Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney Blog

Key Takeaways Short answer: Ever wonder how insurance companies calculate personal injury settlements in California? Adjusters do not calculate fair value. They calculate the lowest defensible offer using a six-step process driven by automated valuation software (Colossus, Claims IQ, ClaimAdvisor), policy limits, and a settlement-authority hierarchy that escalates only when an attorney is on the…

Key Takeaways Short answer: A denial is rarely the final word. Most California personal injury claim denials are negotiating positions — and many are legally improper under California Insurance Code § 790.03 and California Code of Regulations Title 10 § 2695. There are 9 common reasons adjusters deny California injury claims — and a specific…

Key Takeaways Short answer: You can settle a California injury claim yourself if every condition in the eight-part Self-Settlement Test below is met. For the much larger category of cases where even one condition fails, the math overwhelmingly favors representation. Self-settlement is economically rational only when injuries fully resolved quickly, liability is undisputed, no liens…

Key Takeaways Short answer: No. In nearly every California personal injury case, an injured claimant nets more money after attorney fees than they would have recovered settling alone. The Insurance Research Council has documented for decades that represented claimants recover roughly 3.5x more than unrepresented claimants — even after attorney fees are deducted.California contingency fees…

Maria spent four hours one Saturday night doing what she thought was the smart, modern thing. She had been rear-ended on the 405 three weeks earlier, her neck and lower back were still in constant pain, and she was already drowning in medical bills. Hiring a lawyer felt expensive and intimidating, so she did what…

⚡  Quick Answer Lost wages in a California rideshare accident settlement are calculated based on your employment type, documented income, and the duration and severity of your injury. There are two distinct categories: Past lost wages:  Income you have already lost from the date of the accident to the settlement date. Calculated from your documented…

⚡  Quick Answer Yes — Uber and Lyft’s insurers can and regularly do deny rideshare accident claims. But a denial is not the end of your case. Here’s what you need to know: Denials are almost always challengeable.  California’s AB 2293 mandates specific coverage tiers for TNCs. A denial that contradicts those statutory obligations is…

⚡  Quick Answer Yes — you can still recover full compensation as a rideshare passenger even when another driver (not the Uber or Lyft driver) caused the crash. But the claim path is more complex than it looks, especially after California’s SB 371: Your primary claim is against the at-fault driver’s liability insurance.  As a…

⚡  Quick Answer No — in almost every case you should not accept the first settlement offer from Uber or Lyft. Here’s why rideshare offers are different from standard car accident offers: Rideshare offers come from corporate claims units,  not individual adjusters. Uber and Lyft have professional TNC-specialized claims teams whose job is to pay…

⚡  Quick Answer If the Uber or Lyft driver’s app was completely off at the time of the accident, this is called “Period 0” under California TNC law. In Period 0: Uber and Lyft have zero coverage obligation — no liability, no UM/UIM, nothing.Only the driver’s personal auto insurance applies — typically just California’s minimum…