California Truck Owner-Operator: Get Paid for Downtime Lost Income After an Accident
If you are the owner-operator of a truck, your truck is your business and the source of income for your family. If your truck is not on the road due to damage from an accident, your business is shut down. You are stripped of your income-making capacity.
Time is precious for an owner-operator. Every day that your truck is not rolling, you are getting further behind because you still have to pay your fixed monthly expenses (truck payment, insurance, etc.). Your losses add up quickly. California law requires that the at-fault party’s insurance company pay for your financial business losses. This is known as a “downtime claim.”
The truck accident attorneys at McGee Lerer Ogrin represent truck drivers throughout the state of California on owner-operator downtime claims. Contact us today for a free consultation!
Duty to Mitigate your Downtime Lost Income
The at-fault party’s insurance company will fight your downtime claim and argue that you have a duty to “mitigate your damages,” i.e., minimize your losses. They will argue that you dragged your feet in getting the truck repaired or replaced and that you could have rented a replacement truck during the time that your truck was not on the road. But, with all of your fixed monthly expenses, you may not have the extra money to rent a replacement truck, or you may be unable to rent a truck that has the specialized equipment you need.
Even if you do have the money, it is almost impossible to find a company willing to rent to an individual trucker. If circumstances prevent you from renting a replacement truck, and no conduct on your part delayed your truck's repair or replacement, then the insurance company is not entitled to claim that they owe you less because you failed to mitigate.
Results That Speak for Themselves
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$122,500,000 Global Settlement Sexual Abuse
Represented 14 of 124 childhood sexual abuse victims against the City of Santa Monica.
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$18,000,000 Auto v. Truck
Client rear-ended by trucking company.
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$10,000,000 Auto v. Big Rig
Family struck by a big rig.
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$4,090,000 Auto v. Auto
Family struck by a County of Los Angeles employee.
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$3,500,000 Negligence, Personal Injury
Client who was injured when a piece of machinery fell off a plumbing truck onto his foot.
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$3,500,000 Warehouse Accident
Client whose foot was run over by a forklift driver.