Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: Year for making a claim is almost here

No, an attorney cannot extend the Statute of Limitations. You MUST file your complaint before the expiration of one year after the accident. You should know, however, that your demand and the company's offers, are rediculously low. Your case, from your question should settle for much higher than your demand or their offer. Through trial you might even get higher...maybe. These are traditionally contingent fee cases. You wont even have to come up with costs, in front, and no legal fee except out of the recovery.

Re: Year for making a claim is almost here

You have a very difficult situation with the present accident aggravating your prior back surgery. It is always difficult to apportion and separate the injuries and damages when these incidents occur close to each other. With an additional disc injury, it becomes every more complex. There is a possibility that an insurance defense doctor will say that all of your disc injuries were pre-existing to the accident of September 1, 2001.

Another problem concerns the minimal amount of property damage to the vehicles. I do not agree that light damage equals minimal injury but this is the philosophy of the insurance company and they have been very successful in court in persuading jurors of this. You do not have a case that I would suggest taking into litigation. If the last offer was $2,000.00, I would try to negotiate for something a little higher and then settle your case. You probably will not get $5,000.00.

An attorney cannot request any extension of the one-year time limit except by filing a lawsuit with the Court. Then you are into litigation with the additional time and expense. You can always consider Small Claims court which has a $5,000 maximum limit but I would probably settle your case and then get into a good exercise and rehabilitation program.

Good Luck,

Sam M. Eagle, Attorney at Law, 10101 Slater Avenue #218, Fountain Valley, Ca 92708

Telephone: 714- 963-5123

Facsimile: 714- 964-9993

E-Mail: [email protected]

Web Address: www.Eaglelaw007.com

Re: Year for making a claim is almost here

You need to get an attorney and file the claim promptly before the one year statutory limit. Absent special circumstances, there is no extension to the one year statute of limitations. Sounds like the insurance company is screwing around with you hoping that the one year time limit will expire getting them off the hook.

Re: Year for making a claim is almost here

You definitely should have an attorney. The full nature and extent of your injury is not yet apparent. You should quickly obtain a qualified lawyer willing to file suit immediately. Not only will that protect the satute of limitations, but it will lead to an appropriate settlement that much sooner.

You may want to obtain my FREE Special Report entitled "Hidden Inside Secrets Insurance Companies Do Not Want You to Know!" You can call the office or e-mail me with your name and address, and I'll be happy to get you out a copy right away.

Make sure you get an attorney to file an action before the statute of limitations date which is one year from the date of the accident, or if the defendant is a California governmental subdivision there is a much shorter statute of limitation. If an agency of the federal government is the defendant there are other statute of limitations considerations as well.

My special report will help you better understand the necessity of good legal representation and help you determine how to obtain the right lawyer for you.

Best of luck.

P.S. Remember, my Special Report is free for the asking and without obligation.

Re: Year for making a claim is almost here

Get an attorney ASAP. An attorney cannot get an extentsion of the 1 year.

Re: Year for making a claim is almost here

First, what makes you think your case is worth $5000? It could be much higher. Hence, you need to have it properly evaluated.

Second, an agreement for an extension, or more properly stated, a waiver of a defense of statute of limitation can be made with the other side only if both, the insured and insurer sign it. Frankly, I have never seen it happen.

Get an attorney and file the complaint ASAP. If you do not know or have an attorney, call me (323)782-0099. Good luck.

Re: Year for making a claim is almost here

See a personal injury attorney about filing your case immediately. I've not heard of an extension, but filing the case in court will keep it alive and solve the statute of limitations problem. The reason for seeing an attorney is that he/she can give you a better assessment of what the case is really worth--bulging discs can sometimes be an expensive condition to treat. The attorney can also make sure the insurance company doesn't slip something by you, like dragging their feet past the statute of limitations period and then giving you nothing. In this case, because you've negotiated to this point, an attorney may base his/her fee on the eventual settlement/award amount minus the money you've already been offered.

Re: Year for making a claim is almost here

You do not necessarily need a lawyer to file a lawsuit. First you need to decide what you believe your damages will be - under $5,000, under 10,000 or over 25,000. If you are willing to settle for $5,000 or less, you can file a smalls claims court action. You may not receive as much as with an attorney, but unless the defendant appeals it is faster. If you want to file in limited or unlimited jurisdiction, the court clerk can give you the forms, or you can find an attorney/paralegal to prepare the documents on your behalf. You then need to serve the defenant and follow the timetable regarding defaults if no answer is filed. If you go this route, be sure to send a copy of the lawsuit to the other carrier via certified mail so they cannot state they had no notice.

Generally you will do better with an attorney, but it is not an absolute necessity if you are willing to do your homework.