rear ended

[tnt777]

What is the name of your state? ca

hello!!

while at a stop light with 2 other passengers in my vehicle, a lady came from behind not looking and rammed me from behind traveling approx. 45mph
wife was taken to hospital and released ,,,went to her own doctor and was told she has wiplash.. i suffer from neck pain...called a lawyer and is asking 39 percent on contingency. and they only do injury cases, which i was looking for... my car was totaled and my insurance is taking care of that part...
my questions are
1. i was told that i can sue for my property damages(my vehicle)..
which would be a different case right?? i already bought another vehicle

2. when my vehicle hit the car in front of me my airbags did not deploy and my front end of the vehicle was damaged. i thought they should have...

3. lawyers fee is 39percent... is this a good fee?What is the name of your state?

 

[FlyingRon]

Standard contingent fee is a third, you might shop around.

1. i was told that i can sue for my property damages(my vehicle)..
which would be a different case right?? i already bought another vehicle

If the at-fault driver had reasonable insurance, it shouldn't be necessary to sue at all. The insurance will pay without being sued. What happened to the wrecked car? Anyhow, nothing precludes you from suing for all the damages (bodily injury and property damage) in the same suit.

The fact that you bought another car is immaterial. The damages are the difference between the value of the car as it was before the accident and after (either the cost to repair or the total value of the car). If you disposed of the wreck, you might have a harder time getting a proper payout.

2. when my vehicle hit the car in front of me my airbags did not deploy and my front end of the vehicle was damaged. i thought they should have...

Nope. You probably weren't going fast enough to trigger them.

3. lawyers fee is 39percent... is this a good fee?What is the name of your state?

The long standard contingent fee is a third. However, this case is perhaps less likely to yield a collectable judgement so that may be why he's charging more.

Did you get a referral or interview more than one lawyer or just pull this guy's name out of the phone book?

 

[ecmst12]

my car was totaled and my insurance is taking care of that part...
my questions are
1. i was told that i can sue for my property damages(my vehicle)..
which would be a different case right?? i already bought another vehicle

No, because your insurance already reimbursed you for your totalled vehicle, THEY now have the right to recover this money from the other driver's insurance, not you. Because of this, they will do the work for you and you won't have to do anything. If they are successful in getting the other insurance company to accept liability, they will reimburse you for your deductible too. But you don't get to get paid twice for the same thing (once by your insurance company and once by the other guy's).

Property damage is a separate claim and has separate limits of liability from bodily injury. But again, unless I'm interpreting your post wrong and your insurance company has NOT paid you for your totalled vehicle, you should let your insurance company handle the subrogation.

I would also suggest talking to a few more lawyers and trying to get a better deal.

 

[tnt777]

hi again,

my insurance deemed the car totaled and is taking care of the paperwork and also had sent paper work to finance company... good thing we had GAP INSURANCE!!!!!!!!!.
we owe nothing on the vehicle...

i on the other hand am going to have there insurance company pay for medical, rental, lost wages injury....

this is the first accident i have ever been in and im 42(wow).....

i did call some attorneys... one didnt even call back once i told them noone lost a limb....

the other had an attitude like i was wasting his time... i wont mention the firms names...
it would be wasting mine....

my question is when i called the lawyer who is taking 39 percent, we talked on the phone and she said she will have a investigator show up in a few days to get our statements....
if i change my mine and not want to go with her ,,, can i call her up and say "we changed our mind" . we dont want representation???? or is the phone call binding...thanks

 

[moburkes]

Of course you can.

 

[ecmst12]

Please keep all your questions in one thread.

If you didn't sign a contract, you have no obligation to the lawyer.