Tustin Injury Attorney Elaborates on Your Right to Compensation
If you have the misfortune to be in car accident and the accident is the other person’s fault, you then are entitled to recover money for the loss of use of your vehicle. This right to recovery regarding what the law calls “loss of use” is put forth in California Civil Jury Instruction (CACI for short) 3903M. You are entitled to a recovery of the cost (specifically “reasonable cost”) to rent a vehicle similar to yours while your vehicle is in the process of being replaced. That means that even if your car is classified as a total loss because of the accident, the amount of time required for you to replace the car (reasonable amount) should be compensated due to your loss of use of that vehicle.
Tustin car accident leads to loss of car
Note that you are also entitled to an item of personal property or similar car. If your vehicle which is being replaced or repaired is classified as a work truck, then you are entitled to rent another work truck and are entitled to compensation for that truck rental as part of your loss of use.
You can read more about CACI 3903M on Justia.com, however one section in the document defines “loss of use.”
” ‘Loss of use’ of property is different from ‘loss’ of property. To take a simple example, assume that an automobile is stolen from its owner. The value of the ‘loss of use’ of the car is the rental value of a substitute vehicle; the value of the ‘loss’ of the car is its replacement cost. The nature of ‘loss of use’ damages is described in California Jurisprudence Third as: ‘The measure of damages for the loss of use of personal property may be determined with reference to the rental value of similar property which the plaintiff can hire for use during the period when he is deprived of the use of his own property.’ ” (Collin v. American Empire Insurance Co. (1994) 21 Cal.App.4th 787, 818 [26 Cal.Rptr.2d 391], internal citations omitted.)
Car accidents cause more than injuries. They cause innumerable disruptions in your life, one of which is sometimes the loss of your car or truck. One of the most important roles of the personal injury attorney or car accident lawyer is to look out for every aspect of a client’s situation. Trying to go it alone in the aftermath of a car crash could mean that you overlook those things that you’re entitled to by law. Recovery for the loss of your automobile is just one of those things.
A practiced car crash attorney will be able to help guide you though all the aspects of recovery and compensation to make the process of getting back to “normal” as easy as possible. Being compensated for losing use of your car when someone else caused the accident is one way to mitigate some of those life “disruptions.”
If you have experienced a car accident and it was the fault of another driver, be sure to cover all bases. A seasoned injury attorney in Orange County like myself will make sure you recover everything to which you are entitled. If you’ve been injured in a car crash or collision, please call my offices in Tustin. As we say, if you are hurt, we can help. That’s not just a tagline, we really mean it. 714-544-1460