North Carolina Car Accident Legal Questions

You should speak with a North Carolina personal injury attorney immediately. You may have multiple claims here — one against the at-fault driver for causing the crash and another potential product liability claim if the airbags failed to deploy properly in the rental vehicle. Both claims could involve complex insurance and jurisdictional issues, especially since you live in Arizona and the accident occurred in North Carolina. Start by getting copies of the police report, hospital records, and rental agreement. An attorney can help you: Investigate why the airbags didn’t deploy and whether there’s a mechanical or manufacturing defect. Identify all available insurance coverage — including the other driver’s policy, Enterprise’s coverage, and possibly your own. Handle communications with insurers so you don’t say anything that could harm your claim. Document your medical care, lost income, and pain and suffering for a full recovery. Time limits apply under North Carolina’s statute of limitations (usually three years for injury claims), so it’s important to act quickly. A local attorney can coordinate care and handle everything while you recover, even if you’ve already returned to Arizona. If you’re unsure where to start, search for North Carolina personal injury attorneys experienced in rental car or product defect cases. Most offer free consultations and can begin investigating right away.... Read More

Denise,I’m sorry to hear about what you’ve been through. You should consider retaining an attorney on a contingency fee basis—meaning you pay nothing unless you win. As a Florida attorney, I’m unable to assist directly, but I’d be happy to refer you to a reputable firm that can help maximize your recovery. Please note that attorneys on this platform are not permitted to solicit cases. However, you’re welcome to contact one of us after reviewing our background and qualifications.... Read More

Dear Anonymous: You are likely 100% liable for the damage to the guardrail. You may be able to negotiate the total amount owed with the state, but that is unlikely. A more likely scenario may be to work out a payment plan with the state. This response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor should it replace a full consultation with an attorney. Please be advised we cannot give full and complete legal advice without further information that is not capable of being conveyed in this format. If you would like to receive a free consultation regarding your possible legal matter, please feel free to call us at 855-234-7619.... Read More

Dear Anonymous: It is highly unlikely that you would have valid claims for property damage and bodily injury against the other driver or their insurance company. You would likely be considered "at-fault" or, at the very least, contributorily negligent. Contributory negligence is a complete bar to any recovery in North Carolina. If a jury finds that you contributed to causing your injuries or property damage in any way, the jury must give you an award of $0. Since you are uninsured and will probably not recieve any compensation from any insurance company for either your injuries or property damage, you will likely be paying out-of-pocket for all your expenses. This response does not form an attorney-clietn relationship, nor should it replace a full consultation with an attorney. Please be advised we cannot give full and complete legal advice without further information that is not capable of being conveyed in this format. If you would like to receive a free consultation regarding your possible legal matter, please feel free to call us at 855-234-7619.... Read More

It is unclear what your question is based on the details given. Sounds like the vehicle was totaled twice. If your vehicle is a total loss you have two options: keep the vehicle with the deduction for the salvage value or at the insurance company take it for the actual cash value. If you have two accidents in the vehicle was declared a total loss in the first accident, the insurance company and the second accident will not have to pay full value. They will only have to pay for the acctual cash value of the previously totaled vehicle. This amount is likely the salvage value that you retain. Hope this helps.... Read More

Dear Anonymous: You most likely have a claim for premises liability against the landlord. Whether or not the property insurance will pay up for your damages, that remains to be seen. You can absolutely set up the claim with the insurance company to see if the will accept liability. If they do not accept liability and are unwilling to pay for repairs to your vehicle, I would suggest retaining a licensed NC attorney to fight the denied claim. There is often a question of what duty the landlord owes its tenants. A typical duty owed is to keep all common areas of the premises in a safe condition. The fact that you have notified the landlord on prior occasions of excessive cars in the common driveway and the landlord has done nothing about it tells me that the landlord, at the very least, had knowledge of the condition that existed on the common driveway and failed to mitigate any possible damage. This response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor should it replace a full consultation with an attorney. Please be advised we cannot give full and complete legal advice without further information that is not capable of being conveyed in this format. If you would like to receive a free consultation regarding your possible legal matter, please feel free to call us at 855-234-7619.... Read More

Dear Anonymous: To answer your first question, YES, you may file suit for lost income and other damages. The facts of your case are tricky, so I would encourage you to seek legal representation in battling the insurance company on this claim. You and your husband will have the burden to prove all of your damages. This will include explaining the ins-and-outs of your husband’s business to a jury, so they understand that there was no way to mitigate damage. As far as the property damages goes, it is possible that you can fight the value of the vehicle the insurance company is putting on it, but this can often be a very difficult task. Much depends on how drastically different your appraisal is from their’s. This response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor should it replace a full consultation with an attorney. Please be advised we cannot give full and complete legal advice without further information that is not capable of being conveyed in this format. If you would like to receive a free consultation regarding your possible legal matter, please feel free to call us at 855-234-7619.... Read More

Dear Anonymous: When you get in a car accident in North Carolina, the law says that a jury may award you compensatory damages if the jury finds that the other driver(s) were negligent and your injuries were caused by the car accident. You can get compensatory damages for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Unfortunately, if you didn’t seek medical treatment, you cannot be compensated for any medical bills. It is also difficult to show pain and suffering when there is no medical treatment. Since a significant time has passed since the car accident, there is what we call a “gap in treatment.” Insurance companies often times do not compensate for any medical treatment when there is a gap in treatment, so any treatment you receive may not be compensable. This response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor should it replace a full consultation with an attorney. Please be advised we cannot give full and complete legal advice without further information that is not capable of being conveyed in this format. If you would like to receive a free consultation regarding your possible legal matter, please feel free to call us at 855-234-7619.... Read More

I am sorry to hear about your son. If the driver is at fault, you and your son would have a legal claim for the injuries and medical billls sustained by your son (as well as potential claims for pain and suffering, future medical expenses, lost wages, etc.). You should consult with a personal injury attorney soon.  Good luck going forward. Jay Mills   James J. Mills 2626 Glenwood Ave., Ste. 560 P.O. Box 10867 Raleigh, NC 27605 Telephone: 919.235.3824 Fax: 919.782.2311 www.burnsdaypresnell.com    ... Read More

Dear Anonymous, The statute of limitations is 3 years from the date of the accident, which means if a lawsuit is not filed before 3 years after the date of the accident, your claim will be time barred forever. However, most insurance companies require you to have made a timely notice to them of the accident. If you did not do that, they might fight paying you based on lack of notice. You should contact a personal injury attorney right away for advice and potential representation. This response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor should it replace a full consultation with an attorney. Please be advised we cannot give full and complete legal advice without further information that is not capable of being conveyed in this format. If you would like to receive a free consultation regarding your possible legal matter, please feel free to call us at 855-234-7619.... Read More

Dear Anonymous, Thank you for your inquiry. You gave a good description, but it is not possible to fully evaluate a case just based on your description. A police report would give further evidence gathered at the scene by the officer based on his or her investigation. Generally, though, if you rear end another car, you will likely be considered at fault. It may be possible the other driver is also partially at fault, which would bar them from recovering anything from your insurance company; but it is likely that you would be found at fault as well and most likely the other driver would not be found at fault. This response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor should it replace a full consultation with an attorney. Please be advised we cannot give full and complete legal advice without further information that is not capable of being conveyed in this format. If you would like to receive a free consultation regarding your possible legal matter, please feel free to call us at 855-234-7619.... Read More

If the insurance company persist in denying your claim, the only option you have is to file a lawsuit against the at fault driver. Depending on the amount of your medical bills and extent of your injuries, you may be able to hire a personal injury attorney to represent you. Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee which is contingent on a recovery in your case. Unfortunately, the amount of money that can be covered in a soft tissue injury involving minimal property damages is likely going to be small. Insurance companies know this. Insurance companies also know that few attorneys are going to invest the amount of time and effort necessary to achieve a favorable result in a case where the attorneys fee will be small as well. From the insurance company's perspective it makes a lot of financial sense to refuse to make an offer in the small cases. A certain percentage of plaintiffs will simply give up and go away. A small percentage of people will file a lawsuit, go to court and will be successful. If they only have to pay a few claims of the many, and the money they have to ultimately pay is not very much, why not deny all the claims and simply pay the most persistent? More recently, in 2011 our Republican led general assembly in the state of North Carolina has made it more difficult for attorneys to recover fees in these types of small claims, further reducing the incentive for attorneys to assist in claims such as yours. Law firms that once handled these types of claims no longer do so.  Bottom line, the only way to force an insurance company to pay a claim such as this is to file a lawsuit, wait for a court date 8 to 12 months from the date you file and ultimately let the jury decide the case.... Read More

You should not include the price of replacing your vehicle if you have already settled  the property damage portion of your claim. I would like to address your medical expenses and wage claim. Depending on when you're accident occurred, with past medical expenses you may be limited to the amount of money necessary to satisfy the outstanding medical bills. If you have health insurance you may have to deal with reimbursement to your medical insurance carrier as well. Is there medical payments coverage that applies? Do you have underinsured motorist coverage that will come into play? If so, you will not want to settle with the liability carrier unless you've given your underinsured motorist carrier the opportunity to advance their limits. failure to do so could result in your underinsured motorist claim being barred. Is there stackable liability coverage available? If you have future medical expenses and future lost wages, do you have a physician who has given you permanent restrictions? What impact will that have on your future lifestyle?Has any doctor given the opinion that you will have future lost wages? Other future medical procedures or surgeries going to be necessary, and if so what are the projected costs in today's dollars? Without knowing any of the specifics of your case it's impossible for anyone, myself included, to determine whether not you are presenting your claim for special damages correctly. I would suggest that if your claim truly does have elements of future medical expenses, future lost wages or reduced earning capacity or permanency, then it might be wise to have an attorney represent you. It would be a mistake to assume that the insurance company adjuster will assist you in identifying these issues or help you prove your case for damages. Most if not all personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee, which is contingent on recovery in your case. ... Read More

First let me start by saying I'm sorry for your loss. While no amount of money will ever be sufficient, is important to make sure that all possibilities for additional insurance coverage are exhausted. I'm assuming that this is a North Carolina accident involving a minimum limits insurance policy on the vehicle being operated by the defendant. I'm also assuming that the $1000 medical payments came from the vehicle which your daughter was a passenger in or under a policy of insurance which she was an insured. Before agreeing to settle the case I would want to make sure that your attorney investigated the following:  If the vehicle the defendant was driving had a minimum limits policy, was the driver if different from the owner and insured under another stackable liability policy? For example, if the driver was not the owner and at his own liability insurance or was uninsured under a policy for another vehicle and household, it could stack on the liability coverage of vehicle. Second, what your daughter covered by any policy that provided underinsured motorist coverage. Did she on her own vehicle? Was she an insured under a policy in the household? If so, an underinsured motorist claim could be made. These are the pretty obvious things to look for in your attorney is probably already investigated this. I would require written confirmation from the insurance carrier that there is no other insurance available and the policy is a minimum limits policy. I have had in the past where an insurance company has made a mistake as to what coverage was in place at the time of the accident and only after a request was made for written confirmation did they find the error. Third, where did the driver obtain the alcohol prior to the accident? Was he drinking in a bar? If so, there is a potential dram shop action that could be brought against the establishment who sold the defendant the alcohol if they served someone they knew or should have known was intoxicated. Fourth, was there an asset search performed? Just because the defendant did not have much insurance doesn't mean the lawsuit cannot be brought against him in the judgment entered in excess of the insurance coverage. It is possible to collect any excess judgment against personal assets of the defendant. Generally speaking, most attorneys are not going to file suit, get a judgment and try to execute it if the defendant is judgment proof. The defendant has real property, land etc. that would make a lawsuit worth pursuing. Without knowing the specific facts of your case it is impossible for me to give a complete list of things that should be done before throwing in the towel and taking the minimum limits. What I mentioned above simply the most common issues that arise in these types of cases. If your attorney is experienced in personal injury he or she will likely have already considered these things.   ... Read More

Nationwide can deny any claim brought to it so long as they have a good faith basis to do so. Nationwide denies cases on the basis of property damage all the time. They realize that in doing so a certain percentage of claimants will simply go away and will not file a lawsuit. Those that do file a lawsuit, a certain percentage will meet with the jury that doesn't believe someone can be hurt a car accident unless there is a lot of damage. Some cases will win in front of a jury and they will pay the claim. From a business perspective it makes a lot of sense. Deny all the claims and pay only that fraction of claimants who go the distance and fight. Unfortunately it's become harder and harder to pursue these types of claims. As you know most if not all personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee. The fees usually one third of the total amount recovered. A big part of your recovery would be the amount of medical bills. As of 2011 the law changed in North Carolina limiting the amount you can recover for medical expenses i to the amount necessary to satisfy the bills. It's commonly referred to as paid versus incurred. This means that if you have any health insurance, Medicaid or Medicare is reduced your liability for the bill, you can only recover what is is necessary to pay back the lien and any outstanding balance. So for example if your medical bills were $1500 at the hospital and your health insurance is reduced your liability by $1000 through their discounts, you can only recover $500 for your bills. Obviously no attorney wants to go to court to collect the third of a $500 bill. Prior to 2011,  it was possible for an attorney who is successful on behalf of a small case plaintiff to seek attorneys fees from the insurance company for their time in addition to the recovery. The law changed however to require an "unwarranted refusal to negotiate in good faith" on behalf of the insurance company. There was also limits placed on the amount of attorney's fees that could be recovered.  If you're getting the impression that the deck has been unfairly stacked in favor of Nationwide you would be correct. In my 20+ years of practice I've never seen a greater or more successful effort to protect the profits of liability insurance companies over the rights of injured people. I believe it will take some time to amass enough people who have had your experience to affect a change with our state legislature.  ... Read More