Last week we were able to obtain the full policy limits for a client who was in a Baldwin Park car accident where she was placed at fault in the police report (traffic collision report). Our client was placed at fault because she was making a left turn and the other vehicle was going straight. The police said she violated California vehicle code section 22107, unsafe left turn.
However, in this circumstance, we still took her case because we believed her that the other party was speeding, even if it was not captured on video. We were fortunately able to show that the other car was speeding and that was why her turn turned out to be unsafe. We were able to get the other driver’s insurance to pay their full liability policy limits. Not only that, but we also obtained the full underinsured motorist policy limits for our client.
Many people do not understand how underinsured motorist coverage works in California. First, you need to have more uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage than the other person’s liability coverage. If you have the same amount, they cancel out and you cannot use your underinsured motorist coverage. Once you are able to get the full policy limits from the other party, then you can make your underinsured motorist claim with your own insurance company. For example, in this scenario, the other person had $25,000 in liability coverage and our client had $50,000 in uninsured motorist coverage. So after we obtained the first $25,000 from the other party, then our client’s coverage kicked with the underinsured motorist portion of another $25,000. Since the policies do not stack in California, our client’s insurance gets to write off the first $25,000 and they paid an additional $25,000 so the full settlement comes out to $50,000, which was the maximum amount obtainable in this circumstance.
If you need help with an accident, even if the police report places you at fault, we are still happy to review your matter and see if we can help you the way we helped this very happy client. We always offer a free consultation, so you have nothing to lose and there is no fee unless we win your case.