the form of pictures and witness statements exists proving your injuries and damages.

The insurance adjuster will thoroughly scrutinize and analyze this evidence because he or she is looking for legal justifications to award you the lowest payout possible. The insurance company doesn’t want to negatively impact its revenue and profit streams by paying accident victims high insurance payouts. You need a personal injury lawyer to keep you from being lowballed into accepting a lower settlement than you need and deserve. You and your lawyer may have to settle out of court to keep this from occurring.

Important laws specific to California

Know that California’s statute of limitations is two years. That means you will have two years to file a lawsuit against the defendant. California has comparative negligence which means that your payout will be reduced by the degree to which the court finds you at fault for the car accident.

The information discussed above is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in terms of the legal stipulations that govern car accidents and other personal injury accidents in California. Since California’s personal injury law is very complex, you will need to know much more about its personal injury law than the information discussed in this article covers. It is highly recommended that you take the time to hire good legal counsel who will help you craft the personal injury lawsuit that will win the settlement you want and need either in or out of court!