We are always interested in reading a police report after a crash because the responding officer will usually indicate who was at fault for the crash based on what they saw and heard at the scene. LAPD officers sometimes mark the at-fault driver as Party 1 if they do not say liability estimations outright. However, when a “he-said/she-said” scene unfolds after a crash, the responding officer might not make a note of who they think is at fault. An eyewitness at the scene can clear things up, though, which is why it is so important to stop and give a statement if you ever see a crash happen near you.

You don’t need to wait for the police report to get your car back. However, having that report can be helpful if there are some insurance complications or questions of liability.

Do you have collision coverage added to your auto insurance policy? If so, this is good news for you. Using collision coverage with your insurer, you can get your car repaired right away. The catch is that you will need to pay a deductible and that deductible could be reduced from the total loss payment by the insurer later. However, if your claim against the other driver is successful, then you might get that deductible back from their insurer anyway. Keep in mind that your insurance premium or renewal options should not be affected by using collision coverage, so don’t hesitate to use it if you have it.

Not having collision coverage means you might not be able to get your car repaired right away, which will be a greater problem if it was taken to a tow yard. Vehicle impound companies charge a daily storage fee on top of collection, administration, towing, and other miscellaneous fees. Without collision coverage as part of your auto insurance policy, you might need to pay these fees yourself if you want your car back after the crash. Otherwise, you can leave your car in the lot, hope you win your claim, and make the other insurance company pay the impound lot for you. If you decide not to retrieve your car from the lot, then the towing company has the right to lien sell it to pay the unpaid impound fees.

You have a choice of options if your car is impounded and you don’t have the police report yet. But, when it comes to seeking medical treatment, you should always see a doctor as soon as possible after being in a crash. If you don’t seek medical attention right away, then you can be certain that the other insurance company is going to say you didn’t seek treatment because you didn’t need it. You know this is not true, but it will hurt your claim all the same.

When you have your hands on the police report, talk to our attorneys about what to do next. If the driver who hit you has no insurance and you have uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, then we can help you with a claim filed with your insurance provider. Filing this claim and receiving benefits from it should not negatively impact your insurance premium or renewal if you aren’t liable for the accident.

Without UM coverage and after being hit by an uninsured driver, your situation will be trickier, with or without a police report. Typically, people who break the law and drive without insurance do not have excess cash flow or significant assets. Trying to file a claim against them personally will usually be fruitless. Because there are very slim chances that an uninsured driver will be able to pay out-of-pocket for your damages, lawyers will usually not accept such a case.

Absolutely not. The insurance adjuster will try to lull you into believing that you don't need an attorney because he or she will take care of you. Don't be suckered. The adjuster's real goal is to save the insurance company money by delaying payment and giving you as little as possible.

No. It will likely hurt your claim. The insurance adjuster's goal is to lock in your story and then use it against you later, at deposition or trial, to reduce the amount of money they have to pay you. Your statement will only benefit the insurance company in its mission to shortchange you.

No. It will give the insurance company unfettered access to your entire medical history, which would be an invasion of your right to privacy. They want to get their hands on as many of your medical records as possible, then comb through them looking for anything they can use against you to further their goal of paying you as little as possible.

Even if the other driver does not have insurance, you may still be covered. We will look into whether you have uninsured motorist coverage on your auto insurance policy. If you do, then your insurance company will compensate you for injuries and damage caused by an uninsured driver. Making such a claim will not cause your insurance carrier to raise your premiums or cancel your policy.

It costs you nothing upfront. We work on a contingency fee basis. That means that the legal fees are paid for out of the settlement or jury award in your case. If you recover nothing – you pay us nothing.

The insurance company will not offer you fair value on your claim unless you have an attorney advocating on your behalf who is making sure that you are being compensated for all of your losses.

The Insurance Research Council found that on average, attorney-represented claimants get 3-1/2 times more money than unrepresented claimants.

Approximately 95% of our cases settle before trial, so it is unlikely that your personal injury case will go to trial. However, it is difficult to predict which cases will have to be tried. Assuming yours is one of the 95% of our cases that settle before trial, approximately half will settle within the first year of our retention, and the remaining half will settle within two years.

Personal injury is an area of law that deals with damage done to a person's property, body, rights, or reputation. Personal injuries can occur in traffic accidents, at a workplace, during medical treatment, while using a faulty product, or when a person slips and falls due to wet or uneven surfaces. Injuries must be caused by someone else's negligence or unsafe actions for a case to be considered personal injury.

Yes. We specialize in serious injury and childhood sexual abuse cases. Based on our years of experience handling exclusively personal injury cases, and based on the relationships we have established with some of the best doctors and experts in the community, we believe our clients are best served by our firm's focus on serious injury claims.

Under the Collateral Source Rule in California, yes, you can still receive compensation for your medical bills, regardless of whether or not your health insurance company agrees to cover said bills. The same rule applies to lost wages—if you miss work and your work agrees to pay for the time you missed, you can still file a claim. Oftentimes when a person files a personal injury claim, a large portion of the monetary compensation won goes towards pain and suffering damages.

If you have been hit by a driver who does not have car insurance, you still may be able to get your insurance company or the other party to pay bills relating to the accident. It is important that you get the driver’s information, regardless of whether they have insurance, call your insurance company and report the accident, and call an experienced Santa Monica personal injury lawyer. Even if your insurance company offers to pay for the damages caused by the accident, they may not give you the monetary compensation you deserve. Contact McGee Lerer Ogrin to learn how we can help.

You should speak to an attorney as soon as possible. Injury victims only have a short amount of time to file a claim against the person or company who caused their injury. Failure to file a claim within the designated time period, which is referred to as the statute of limitations, may mean that you can never recover monetary compensation for your injuries.