Car Accident Settlement Process in California

The car accident settlement process in California generally involves filing a claim, negotiating with insurance companies, gathering evidence, evaluating settlement offers, and potentially going to trial if an agreement cannot be reached.

Once you’ve established the value of your damages, you have every right to expect that your payout will accurately reflect your losses. But this isn’t always the case. A Sweet James California car accident lawyer can fight for your rights and help you pursue a fair payout for your injuries, property damage, lost wages, and any other damages. 

How to Calculate Your Car Accident Damages 

Before filing a claim and requesting a financial recovery, you need to know what the true value of your claim is. This will give you direction when it comes to requesting compensation and negotiating your payout. 

As part of this process, you need to assess your economic and non-economic damages to fully understand what you should be owed. A car accident lawyer from Sweet James will review the following losses: 

• Existing medical expenses: This may include emergency medical treatment, prescription medications, surgeries, or hospital stays at facilities such as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles or UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
• Future medical costs: If your treatment is ongoing, you may be able to include anticipated costs in your personal injury claim. 
• Property damage: Review vehicle repair estimates and include them in your calculation, as well as any other personal items that may have been damaged in the accident. 
• Lost income: If your car accident caused you to miss work or made it harder to get a job in the future, you can include lost wages and loss of future income in your estimation. 
• Pain and suffering: The physical pain and discomfort caused by your injuries, as well as their overall impact on your daily life, may be included in your settlement demand. 
• Emotional trauma: Often, car accidents can cause PTSD, anxiety, depression, a fear of driving, and other forms of emotional distress that you may be able to claim compensation for. 

Collecting Evidence to Support Your Claim

To determine what your claim is worth, you’ll need to gather evidence that will support your claim. 

You may want to start by requesting a crash report from the California Highway Patrol (CHP), as this will help to establish what happened and who may be liable. If local law enforcement was involved, you can ask for a report from the relevant police department or county sheriff’s office. 

You should also request copies of your medical records to show the extent of your injuries, vehicle repair estimates to document property damage, and payslips to show any income you’ve lost while recovering. Sweet James can help you access and preserve these documents so that you can have them readily available throughout the settlement process. 

Negotiating Your Car Accident Settlement 

As soon as your claim has been filed and all the paperwork has been received by the insurance company, they will likely come back with an offer. Review this information carefully to fully understand what they’re willing to cover. You may find the first offer is a lot lower than you expected, which is when negotiations may start. 

A California car accident attorney from Sweet James can also evaluate the insurance company’s offer and provide support throughout the negotiation process. We’ll use the evidence to strengthen your argument and fight back against any underhanded tactics used by the insurers to reduce your claim. 

What Happens When You Cannot Agree On a Settlement Amount?

If you and the insurance provider cannot come to an agreement on the settlement amount, your case may end up going to trial. The team at Sweet James will advise you on your options and then provide the representation you need throughout the court process. 

California car accident lawsuits often progress to Superior Court, with hearings taking place in local courthouses, such as Los Angeles County Superior Court, Sacramento Superior Court, or Orange County Superior Court.

California Car Accident Settlement Process FAQs

Here are some of the most common questions we get asked about California’s car accident settlement process:

What Tactics Do Insurers Use to Try and Reduce Settlements?

There are a variety of tactics insurance companies may use with the aim of reducing your settlement. They may dispute liability, argue that your injuries aren’t as bad as you claim, and cause delays in the hope that you will accept their first offer.

At Sweet James, our founding attorney, James Bergener, previously represented insurance carriers, giving him insight into how insurers evaluate and defend personal injury claims. As such, we know exactly how to counter these tactics and fight for a fair payout. 

What Effect Does Pure Comparative Negligence Have On Your Settlement?

Under California’s pure comparative negligence system, your percentage of fault can have a direct impact on the amount of compensation you can recover. For example, if your damages total $500,000 but your share of fault was 20%, your settlement may be reduced to $400,000. 

Insurance companies may try to use this system to their advantage by shifting blame to minimize a payout, so having a car accident lawyer in your corner to handle negotiations could be crucial. 

How Long Does the Settlement Process Take?

The settlement process can take several months if there is no litigation involved. However, if you end up going to court, it may take one to two years, or longer in more complicated cases. 

California Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) § 335.1 gives you two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit, so getting started as soon as possible is beneficial. Missing this deadline could forfeit your right to recover compensation. 

Let Sweet James Handle Your Settlement Negotiations

At Sweet James, we’re real lawyers who get real results. We focus exclusively on personal injury and accident claims, using our experience and knowledge from previous cases to achieve the most successful outcome for each client. 

While past results do not determine future outcomes, our team recently recovered $1.75 million in compensation for a car accident victim in Los Angeles County, CA. We analyzed the evidence and worked with industry experts to help develop a strategy that allowed us to negotiate a fair settlement without the need for trial. 

Reach out to Sweet James today to get started on your car accident settlement.