California
Limits on Injury Damages in California
After being injured in a car accident, it is entirely reasonable to start considering your options for your personal injury claims. At first, you may be dealing directly with the insurance company, but there are many different factors that go into the amount that you are truly owed, and the insurance companies will do everything in their power to avoid paying the true cost of your injuries. This is where a personal injury attorney comes in handy.
When you are working with the team at Bauman Law, you can be confident that from the moment we begin working with the insurance companies, we will be negotiating relentlessly to ensure that you get the money you deserve. If we are unable to reach an agreement in these negotiations, then we will begin building a full lawsuit to make sure that you get the justice that you deserve. However, it’s important to know that there are some situations where we will run into limits on your injury damages in California, otherwise known as damag caps.
Read more below about the possible limits on your injury damages, and contact us today to request an initial consultation. During this consultation, you will be able to speak directly with an experienced legal professional and learn more about your legal options, our history of success with similar cases, and how we can help you through this distressing time in your life. We look forward to working with you.
What Is a Damage Cap?
A damage cap is a legal limit to the amount of money that a victim can seek in a personal injury lawsuit. In instances where there is a damage cap, it often only applies to non-economic damages, which are intended to pay a victim for the non-financial injuries that they have suffered. California has a damage cap for medical malpractice lawsuits, which you can learn more about below.
Economic damages, which are intended to simply repay the victim (as well as their insurance company) for the actual costs and payments made following the accident and injuries. This includes things like medical bills, surgeries, recovery costs, lost wages, and other similar expenses. Since these are intended to repay the victim for costs that have already been incurred, there is no damage cap for purely economic damages.
Does California Have Damage Caps?
In the case that a person is injured through medical malpractice, their lawsuits will have a damage cap of $250,000 on their non-economic damages. This is a law through the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) of 1975. When the law was passed, it was intended to keep premiums and healthcare operating costs from skyrocketing, in turn impacting the people who were paying into the insurance company for a policy. MICRA started out as very unpopular with groups that advocate for patients rights, and it is no surprise that it is still highly controversial.
In addition to medical malpractice damage caps, California also has caps for certain types of car accidents. In the instance where a driver is injured but is arrested for DUI (Driving Under the Influence), driving without insurance, or while committing a felony, the driver is not able to seek compensation for their injuries at all. This is a much different type of “limit,” as it is more a restriction than a limitation to the amount that they can collect.
Contact Us Today To Discuss Your Injuries
If you have been injured in any situation that you believe another party is responsible for, contact us as soon as possible to schedule your initial consultation and learn about the options that are available to you, and whether you may run into issues of damage caps in your own situation. Regardless of any possible caps or roadblocks to your case, we will work to identify the most appropriate course forward to get you the protection that you deserve.
We will begin by working directly with any involved insurance companies, and working towards a settlement agreement that will compensate you for your suffering while avoiding a full court case. In the event that these negotiations fail, then we will move forward to seek your compensation with the help of a judge and jury. We understand the restrictions that come with some injuries in the form of damage caps and will work within any restraints we are required to stick with while arguing for the justice you are entitled to.