Gilbert Car Accident Lawyers

Statute of Limitations for Car Accidents in Arizona

The term ‘statute of limitations’ refers to the time period between the date of your accident and the end of your eligibility to file a claim. Each state has a strict limit on the amount of time in which you can wait after your accident and file a claim to seek compensation for your damages. The statute of limitation can vary depending on how badly you were harmed in your accident.

Generally speaking, the sooner that you can get in contact with our Gilbert car accident lawyers, the better off you will be because these cases are time-sensitive and giving your lawyer more time to set up your claim is the best-case scenario. With car accidents in Arizona, much like any other personal injury case, you are given a two-year statute of limitation deadline for filing your civil case against the liable party in the hopes of getting remedies for the harm that they have caused you.

Regardless of whether your car accident resulted in serious injury, damage to your vehicle, or you bringing a claim in representation of someone who lost their life in an accident, the two-year statute of limitation would be the same. The statute of limitations does not go down to the minute of the accident but it is based on the day that it happened and runs until the two-year anniversary of the accident. After that, you are no longer able to bring a claim.

If you were to try to bring your claim in civil court for your car accident after the deadline, then the court is almost always going to turn you away and not give you the opportunity to seek compensation. That is why we urge you to reach out to our Gilbert auto accident lawyers as soon as you can to set up a free consultation and talk about your case to get started. We don’t want you to miss out on your justice because you waited. You only get one chance to get justice and we do not want it to disappear like this. Call us as soon as you possibly can. You can even call us from the road after the accident or you can call us from the hospital. We want to hear your story so that we can fight for your justice.

Arizona Comparative Negligence Rules for Car Accidents

If you got into an accident where the other driver just crashed right into you while you were parked at a red light, then obviously the other driver is entirely at fault. You were just sitting at a red light and they swerved off of the road and hit you. The results for these types of cases are obvious. The other driver is responsible for giving you compensation for your medical fees, lost wages, and anything else that costed you money due to your injuries. There are instances, however, where the fault is shared between you and the other person involved in the accident. Let’s take a look at how this works:

Arizona law states that should both parties share some fault they will follow the rules of pure comparative fault. Pure comparative fault means that you can collect compensation even if you were deemed partially at fault. You could also collect compensation if you were deemed mostly at fault; the amount of compensation that you receive after you’ve been deemed partially at fault, however, is going to be reduced. It’s based on the percentage you were deemed at fault. If you were 50% at fault for an accident, you would receive 50% of the compensation award. If you were 20% at fault for the accident, you would receive 80% of the compensation award. If you were 99% at fault for the accident, you would receive 1% of the compensation award.

An example might be if you were driving behind someone on a busy road and you were a bit too close to them when they slammed on their brakes and you ended up in a fender bender. Depending on how close you were and how fast everyone was going, you might get a percentage of fault. Let’s say you got 30% fault for the accident because you were too close and driving too fast for the vehicle to stop in time to prevent a collision, but they slammed on their brakes which caused a pileup. If your damages added up to $10,000 in compensation, your reduction would be 30% of $10,000, which would leave you with $7000 in compensation that you would be awarded.

The flipside of being mostly at fault for an accident for example 90% at fault for an accident would mean that, while you are entitled to 10% of the damages, you are also on the hook for 90% of the other person’s damages.

The insurance company is starkly aware of this fact and knows that if they can put some or most of the blame on you, then they will reduce what they owe. They will go out of their way to try to make you seem like you were the person who caused the car accident. Of course, your Gilbert car accident lawyers will use their resources to fight back against this to ensure that you have a fair shot at compensation. When the insurance company calls you looking for a recorded statement, we urge you not to give them one. Insurance companies will attempt to back you into a corner and answer questions that are loaded. They will use your words against you to reduce the value of your claim. Please let your lawyers handle communication with the insurance company so they can protect your rights to full compensation.

Rules Regarding Car Accident Insurance

If you are in an accident and you seek compensation, your insurance is almost always going to be involved in this process. In Arizona particularly much like other states in this country you must have a certain amount of insurance on your vehicle in order to legally operate your vehicle on state roads and highways. You can’t legally drive your car without car insurance basically. It is important that you understand all of the rules and regulations pertaining to car accident insurance if you were going to bring a claim to seek justice for your damages.

Our auto accident attorneys can take a look at your insurance policy and let you know how this is going to impact your case. Be sure to reach out to us right away so that we can help you get a better understanding of what your insurance covers, what it lacks, and how this affects your case.

Our Attorneys Also Focus On The Following Practice Areas:

• Burn Injury
• Construction Accident
• Dog Bite
• Motorcycle Accident
• Nursing Home Abuse
• Slip and Fall
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Truck Accident
• Workers’ Compensation
• Wrongful Death

Frequently Asked Car Accident Questions:

After a Car Accident, is it a Good Idea to Talk to the Insurance Company?

One question that often comes up after a car accident in Arizona is whether or not it is a good idea to give a recorded statement or even just talk to the adjuster for the other driver. This question comes up all the time. Just yesterday a potential client was asking one of our attorneys that question. Here’s what the attorney said.

Basically, recorded statements can be dangerous to their case. Some realize this and refuse to give a recorded statement but still talk to the adjuster and tell them everything as far as they’re concerned about their situation. The adjuster, even if they aren’t recording it, is taking notes. That still can come back and bite you where you probably don’t want to be bitten.

In our law firm, we don’t ever give insurance adjuster recorded statements. We always insist that it be in writing. Also, many times we demand that the insurance company let us take a statement from their driver. Usually the insurance company goes why would we want to allow that? Fair is fair. Forget it.

Be aware of these tactics. The most important thing is call us first before you give a recorded statement, before you actually even talk to the insurance adjuster about your injuries or anything serious. You can talk to them about your vehicle, but they always want to know – they’ll say how are you doing, Sally? Not bad. They will use this to say you were not really injured.

You’ve got to be careful. Remember, call us first before those mistakes are made. The call is free. Information is free. Information can be priceless, and we are here to help you.

How Can I Determine the Value of My Case?

How do you know what the value of a car accident or auto accident claim is, especially in Arizona? It can vary, as it does in other states. That’s a very common question that potential clients always want to know the answer to when they call. Just the other day a potential client asked one of our attorneys that question.

As our attorney explained to that potential client, there is no magic formula, especially at the beginning of your case that can determine its value, the attorney explained that ultimately the way that insurance companies decide what the value of a case is, they look at several factors. Number one factor is who you chose to represent you. Why does that make a difference? There’s plenty of injury law firms, a lot of them on big billboards.

They’re basically just factories. You come in this end, they send you to a chiropractor, get you some treatment, and they spit you out the other end. You get a little check, and they’re onto their next case. Insurance companies know that. If you choose one of those law firms, then the value of your case is going to be a lot less. It’s not your fault except you weren’t wise enough to check out like you’re doing right now on the internet, get information, and make a better choice at the beginning.

If you do choose a firm that analyzes your case individually, gets you the top medical doctors, orthopedic surgeon, neurologist, neurosurgeons, whatever, like that, then your case is going to be worth more money. That’s just how it works because you’ve got better medical care. We don’t mind saying this; we’re going to get you the same medical care the current president gets. That is our goal to get you the best medical care because you recover faster, but your case is worth more money. It’s a win-win.

That’s why it’s important that you do call us and get that free information. We’ll give it to you for free. We’ll make referrals to top medical experts for free, even if you haven’t decided to hire us or not, just to protect the value of your case. Remember, the call is free, the information is free, and we’re really here to help you.

How Do I Select the Best Car Accident Attorney?

An important question is how do you select the right person injury attorney if you get in a car accident in Arizona? A potential client actually called our office the other day and spoke to one of our attorneys. This is what our attorney told the potential client; you don’t want to just go out and get one of those attorneys that are all over the billboards. They make a big splash, but they don’t necessarily take great care of you as the client.

It’s much more important that you find someone who is going to really pay attention to what your individual needs are, what your medical injuries are, and get you to the top specialists, not just send you to a chiropractor every single time no matter what your injury is. That’s an important consideration because the medical care you get helps you recover from your injuries faster. The better medical care you get, the more money you get for pain and suffering. It’s a win-win for us working with our clients in that way.

Make sure that they’re going to be referring you to top doctors like orthopedic surgeons and neurologists and specialists like that. That’s a very important consideration. Beyond that you want someone who has the ability and the willingness to, if the insurance company basically tells you to go jump in a lake, go after the insurance company and make them pay. A lot of those so-called big box law firms up on the billboards and stuff, it’s just called settle, settle, settle; cheap, cheap, cheap.

If that’s what you want, give them a call. Most of our clients say no way. Remember, check out the reviews on Google, but call us. The call is free. The information is free. We’re here to help.

How Does Lost Wage Reimbursement Work?

The question often comes up, I can’t work. I’m losing my salary, wages, whatever. How am I going to get repaid? In fact, just last week a potential client in that situation called and talked to one of our attorneys. Here’s what our attorney explained. This can be valuable information for you too.

The way insurance companies typically do it is you need number one, a doctor’s order saying no to work. If you just stay at home in terrible pain and you can’t work but a doctor didn’t give you a doctor’s order, the insurance company is going to say tough luck. You want to make sure that you have a doctor’s order saying that. That’s number one.

As the attorney explained, that’s not necessarily enough because the way insurance companies work it is if you punch a timecard or time clock and punch in and out, they’re more likely to reimburse you. If you’re self-employed, you’re an independent contractor, something like that, insurance companies go yeah, sure, you didn’t work. They always suspect somehow you had somebody else do it and they paid you. If you’re not salaried or get regular wages, then it’s much harder to get reimbursed from an insurance company.

They’ll often demand tax returns. In fact, they always will. Why? They say number one, that person’s probably fudging on their taxes anyway and making it low. Let’s just see. Let’s see what they say.

Then if you give them tax returns, they go so what? We’re still not paying you. Those kinds of situations are definitely more difficult. That’s even more important to call our law firm and have us help you at the beginning. Maybe we’ll refer you to a CPA who can help prepare the information that will stand up to an insurance company.

You don’t want to wait until six months later or a year later and they go you know what? We don’t buy any of this, and you’re out thousands and thousands of dollars potentially. That’s why it’s so important that you call us at the beginning, if possible, not when the insurance company has said jump in a lake. We can give you guidance.

Our attorneys will analyze your specific situation and tell you what’s the best thing, even if we don’t end up representing you. We’ll still point you in the right direction. Remember, the call is free, the information is free. It can even be priceless, worth tens of thousands of dollars to you. We really are here for you.

How Long is it Going to Take to Resolve my Car Accident Injury Claim?

How long does it take to resolve a car accident claim in Arizona? In fact, a potential client called our firm the other day and asked that very question of one of our attorneys. Here’s what the attorney said that could be information for you too. Remember, you need to call and get specific advice in your situation from one of our attorneys. Generally, how long it’s going to take to resolve your personal injury claim depends a lot on which law firm you choose.

Why should that make any difference, as this attorney explained to a potential client? What’s the deal? Here’s why the choice of a law firm makes such a big difference. There are a lot of law firms that won’t return your calls. If you don’t believe me, go check reviews on Google and talk to your friends.

They don’t particularly push anything as far as getting your case resolved. They wait more on external deadlines like is there something like if you don’t get your case resolved, then it’s going to have to have a lawsuit follow. That could take two years. Do you seriously want a case to have to wait that long? None of our clients do if it can be avoided.

You want a firm that will get you the top medical experts, get you the best care. Then when you’ve reached what’s called maximum medical improvement, they’ll get your case wrapped up and put a bow on it, present it in a demand to the insurance company, negotiate a settlement that’s in your favor, and that can often be accomplished within 60 days, 90 days from when you’re released from treatment. If you choose the wrong law firm, you can be talking about two years. That’s why the choice of a law firm is so important in determining how long it takes to resolve your claim.

Beyond that, the other consideration is your own medical treatment. If you have so-called minor injuries and you see an orthopedic surgeon, have some physical therapy, you get done in two months, your case may be wrapped in four or five months, totally done. On the other hand, if you have serious concussion and we get you to a neurologist for the treatment of headaches and all the other associated posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, memory loss, all the other kinds of symptoms that can go along with concussion, sometimes the neurologist is going to say you may need a lifetime of vestibular therapy, as just one example. That can cost millions of dollars potentially. Your case will be worth a lot more. That’s how it works.

A case like that is not going to take a lifetime to resolve, but it’ll take a lot longer than if you just saw a doctor once and got some physical therapy for a couple months. There is a wide variance there depending on the nature and the severity of your injuries. In your individual case, call us. Talk to one of our attorneys. They’ll analyze your injuries, your case, and they can give you a more specific idea about how long it will take.

Nobody has a crystal ball to see totally how long your injury and treatment is going to last. Even the best doctors can give estimates, but nobody knows for sure. That is even more of a reason to call us. Remember, the call is free, the information is free, and we’re here to help you.

What Are Some Common Mistakes People Make that Can Ruin Their Accident Claim?

The question often comes up what are common mistakes that people often make unknowingly that hurt their case when they have an auto accident in Arizona? This is so important that I’m glad you’re reading this because it may prevent you from making serious mistakes in your own case. The number one most common mistake, of course, and we’ve discussed it previously, is just taking whatever $500 the insurance company offers.

Beyond that, other very common mistakes are the insurance adjuster calls up and says Sally or Jim, we’re not going to pay for your vehicle unless you give us a recorded statement. Of course, Sally or Jim feels boxed into a corner. When they call our office – and this happened the other day – what our attorneys explain, they say Jim, in a situation like that, at least let us analyze what happened. Let’s talk to you about it. Then we can give you some guidance on whether that’s a wise idea.

In our office, we don’t give recorded statements at all, period. Why? You’ve heard the phrase anything you say can and will be used against you. If they ask a question like how fast were you going? Most people really don’t know.

If you estimate something like in so many feet and you’re off, they can make it seem like an accident is your fault when it clearly wasn’t. In our office, we give only written statements. Why? Question, talk to you about answer, we can make sure that it’s going to help your case and not hurt your case. If you’re not represented by an attorney, the adjuster is going to say no, I want that recorded statement. If you don’t give it to me, I’m not fixing your car.

They want to put you between a rock and a hard spot. At least call us first so we can discuss and have one of our attorneys analyze your case. Beyond that, the other things that are mistakes that can hurt your case is probably going to only your primary care doctor. Your primary care doctor, there is nothing wrong with them. They don’t really understand the medical legal process, however, and can end up either not helping your case or in quite a few instances hurting your case unintentionally. They don’t know. They don’t understand how insurance adjusters view their notes and what they say. Saying something like if you’ve seen this family doctor for the last 20 years and you had a prior low back injury and if now the doctor says Sally is back here for a low back injury again, even if this is much more serious, even if you didn’t see your doctor for that and you were fine for a year or something, that’s going to hurt your case. That’s another mistake, not seeing a real medical expert who understands the medical legal things, orthopedic surgeon, neurologist, people like that. They’re not very many of those around in the valley, as an example.

The mistakes people make are it’s really a list this long, but I’m just trying to give you the most common ones. That’s really another important reason to call us and let one of our attorneys analyze your case and your situation for free so you don’t make those kinds of mistakes. Another important reason for calling us is that the statistics have shown that people who are injured in a car accident who call a lawyer just one time end up getting substantially more money from the insurance company, even if they don’t hire the lawyer. Remember, that’s another reason to call us. Get a free call. Let one of our attorneys analyze your case.

Are there other mistakes that people commonly make? Sure. They’re all over the place. The simplest way to keep that from happening is call us first before you talk to the insurance adjuster. Remember, the call is free. The information is free. We really are here to help you.

What Happens if I was in a Car Accident and the Other Driver Doesn’t Have Insurance?

What do you do if the other driver doesn’t have insurance? Well, just the other day a potential client called our law firm and spoke to one of our attorneys about that. Here’s what our attorney said; in a situation where the other driver doesn’t have insurance, the most important question is to look at your own insurance and find out do you have full coverage or not? Almost everybody knows whether they have full coverage or not. That doesn’t quite answer the question, as our attorney explained to this potential client.

Once you know that you have full coverage, the next follow up question, our attorney explained, is do you have uninsured motorist coverage? Most people don’t know without checking whether they have that or not. By the way, for heaven’s sake, even if you have full coverage, if you’re not sure if you have uninsured motorist coverage, as soon as you finish watching this video, call your insurance agent and say do I have uninsured motorist coverage? If so, what is the amount?

Why is that so important? There are drivers out there, as we all know, who are driving without insurance. Your uninsured motorist coverage is the cheapest insurance you can get. It may only cost you $13 for 6 months. You can get $100,000 of coverage for maybe $20. It’s the only insurance that pays you if the other driver doesn’t have insurance.

It’s the cheapest and it’s the most important because your agent only makes $3 commission. They don’t make sure you have it all the time. You need to call and make sure that you have uninsured motorist coverage. If it’s after an accident, then call and find out. If you find out you don’t have it, let’s just put it this way; as the attorney was explaining, that’s not the end of the story, but it can be close to the end.

What the attorney explained is then we look at is there anybody in your household who has a vehicle with full coverage that has uninsured motorist or do you have another vehicle that has full coverage and has uninsured motorist? That’s the next place the attorney was telling the person to look. Believe it or not, if there is someone that lives in your household that has a vehicle with full coverage that includes uninsured motorist coverage, that often can cover you without affecting their insurance rates. That’s more complicated.

Make sure that you call and talk to one of our attorneys because they need to analyze your specific situation. At least I wanted to alert you to that possibility. That’s another reason to call our law firm and get a specific analysis of your situation, your insurance coverage. Remember, the call is free. The information is free. It may be priceless for your case. We really are here to help you out.

What Should I Do if I was Injured In a Car Accident?

The question often comes up, what should you do when you’re in an auto accident in Arizona? It’s a very common question that our clients ask us all the time. In fact, I’d say it’s the most common question. They called in and spoke to one of our attorneys about that. Here’s what our attorney said; there are some specific steps that you want to do if you’re involved in a car accident in Arizona.

Call and get some specific guidance from one of our attorneys about your case. Most of the people that call us don’t realize all the things they are entitled to. They are entitled to something called loss of use, maybe $25 every day that they didn’t have a rental car, or diminished resale value.

If your car is repaired and it’s not worth as much before, no insurance company is going to tell you that and volunteer to pay you for it. That’s another reason why you should call our law firm and find out those things first. There’s a lot of steps.

You need to get to the top medical experts to take care of your injuries; orthopedic surgeons, neurologists that really understand the medical legal field. There aren’t very many of those. We’ll give you some references and recommendations for free just to help you out, even if you haven’t decided to hire us yet.

As far as getting the police report, nowadays that alone can be a hassle. Sometimes we can speed up that process for you. We don’t charge for getting your police report. Even if you haven’t decided to hire us, we’ll do that for you for free.

Down the road you’re going to need to get together all of your medical records, the medical bills. If you do it on your own, you want to present it in a way that will be the most compelling to the insurance company and get them to pay you the most money. Insurance companies aren’t fools in this regard though. They know that if you’re representing yourself and they give you a crappy offer, there’s really not too much you can do except go I don’t think that’s right. Of course, at that point a lot of clients call us.

There’s less we can do if it’s now six months later or a year later. You may have harmed your case. That’s why call us at the beginning. That’s when you can get the best guidance and keep those mistakes from happening. Remember, the call is free. The information is free. We are here to help you.

Who is Going to Pay for My Medical Bills?

If you are in an accident and have substantial medical bills, who is going to pay for that? In fact, a potential client called and asked one of our attorneys that question just last week. Here’s what the attorney explained; one, you’re not at fault in this accident. You think you shouldn’t have to pay for any of these medical bills. The insurance company isn’t paying for it, so what does that mean? You’re left high and dry, so to speak.

That can happen if you don’t have a law firm on your side. As the attorney explained, first of all, if we refer you to any medical expert or most medical experts, then they’re going to agree to wait to be paid until your case is settled. Some of our medical experts will even do what we do, which is say if there isn’t any recovery, you don’t owe us a penny. Then you can just have peace of mind. As far as the medical bills, it actually can be, as our attorney explained to the potential client, to your benefit to use your health insurance.

If you’re not at fault, who should you be using your health insurance? As the attorney explained, there’s a couple reasons why, but call us and we’ll always give you an analysis of your particular situation.

In general, if your health insurance pays your medical bills and the bill is $10,000, they’ll typically pay $3,000. Do they need to be paid back? Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. That’s another reason to call us and we can tell you about that.

Even if you have to pay them back, it’s going to be a lot less than the original bill. That’s another reason for having a law firm represent you because we can almost 100% of the time negotiate the repayment amounts down to put more money in your pocket. If you don’t have a law firm, you have to pay whatever they say. They can file liens. Hospitals can file liens against you and things like that. We negotiate those down.

I hope you understand then that we can make sure your bills get paid and you get paid for pain and suffering. We do have a policy that we make sure that our clients always get more than we do. They always get more in their pocket. You don’t have to worry about a situation where everybody got paid except the most important party, which is you. Remember, the call is free. The information is free. We are here to make sure that things turn out best for you.

Call Our Gilbert Car Accident Lawyers Today

A car accident can be absolutely devastating and we want to support you through your journey to seek justice. You deserve compensation that reflects everything that you have gone through because of someone’s else’s negligence or carelessness. You don’t deserve to have suffered like this and we want to help you fight against the insurance company to ensure that your compensation is full and fair. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our Gilbert personal injury lawyers today to set up a free initial consultation and get invaluable advice about your case. Call us today. We would be happy to speak to you and set up a consultation as soon as possible.