Law Offices of Frank M. Nunes

Fresno, California Attorney

Schedule a Consultation Call Us: (559) 436-0850

Fresno Car Accident Lawyer

In the blink of an eye, your life can change forever. Accidents happen every day, sometimes with devastating results. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 39.5 million doctor’s office visits and 29.4 million ER visits are related to unintentional injuries, including those from motor vehicle accidents and slip and falls.

If your injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, you may be able to recover financial compensation for the losses that you have suffered. California law allows victims in personal injury cases to recover money for both the harms and losses, such as medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering from another’s carelessness. A skilled Fresno personal injury lawyer can help you through the process, working you to get the highest possible settlement or jury verdict.

At Nunes Law, we have substantial experience helping individuals who have been hurt in all types of accidents throughout Fresno and the Central Valley region. We offer free consultations, and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you.

The legal side of injuries caused by a serious car accident

You get that call from the California Highway Patrol; your husband’s been involved in a terrible accident, and you have to come to the hospital right away. You go to the hospital. You come into the Intensive Care Unit. You see your husband laying in the bed, tubes everywhere, wires and machines and noises, tube down his mouth to help him breathe, nurses coming in and out of the room. You begin to sit there and realize you’re helpless; there’s nothing you can do to help you husband as he tries to heal from these catastrophic injuries.

Then you begin to hear talk about how the accident may have happened. You learn that it could have been caused by somebody else’s careless. You begin to develop feelings of despair. Those feelings of despair turn into anger as you think that this all could have been avoided if somebody had been just a little bit more careful, and as you turn those feelings into anger, you begin to lose the emotional control that you need to make rational decisions at this point.

You need to hire an attorney that can do a thorough and careful examination of the case. One who will get the police report. One who will investigate the scene, interview the witnesses and find out the underlying facts and even the cause of what put your loved in the hospital. Once we complete the investigation, we can come back to you and tell you what we found and let you know who, if anyone, is responsible for the situation that’s placed your husband in the hospital. This will allow you to focus on caring for your husband and allow us to do the magic we do behind the scenes as the legal team for you.

If a loved one has suffered injuries from a serious car accident, contact the Law Offices of Frank M. Nunes at 559-436-0850.

Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle

Our law firm is committed to advocating for Californians who have been hurt because of another person or entity’s negligence. We represent clients in a range of personal injury cases, including:

Attorney Frank Nunes has extensive experience representing victims in Kings County, Kern County, Madera County, Fresno County, Tulare County, and Merced County. With a long history in the region, our law firm has the local knowledge and courtroom experience to help you achieve the best possible outcome.

Filing a California Personal Injury Claim

California personal injury cases are based on a theory of negligence, (carelessness) which is the failure to use the care or caution that a reasonable person would in a similar situation. To prove negligence, you must introduce evidence of four elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. 

  1. The defendant (wrongdoer) owed the plaintiff (victim) a duty of care;
  2. The defendant breached or violated the duty of care through negligence;
  3. The defendant’s violation caused harm to the plaintiff (causation); and
  4. The plaintiff suffered damages as a result.

In some cases, the duty of care is obvious — such as the duty for all California drivers to use reasonable care when operating their vehicles. If a person breaches that duty, such as by speeding or not looking before changing lanes, then they may be held legally responsible for any injuries that they cause through a car accident case.

The plaintiff also has the responsibility of showing that the defendant’s breach was the “but for” cause of their injuries. In other words, they would not have been hurt but for the defendant’s actions. Finally, the plaintiff must prove that they suffered losses from the accident, such as by introducing medical bills, wage statements, or other evidence.

In California, most personal injury cases must be filed within two years of the injury or accident. This is known as the statute of limitations. If you fail to file a claim within that time period, then you may be barred from recovering.

The majority of California personal injury claims settle before trial, or sometimes without a lawsuit being filed at all. The likelihood of a favorable settlement depends in part on your attorney’s trial experience and negotiation skills. If the defendant’s insurance company knows that your lawyer is prepared to take the case to trial, they may be more willing to offer you a settlement that fully compensates you for your losses. 

While going to trial can be stressful, it is sometimes necessary in order to achieve the best possible outcome. Your Fresno personal injury attorney can advise you on your options and help you determine if going to trial is worth the risks.

What Does it Mean When The Other Party Files an Answer?

You are thinking about filing a lawsuit for the car accident you were involved in, but you’ve heard the other side may file a response called an answer. What is an answer, exactly? In California, the courts are allowed to accept answers from the parties who have been sued. Those answers, in essence, deny all the allegations that you alleged, saying they need more time to investigate them, or they don’t know enough information about them to admit them as being true or untrue. The most important thing about them filing an answer is it means the party who is being sued has agreed to come under the court’s power, or jurisdiction, in the lawsuit. And, that’s important because once the court has jurisdiction over the matter, it can be heard and tried before that court, and eventually resolved before that court.

What is my case worth?

Nearly every client who comes into my door, or every potential client who calls me on the phone asks me, “What is my case worth?” Well, the short answer is, ”It depends”, and it depends on a series of factors. First of all, what are the extent of your harms and losses caused my someone else’s carelessness? Are the harms great? Were you able to heal quickly? Did you only miss one day from work, or did you miss several days of work? Are you able to go back to what you were doing before the collision occurred?

The second one is the degree of fault. Are you at fault in way, shape or form for the harms and losses you suffered, or does all the liability and responsibility rest with the other person? Compensation can be based on a sliding scale of fault in California, depending on who bears what portion of the fault. Finally, even though it’s not a legal requirement, you have to look at the amount of insurance or assets available to pay for your harms and losses. I’ve had several cases with catastrophic injuries, and the person who caused the harms only had a minimal amount of insurance, or the person who caused the harm had no insurance at all.

It may seem like an intimidating process, but I have the answers to these questions. Pick up the phone and call the Law Offices of Frank M. Nunes at 559-436-0850.

What Damages Can I Recover in a Fresno Personal Injury Case?

In a California personal injury claim, an injured person may be entitled to three different types of damages: economic, non-economic, and punitive. The value of your case will depend on a number of factors, including evidence of fault, the defendant’s insurance policy limits, and the nature and severity of your injury.  

Economic damages compensate you for the monetary losses that you have suffered as a result of an accident. They may include items such as past and future medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and reduced earning capacity. Economic damages may be proved through bills, invoices, and other documentation, or through the testimony of expert witnesses.

In contrast, non-economic damages are meant to compensate you for intangible losses. Examples of non-economic damages include scarring, disfigurement, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. These items can be harder to prove, but a skilled attorney will use their knowledge of similar cases and the input of experts to help develop a claim for non-economic damages.

Finally, punitive damages may be available in situations where the defendant acted intentionally or recklessly. Punitive damages are meant to punish a wrongdoer and deter others from engaging in similar conduct. They are rarely awarded in personal injury cases because most claims involve negligent — rather than intentional or reckless — conduct.

What To Do After an Accident

If you are hurt in any type of accident, including a car crash, the first and most important step to take is to seek medical care immediately. Doing so will protect both your health and any future legal claim. Otherwise, insurance companies may argue that your injuries aren’t related to the accident or that your condition is worse because you didn’t seek medical treatment right away.

After you see a doctor, you should contact a Fresno personal injury attorney as soon as possible. A lawyer can protect your rights and ensure that you are not taken advantage of in a vulnerable moment by an insurance company. During a free initial consultation, you can learn more about your legal rights and what to do to preserve your claim.

It may be tempting to take a quick settlement offer from the insurance company. After an accident, you may be overwhelmed by pain, mounting medical bills, and your inability to work. Accepting a settlement offer may seem like the easiest and best way to move forward — but it may result in you losing important rights and getting far less compensation than you need.

Insurance companies are not invested in making sure that you get the most possible money for your injuries. Instead, their goal is to maximize their own profits. They do this by denying or minimizing legitimate claims.

Insurers typically have teams of lawyers and adjusters who handle personal injury cases. Having your own attorney levels the playing field, and gives you a fighting chance of getting the compensation that you deserve. Your lawyer can handle all communications with the insurance company on your behalf, negotiate a favorable settlement, or take your case to trial to ensure that you get a fair result.

The 5 Most Important Things to Do After an Auto Accident in California

1. If you are hurt, or believe you may be injured, seek medical treatment immediately.

If you don’t have insurance call Nunes Law and we can provide you with options to get medical treatment now.

2. You should report the accident to your insurance company.

Most automobile insurance companies require the policyholder or someone making a claim on the policy to report the accident to the insurance company soon after the accident. Failure to report the accident to your insurance company can cause them to deny covering the claim. We have dealt with all of the major insurance companies. See our resources section for auto insurance company phone numbers and online claim forms. Or call Nunes Law and we can help get your accident claim reported to your insurance company.

3. Report the accident to the police, California Highway Patrol or other authorities.

In some instances, your insurance policy may require you to report the accident to the police, Highway Patrol or other law enforcement agency. This is particularly important if the driver of the other involved vehicle did not have automobile insurance or in cases where the other driver leaves the accident scene, such as a hit and run case.. Some insurance companies require drivers insured under a policy to report these types of accidents within 24 hours of the accident.

4. You may have to report the accident to the DMV.

California Law Requires the owner or operator of any vehicle involved in an accident with $750 in vehicle damage or injury to a person a driver(s) must report the accident, to the DMV using this form: Traffic Accident Report SR 1. You can also call Nunes Law to discuss reporting the accident. Report the accident to the DMV within 10 days — even if the accident was not your fault! Call Nunes Law and we can help you report the accident to the DMV.

5. Take pictures of your vehicle and the other party’s vehicle.

Since most people now carry cellular telephones with cameras, you can use that to take vehicle pictures. Try to get pictures of the sides of both vehicles. If there is little visible damage, try to photograph under the vehicle for possible frame damage. If you do not have a camera, contact Nunes Law and we can get you a camera.

Do You Need an Attorney After a Car Accident?

Do you really need to hire an attorney for your car accident case? The answer depends on whether you had any harms and losses from the crash. If you have no damage, what do you need an attorney for? Or, if you do have damage, and the insurance company for the other driver has paid all of your harms and losses, why do you need an attorney? Or, if you think you understand it all and didn’t need to go to law school to read the necessary documents the insurance company is going to have you sign, why would you need to hire an attorney? But, chances are, most of you have questions about these issues. Chances are the insurance company isn’t paying your claim in full. Chances are, somewhere, somehow, some insurance adjuster is questioning the most minute details of your case and holding up the entire resolution for a settlement amount.

In most situations — particularly if someone has been injured — it is a very good idea to consult with an auto accident attorney after any motor vehicle crash. Why? Because whether and how much compensation you receive for medical bills, time off work due to injuries, and other losses will usually depend on offers of settlement by insurance companies. But the insurance adjustor’s job is not to look out for your best interests. It’s best to have an experienced attorney review any offers and investigate your case further before you make any decisions.

You were involved in an accident in California, and you want to know what we have to prove to show the other driver’s legally responsible for your harms and losses. In California, that’s called negligence. What exactly is negligence? Well, in layman’s terms, it can be described as carelessness, and it happens by either someone’s actions or failure to take the appropriate action in a certain situation, and it judges that person’s standard of care, whether or not it was reasonable in light of the circumstances in which it occurred.

For example, if someone is driving too quickly down the road and cannot stop their car in time to avoid hitting the car in front of them, which is stopped, that person is negligent. They were driving too fast or they were not keeping enough distance between the front of their car and the rear of another person’s car to avoid a collision.

What Is A Hit And Run Claim?

Can you bring a claim if you were hit by a driver who failed to stay at the scene? The short answer is yes; it’s what’s called a hit-and-run claim. But it doesn’t just happen. You have to take some reasonable steps. The first and most important thing is, if you’ve been injured in this collision you need to seek the appropriate medical care.

Once you’ve taken care of seeking the right amount of medical care, you need to report the crash. You need to report it to your insurance company, and most importantly, you need to report it to law enforcement. I know sometimes law enforcement will not come out to the scene and take a report, so it’s incumbent upon you to go to that agency and make what is called a counter-report. You have to have some documentation that there was actually an impact between your vehicle and another vehicle that hit you and fled. Those are the three key points that people miss in a hit and run claim when they try to go at it alone.

What is Preponderance of Evidence

So, you were involved in a car accident. It wasn’t your fault. You’re contemplating whether you should make a claim or even perhaps make a lawsuit, but you are concerned about what you have to show in order to prevail in a lawsuit. Well, in California we use the preponderance of the evidence standard. It’s the slightest standard, meaning more likely than not something is true than not true. For example, more likely than not, is it true that the other driver was, in fact, careless or negligent? Or, was it more likely than not true the other driver was not, in fact, careless or negligent? And, the scales are very light, and they just require the slightest tilt from one side to the other.

It’s a much lower standard that you are aware of in watching movies on TV involving criminal cases. Those involve a higher level of standard called, “beyond a reasonable doubt”. In this case, it’s simply the preponderance standard: Is it more likely than not true that something did or did not occur? Is it more likely than not true that the driver was negligent? Is it more likely than not true that the harms caused by the accident were related to the other driver’s carelessness? These are the types of questions you will face when you are contemplating whether to bring a claim, or even a lawsuit.

What is a deposition?

You were involved in a car crash, and you’re thinking about bringing a lawsuit, but you hear that you may have to give a deposition and you don’t know what a deposition is. Well, first of all, a deposition is a question and answer session. One party will ask you questions, and you give answers. But unlike other questions, it’s not an aptitude test. You’re only obligated to testify as to what you heard, smelled, felt, recalled or saw at the crash site. You’re not obligated to guess; you are not obligated to speculate. So, now, here you are; you know what a deposition is.

What kind of questions can they ask you at a deposition? Well, the answer is it is a very vast and wide scope of questions they can ask you. As long as the questions are reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of information that can narrow the scope or prove some of the issues at trial, then you can be asked that question. However, there are some exceptions. Communications between you and your attorney are typically privileged. And, that’s the most common exception to what can be asked at the deposition. So, if you have a conversation with your attorney about the deposition before you go into the deposition, what is said in the conversation is between you and the attorney, and the attorney questioning you at the deposition cannot ask you about that question.

There are also other exceptions that I would be happy to explain to you.

What is the purpose of a deposition?

Often times in lawsuits, the other side can’t learn enough about the other side’s case without sitting down and meeting with the person who actually witnessed the events that are in dispute. This process is usually handled best through a deposition. A deposition is, in essence, a question-and-answer session, and it’s not so much the answers that come from the question and answer session, but more of the opportunity to evaluate how well the witness presents. Does he or she continue to make eye contact? Do they answer questions directly? Are they evasive in their answers? Do they fidget? Do they take long pauses before giving an answer? All of these and many others are some of the others are gained from taking a deposition from a witness. More importantly, it is also designed to narrow the issues that are in dispute. If the deposition reveals, for example, that nobody disputes the light was red for the car that hit the other car, now we’ve narrowed the issues to liability not being a factor, but it being a question of, “How much damage is there?” So, there are many different reasons why a deposition is taken.

Who can sit in on your deposition?

You’re not going to believe this but it might sound like a bad joke. I recently went to a deposition that was the witness’s mother, the witness’s father, the witness’s priest, the witness’s mechanic. All of these people showed up for a deposition, and only one person was giving testimony. How can this be? Well, first of all, for those of you who don’t know, a deposition is a question and answer session. It’s usually done where you have to make to a promise to tell the truth or take an oath to do so. In California, anybody who wants to attend a deposition can attend a deposition because the rule is: it’s just the same as if the person was giving testimony in court. And, in California the court proceedings, with very few exceptions, are open to anybody who cares to watch. So, the same holds true for a deposition.

In addition, the witness can bring somebody who can provide moral support to them. They’re not obligated to do so, but if it makes them feel better to have their parent or their spouse or their priest, or in this case, their mechanic present at the deposition, they are allowed to do so. So, anybody, absent a court order, can attend a deposition in California.

Typically, the court order that is issued is to exclude other witnesses who may be testifying and the reason for that is that they want to get that witness’s own perspective of the events before that person’s perspective is tainted by hearing another witness’s perspective. So, they want to hear your side of the story apart and separate from what you may have heard from other sources at your deposition. In those situations, a court order is typically granted, and that person will not be allowed to attend the deposition.

Why is your insurance company paying the bills if the other driver was at fault?

You were involved in a collision caused by another person’s carelessness, and you want to know, “Why is your insurance paying the bills when the other driver’s insurance company should be paying them”? Well, the reason is simple: If you have full coverage, typically submitting the claim to your own insurance company is going to allow them to pay for your car, and then they will seek reimbursement for what they pay on your car from the other driver’s insurance company. This is done through a process called subrogation. But, what it really means is that your insurance company will take care of your harms and losses, and then they will seek reimbursement from the other driver’s insurance company for the amount that they’ve paid. It also works with your medical payments coverage.

Oftentimes, your own insurance will start paying your medical bills because the other driver’s policy will not pay them until the medical treatment has been concluded. You want to know, “Why is my insurance company paying my medical bills, and why isn’t the other driver paying them instead?” Well, the answer is, there’s no fault involved when you are having your insurance company pay your medical bills. They’re paying the bills for you as they’re incurred, as opposed to waiting until all of your treatment is done and reimbursing you for them.

Another question I get when your own insurance company pays is, “Will my rates go up” or “How will this affect my rates?” In California, rates do not go up when the collision is not your fault. Insurance companies are free to do as they choose, but typically, when the crash is not your fault your rates will not go up, and the point will go against the driver that was at fault.

If you have additional questions regarding an auto accident that was not your fault, call The Law Offices of Frank M. Nunes at 866-637-9578 so I can answer those questions for you.

Should you use your health insurance or your medical payments insurance under your automobile policy?

Often times when you’re in the emergency room, after you become stabilized they’ll want to know, “How are you going to pay for the bill?” There are several times when the person will have more than one available policy of insurance. Do you use your health insurance or your automobile medical payments insurance? Well, the answer depends on which of the two is more beneficial to you.

Typically, your medical payments policy, as part of your automobile policy, is better suited to handle an emergency bill or situation with a bill arising from a motor vehicle collision. They don’t care about whose fault it was for the collision. It just has to arise out of your use or operation of a motor vehicle. Health insurance, on the other hand, may have more questions: “Was this treatment a result of an accident caused by somebody else’s carelessness, and if so, who is that other person and how can we seek reimbursement from them or from you to get repaid?” So, you can see there is a difference between the medical payments coverage under the automobile policy and the reimbursement requirements of your health insurance policy.

Which one is more beneficial to you? Again, that’s something that you need to consult with a trained attorney, such as myself, who can read the policies and advise you on which of the two is better suited for your needs.

What Information Should You Give to an Insurance Adjuster?

You were involved in a car crash, and now you’re getting a phone call from an insurance adjuster you’ve never heard from before. They’re asking you a whole bunch of questions. What information should you give them? What shouldn’t you give them? People get calls like this all the time from insurance companies they’ve never heard of, asking all kinds of questions, like their full name, date of birth, Social Security number, vehicle registration, home address, work address, medical history… The list goes on and on and on. What information should you give the other driver’s insurance company? Absolutely nothing. At least, nothing until you’ve had the opportunity to talk to an attorney.

If you were involved in an auto accident and have questions about phone calls from an insurance adjuster, I can help you answer those questions. Contact the Law Offices of Frank M. Nunes by calling 559-436-0850.

How to get the other party’s insurance company to stop calling you

So, you are getting calls from the other side’s insurance company after you have had a crash. The calls are excessive. The calls are at your home phone. The calls are at your work phone. The calls are even on your cell phone. How do you get them to stop? Here is the one secret to get them to stop: Hire an attorney, or at least tell them you are represented, and then go get an attorney. Why does this work? Because once you are represented, the other side’s insurance company will no longer call you.

What is Causation?

You were involved in an accident. What happens if we can’t prove causation in your case? Causation is a legal theory that shows the harms and losses that someone suffers must have been the result or caused by somebody else’s carelessness or failure to act. Many times it’s done in a what’s called ‘but for’ test. In other words, “but for the driver driving carelessly, you wouldn’t have been hurt”. So that is the causation test. There must be a link between the other driver’s carelessness and the injury you suffered.

If you come down with something that’s completely caused by a different source, it can’t be attributed back to the other driver’s negligence or failure to act carefully. If we cannot show the link between the other driver’s carelessness and your injuries, then we can’t prove the case because there is no link and causation. This often requires the services of a trained attorney, such as myself, to evaluate your case and help you make a decision about the issues of causation. If you’re reading this, you have questions. I have answers. I’d like you to pick up the phone and call me at 866-637-9578.

What is a duty to mitigate damages?

You were involved in a crash, it wasn’t your fault, and now you get a letter from some insurance company you’ve never met, saying you have a duty to mitigate your damages? What does that mean? First of all, “mitigate” means to reduce, or lessen, or not let them continue to keep going. So, for example, if you could have some medical treatment that would reduce your pain and suffering, such as a surgery, you have an obligation to go through and have that medical treatment so you can reduce the amount of pain and suffering you’re going to have as a result of the other person’s carelessness. Sometimes it involves wage loss. You have an obligation to go back to work as soon as your doctor has released you from medical care to do so. So, you can’t just sit at home and wait until your case settles to go back to work. If your doctor says you are able to go back to work and you are able to do that, in fact, you have an obligation to mitigate, or lessen the amount of time you miss from work by going back to work when you are released from care to do so.

If you have additional questions about damages and responsibilities after an accident, pick up the phone and call the Law Offices of Frank M. Nunes at 559-436-0850.

What to expect when you file a lawsuit.

You were involved in an accident, and now you want to know if you need to take your claim to the next stage of being a lawsuit, but you’re not sure about what kind of commitment you’ll have to give for it to be a lawsuit. Well, let me tell you the basic time commitments and processes that are involved in a lawsuit. Once a lawsuit is filed, the parties typically engage in what is called discovery. And that is just what it entails. They are learning facts about each other’s case. That brings the client into the lawsuit because he or she will have to answer questions, provide documents or other items that are important to establishing what actually happened in the underlying crash.

After this discovery is exchanged, it typically involves a client coming to the attorney’s office or an agreed-upon location to give a deposition. What is a deposition? A deposition is essentially a question and answers session about the person who’s making the claim to give the facts of the crash, the facts of their damages, discuss all the harms and losses, and any other information that can be important to the underlying facts of the case. The only caveat with a deposition is that it’s given under oath, which means you have an obligation to tell the truth about the things that you say in the deposition.

Once the discovery process is complete, usually capping off with a deposition, there will be some attempt to resolve the case short of the expense and burden of going to a full-blown trial. This is through a process called dispute resolution. The most common dispute resolution practice currently is called mediation. Mediation is a process where the two sides get together with a mutual third party and discuss the positives and negatives of each other’s case and try to work out a compromise somewhere between the middle of the two sides so the case can be resolved. It’s often very successful, and it’s a very good time when the parties can see the other side’s case from the other perspective and realize the strengths and weaknesses of their own side.

If the mediation process doesn’t work, then you’ll be going to a trial. A trial can last anywhere from as short as an hour to several weeks or even months at a time, depending on the issues in your case.

What to do if you receive a letter from insurance company saying your 51% or more at fault.

You get a letter from your insurance company saying you’re 51% or more at fault. What do you do, especially when you know it wasn’t your fault for the accident? Well, the thing you should do is contact your attorney and let him know about the letter. He or she will take the time to contact your insurance company and make sure they have all the facts necessary to make what is called a liability determination.

The worst thing you can do is not to respond, because if you don’t give it to your attorney to respond, then the insurance company is going to put the blame on you for the collision. Why is this important? Because oftentimes the insurance companies don’t have all of the information they need to make the determination for who is at fault, and that determination can go against you.

How do you get a rental car while yours is being repaired?

Typically, a rental car is provided when either your car has to be repaired or is no longer drivable as a result of a car crash. The most common way to get a rental car is through your own insurance, through rental car coverage on your policy. You simply make a claim to your insurance company that there’s a need for a rental car because yours is either not operable, not drivable or in the process of being repaired, so you can’t drive it.

If you don’t have rental coverage on your policy, you have two options: You can ask the other driver’s insurance company to provide you with a rental vehicle, or you can rent a car yourself and pay for it out of your own pocket and seek that as one of the harms and losses that you want to recover from the responsible party when your case is ready to resolve.

Can you settle a car damage claim before your injury claim is complete?

You were involved in a car crash, and your car is severely damaged or totaled. You can’t get to work. You can’t use it for everyday things, but you still have a bodily injury claim you would like to settle, too. Can you settle one before you settle the other? Yes, you can settle your car damage before you settle your bodily injury claim.

While the two different claims come from the same accident, you can, in fact, resolve one while the other one is still in the process of being resolved. Clients come to me all the time. They’re still treating for injuries they have from the car crash claim, but the damage to their car has been done, and they need a car to get to work, take their kids to school, pick up their errands, do their grocery shopping, what have you. In California, everybody needs a car to get somewhere, so you want to get that car claim resolved as quickly as possible. And guess what, the other driver’s insurance company does, too. If there’s coverage, they want to get it resolved for you as quickly as possible because it keeps down your loss of use claim. In other words, the amount of time you would have to rent a vehicle to replace it.

So, what do you do in that instance? Well, you arrange for the other driver’s insurance company to come out and inspect your vehicle. They will tell you if the vehicle is what’s called a total loss, meaning it’s going to cost more to repair it than it would to replace it, or if the vehicle can in fact be repaired. This is one of the few instances where it’s okay to communicate with the other driver’s insurance company and give them an opportunity to come out and inspect the vehicle. When they do inspect the vehicle, make sure you discuss nothing about the underlying facts of the case, nothing about your injures, nothing about the other claims and damages that you might have from the case, but strictly focus on the vehicle or the car that was damaged in the crash. After the inspection, you will receive either an estimate or a letter from the other driver’s insurance company telling you if they’re going to pay to replace or repair the vehicle – whichever is lesser of the two.

How Long Will it Take For My Case to Finish?

You were involved in a car crash in California, and you want to know how long does it take for your case to finish. Well, the short answer is, “It depends”. It depends on a variety of factors. The first thing we look for is, have you been released from care? Now, what does released from care mean? Well, in essence, if you have bodily injury or harms to your person, it means that your doctors have done all they can for you and that they’ve reached the point where no more can be done for you, so we have a clear picture of all the harms and losses to your body from the crash.

It is important that we determine all of the harms and losses because we need to present them in a united and complete front for the other driver’s insurance company. We have to gather all of the records, all of the bills and all of the documents for any time missed from work so we can present to the other driver’s insurance company in one complete, easy-to-understand package. It may be easy for them to understand, but it’s something that you may need help with.

Will there be money left for me after a settlement?

You’ve been involved in an accident, and you’ve either filed a claim, or perhaps a lawsuit, and you want to know: after attorney’s fees, medical bills, liens and costs, will there be any money left for you? The answer is, “Absolutely, yes”. In my office all cases are settled with the client’s consent, and not a moment before that client gives us consent to do so. I show the client exactly how much the case is settling for, exactly how much there are in attorney’s fees, costs and medical bills to pay back, and I can show the client exactly how much money is going to be in their pocket when the case is over.

Reach Out to a Fresno Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If you or a loved one have been hurt by someone else’s negligence, you are entitled to compensation for the full amount of your losses. A seasoned Fresno personal injury lawyer can help.

At Nunes Law, we have years of experience handling all types of California personal injury claims. We offer free initial consultations and represent all personal injury clients on a contingency fee basis — which means that you pay nothing up-front, and only pay us a fee if we get money for you. To learn more or to schedule an appointment, contact us today at 559-436-0850 or email us at any time.