Arizona Car Accident Lawyers

No. Arizona follows comparative fault. If you are or may be partially at fault for an accident, you have the same rights to receive medical treatment, have your car repaired, and be compensated for pain and suffering. However, if a jury or arbitrator determines you are at fault your compensation will be reduced by the percentage of fault you are assigned.

For example, if your claim is worth $10,000.00 but a jury determines you are 20% at fault, you will receive $8,000.00.

The driver of the car that caused the accident is the first person to whom you would make a claim. If the driver was drunk, you can also look at bringing a Dram Shop claim. This is a claim that alleges a bar overserved a person. If it can be proved that a bar overserved its patron before he/she left, the bar can be responsible for the accident.

Additionally, if the drunk driver is operating someone else’s vehicle, you may be able to bring a claim against the owner of the vehicle. The claim is for negligent entrustment. If the owner of the vehicle knew of the driver’s drinking and still permitted that he/she operated the car, the owner can be held responsible for entrusting the vehicle to the drunk driver.

There may be a few situations where the other driver's insurance does not cover your losses. If that insurance company is claiming you are at fault for the accident, they will not pay for your damages. In that situation, you need to file a lawsuit against the other driver to have a jury or arbitrator determine who is at fault. Once a jury or arbitrator rules who is at fault, the other driver insurance will have to pay your damages.

The other situation where the other driver's insurance policy does not cover your losses can be if the insurance at issue is expired or lapsed. If the other driver has allowed his/her insurance coverage to expire or have failed to make the payment, the insurance company may not cover your damages. In that situation, you should check with your car insurance to see if you have:

1. Collision coverage and
2. Uninsured coverage
3. Collision coverage will repair your car

Uninsured coverage will pay for your medical bills and your pain and suffering. If you do not have either of these, your only recourse is to bring a case against the at-fault person. The at-fault driver can not be forced to pay until a judge, jury or arbitrator make a ruling. To get a ruling, you will have to file a lawsuit against the driver. After going through the litigation process, you will need a ruling that can be entered as a judgment. Once you obtain a judgment, you then can take measures to receive payment from the at-fault driver such as garnishing wages, forced sale of the property, etc.

If you are involved in an accident and have any kind of pain relating to the collision, you are entitled to seek medical treatment. The legal standard says you are entitled to receive reasonable and necessary medical treatment for your injuries. Even if you go see a doctor and x-rays, MRIs, etc come back negative, you are entitled to see if there are any injuries from the pain you are feeling.

For example, if you hurt your arm after an accident but you are not sure it is broken, you are entitled to see a doctor get it x-rayed. It is your choice to determine if going to the hospital, urgent care or your doctor is the best way to be seen. And, if the x-rays come back negative for any fractures, you can still submit those bills. You are entitled to see what, if any injuries, was caused. And, even if you do not have any fractures, if the doctor who treats you recommends you follow up with other treatment, you are entitled to do so.

As the injured victim of an accident, you must seek out care in a reasonable time frame. It is important to be seen by a doctor shortly after an accident or as soon after you begin to feel pain. Allow the doctors to diagnose and give you treatment recommendations. The doctors will help you feel better. The lawyers will make sure you are legally entitled to compensation.

If you are involved in an accident, there are a lot of issues to address. It can become overwhelming to handle the medical treatment, calls from the insurance company, medical bills, car repairs, rental cars, and submitting information to the insurance company. A good lawyer can take that off your plate and make sure you can focus on feeling better. The best ways a lawyer can help is:

1. Stop the phone calls from the other insurance company
2. Submit your claim to get your vehicle repaired and obtained a rental car
3. Request police report and talk to any witnesses
4. Gather vital evidence to prove who has the fault
5. Find insurance from the at-fault person and any other sources
6. Make sure you are not overcharged for medical treatment
7. Work out the reimbursement of your medical charges to your health insurance company
8. Prepare your case to meet the legal burdens of proof if litigation is necessary.