In a California personal injury case, property damage is the destruction or damage to property, other than the human body.
Property damage usually occurs in vehicle accidents such as car, truck, motorcycle, RV, train, airplane, and other moving vehicles. Property damage rarely occurs in premises liability personal injury cases, and other types of personal injury cases, but it still could occur.
Damage to property in a California personal injury case may be accidental, or deliberately caused, and usually, property damage is settled separately in prelitigation, from bodily injury claims.
For instance, if you have a car accident, and you are not they at fault party, and you have Collision and comprehensive insurance on your car, your own car accident insurer may resolve the property damage claim weeks, or even years before a bodily injury claim is settled.
Your insurance company may then do a subrogation claim against the defendant (at fault parties) insurance company. Your insurance company may also obtain and refund the deductible you paid to your insurance company, as a result of them taking care of the property damage instead of the defendants insurance company.
The party who is not at fault also has the option of going directly after the defendant’s (person who is at fault) insurance, this is called a third-party claim.
For the most part, although property damage is usually settled separately from bodily injury claims, the nature and extent of property damage is usually directly proportional to a settlement offer and judgment you will obtain in your bodily injury portion of your California personal injury case.
For instance, if your car is crushed, and a total loss, which means it either cannot be repaired, or the repair costs exceed the fair market value of the vehicle, it is more likely that individuals within that type of vehicle would sustain more of a serious personal injury, that a person who is in a car that is just scratched or slightly damaged.
However, an expert car accident lawyer such as The Law Office of Norman Gregory Fernandez, 800-816-1529, has the expertise and knowledge to maximize damages even where there is a slight amount of property damage.
In the age of Google, there are a lot of people who think they can become a car accident experts simply by googling things, or reading self-help books, but I can assure you that the insurance company and their army of attorneys and adjusters, will minimize your payout every time if you do not have an attorney fighting for you, or you do not have the right attorney.
I have used experts to show that even in a minor collision, a tremendous amount of pressure per square inch is applied to the back of the head when it hits the headrest in a slow speed rear end collision, and that might not result in much or any property damage.
So although, for the most part, insurance companies, and even jurors at trial may on its face equate the amount of property damage in a vehicle accident, to the expected bodily injury to injured parties, the fact is a good attorney can show that major injuries can occur even where there is minimal property damage, because people do sometimes get seriously injured in a car accident with minimal property damage.
The key is hiring the right car accident lawyer. The Law Office of Norman Gregory Fernandez is an expert car accident lawyer with almost 22 years’ experience, who handles vehicle accident cases throughout the entire state of California. He knows how to get maximum damages in every type of vehicle case. The Fernandez firm does the work, all you need to do is get better.
There are other issues related to property damage and any type of settlement offer or judgment, i.e., rental car, loss of use of the vehicle, add-ons and special features, the year make and model of the vehicle, the mileage on the vehicle, the geographic location of the vehicle, etc.
The insurance company will look at comparable vehicles that are similar to yours to determine what the fair market value of the vehicle is in your area.
As stated above, property damage from the case is usually settled well in advance of any bodily injury type of claim, but sometimes some of the issues related to property damage are not settled separately. In these instances, they are either made as a rollover to the bodily injury claim, or they are litigated in court.
For inexperienced people trying to handle a complex personal injury case on their own, another problem that arises, is that insurance companies know that they have an inexperienced layperson on the other end of the phone when they are not talking to an attorney, and sometimes get injured individuals to settle their entire case including property damage and bodily injury, for either just the cost of getting the car repaired, or getting the car repaired, plus a few hundred dollars to pyre you off.
Even worse, third-party insurance companies may choose non-OEM aftermarket parts to repair your car, which diminish the value of the car.
Whatever you do, do not sign any release without consulting with an expert car accident lawyer like The Law Office of Norman Gregory Fernandez, 800-816-1529.
There are many more damages that you are entitled to besides just property damage, but like we have explained, for the most part property damage is directly proportional to how much you will receive in your bodily injury claim in most circumstances unless you have an expert car accident lawyer like the Fernandez firm.
If you have been in a car accident anywhere in California including Northern California, central California, or Southern California, and you have been in a car accident, get medical attention immediately at an emergency room if you’re injured, and then have you or a family member contact us at The Law Office of Norman Gregory Fernandez at 800-816-1529.
If you are not at fault and we believe you have a good case, we will sign you up no money out of your pocket unless we recover for you, and we will report the accident to your insurance company and the defendants insurance company and take care of all the legal aspects of your case. All you have to do is get better.
By California Car Accident Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., May 24, 2019
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