Auto Accidents
Representation for drivers, passengers, and pedestrians injured in collisions across Southern California.
A collision claim starts with two questions: who was at fault, and what insurance is available to pay. Akers Law answers both early, because the answers shape everything that follows.
California follows comparative fault. You can recover even if you share some of the blame, and your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurers know this and often try to shift fault onto the injured person. Photographs, witness statements, the police report, and vehicle damage all go toward answering that argument.
What a claim can cover
Medical expenses
Emergency care, hospital stays, surgery, physical therapy, medication, and medical equipment. A claim can also seek the cost of treatment your doctors expect you to need in the future.
Lost wages
Pay you missed because of the injury, from the day it happened through today. This includes hourly pay, salary, overtime, tips, commissions, and bonuses, along with sick leave and vacation time you used to recover. Self-employed clients prove the loss with tax returns, invoices, and business records.
Lost earning capacity
Income the injury is likely to cost you in the future. If you cannot return to the same job, the same hours, or the same career path, a claim can seek the gap between what you could have earned and what you can earn now. Students and people between jobs can recover too.
Pain and suffering
Physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, scarring, and the loss of activities you used to enjoy. No fixed formula applies. The amount turns on the injury, the treatment, and how long recovery takes.
Property damage
Property damage is the harm to your vehicle and belongings, separate from your injuries. A claim can seek the reasonable cost of repair (or the loss in value, if that is less), or the vehicle’s fair market value if it is a total loss. It can also seek rental or loss-of-use costs while the vehicle is out of service, towing and storage fees, and the value of personal items damaged in the crash, such as a phone, a car seat, or riding gear.
Punitive damages
Money awarded to punish a defendant, on top of the amount that compensates you. California requires clear and convincing evidence of malice, oppression, or fraud. A drunk driver who causes a crash is a common example. Insurance generally does not pay punitive damages, so collection depends on the defendant’s own assets.
Uninsured and underinsured drivers
If the driver who hit you has no insurance or too little, your own policy may cover the gap through uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. These claims are made against your own insurer and carry their own notice and arbitration requirements. Akers Law reviews your policy at the start so that coverage is not missed.
Deadlines
Most personal injury lawsuits in California must be filed within two years of the injury. If a government vehicle or a dangerous public road is involved, a written claim usually has to be presented to the public entity within six months. Contact Akers Law early so that neither deadline passes.
The life of an injury claim
From the day of the injury to the day you are paid. Not every claim goes through every step.
Read all 11 steps
Step 01 · Day 1
The injury
Get medical care, and keep every record. Photograph the scene, the vehicles or hazard, and your injuries. After a car crash with an injury, California requires a report to the DMV within 10 days.
Step 02 · First days
The first calls
The other side’s insurance adjuster often calls within days and asks for a recorded statement. What you say on that call can be used to argue fault or downplay your injuries.
Claim hackYou do not have to give the other side’s adjuster a recorded statement. Call Akers Law first: (949) 525-1560
Step 03 · First weeks
Investigation
Your lawyer notifies the insurance companies, collects the police report, photos, and witness statements, and identifies every policy that might pay. A claim against a public agency has a six-month clock that is already running.
Side track: your vehicle. If your vehicle was damaged, that claim usually moves faster and on its own. Repairs or a total-loss payment are often resolved within weeks while the injury claim continues.
Step 04 · Months
Treatment
You focus on getting better while the bills, records, and missed work are tracked. Settling before your doctors know the full extent of the injury risks leaving future costs uncovered.
Step 05 · After treatment
Demand
Once treatment ends or the future course is clear, your lawyer sends the insurer a demand package: the records, the bills, the lost income, and the amount that would resolve the claim.
Step 06 · Weeks to months
Negotiation
The adjuster responds with an offer, and the two sides trade counteroffers. Policy limits often set the ceiling on what the insurer will pay.
Many claims settle during negotiation and go straight to step 11. If yours does not, a lawsuit comes next.
Claim hackDo not sign a release until a lawyer has reviewed the offer. Akers Law reviews offers in a free consultation: (949) 525-1560
Step 07 · Before the two-year deadline
Lawsuit
Filing a complaint in superior court preserves the claim against the statute of limitations. The defendant is served and generally has 30 days to respond.
Step 08 · Several months to a year or more
Discovery
Each side requests documents, sends written questions, and takes depositions under oath. The defense may also ask for a medical examination by its own doctor.
Step 09 · Before trial
Mediation
A neutral mediator meets with both sides to try to reach a settlement. Many lawsuits resolve here.
Step 10 · Often one to two years after filing
Trial
A jury hears the evidence and decides fault and damages. Most cases settle before reaching this point.
Step 11 · Weeks after settlement or verdict
Payout
The money goes into the attorney’s client trust account. Liens and case costs are paid, the attorney fee is deducted, and you receive the rest with a written accounting.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to file a car accident claim in California?
Most injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the crash. A claim for vehicle damage alone generally has three years. If a city, county, or state vehicle or road is involved, a written government claim usually has to be presented within six months.
What if I was partly at fault for the crash?
California uses pure comparative fault. You can still recover, but your compensation is reduced by your share of the blame. Someone found 20 percent at fault recovers 80 percent of their damages.
Do I have to give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement?
No. You have no obligation to give the at-fault driver’s insurance company a recorded statement, and anything you say can be used to minimize the claim. Let your attorney handle that communication.