In California personal injury claims are often handled by attorneys, because of the complexity of seemingly simple cases. The common compensation system for wrongs still exists, but has been modified by law. Some states are called no fault and have substantially different laws. In California there is one major change that was made. More likely than not the change came about as a result of the insurance industry. Basically the idea is that people that are uninsured should not benefit at the expense of those that are insured.
In California your rights are reduced if you are driving a car and have no car insurance for the car you are driving. There are a few exceptions, but as a rule you must have car insurance if you are going to drive in the state of California to be able to make a full claim.
Personal injury claims are actually relatively broad claims that include more than just a claim for personal injuries. A personal injury claims is usually a claim that involves seeking reimbursement for medical expenses incurred treating injuries resulting from the negligence or intentional action of another, it also involves seeking compensation for the pain and suffering, if the injured person was married at the time of the event that caused the injury the spouse is entitled to make a claim for loss of consortium.
Loss of Consortium means many different things as defined by the California Supreme court, but in the vast majority of cases it has been reduced to a claim for diminished ability to engage in sexual relationships. Many claimants and potential claimants forgo the right, because exercising the right necessarily means the opposing party that caused the accident is entitled to inquiry about the sexual relationship between the couple and have his or her attorney ask written and oral questions pertaining to the sexual relationship. The injured party is also entitled to seek reimbursement for out of pocket expenses incurred in seeking medical treatment, such as transportation, over the counter drugs, neck braces, and other such items. The injured is also entitled to compensation for the time lost from work.
The claimant will not automatically receive compensation for all these things, this where attorneys come in. First the claimant has to prove that if he or she was driving the car that he or she was insured. If the driver was driving someone else's car, it is okay as long as the car was insured. In some cases there are exclusions for the particular driver, it is not unusual for spouses to exclude each other to get lower insurance rates when one of them has a poor driving record or criminal convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol. Some drivers create fancy schemes to get the vehicle insured and be able to obtain registration as well. Among undocumented workers there are many unregistered vehicles and many schemes as well where the driver is often not the registered owner or insured.
What results when these drivers are uninsured is that they lose their right to what are called general damages. General damages in short means the right to compensation for the pain and suffering. Sometimes the injured party failed to pay on time and the insurance was canceled, sometimes the payment was lost, and sometimes they forget to pay or mailed payment to the wrong place. These are not viable excuses an attorney cannot fix these errors.
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