La Quinta Work-Related Car & Truck Accident Lawyer

La Quinta Work Injury Attorney

Many people working in La Quinta and surrounding areas of the Coachella Valley are required to drive for work, and accidents can happen while driving for work for the same reasons that all other accidents happen. Whether you are required to use your personal vehicle for work, or you use an employer-provided vehicle, it is vital to know your recovery options after experiencing any type of work-related car or truck accident.

Helping La Quinta Clients Recover From Work-Related Car and Truck Accidents

California law requires almost every employer in the state to maintain a workers’ compensation insurance policy, and this insurance serves two important purposes. First, it provides financial support to injured workers, covering medical expenses and some of their lost income following any work-related injury. Second, it shields employers from civil liability for their injured workers’ damages. This insurance applies to almost all regular employees of all industries.

When a workplace injury of any kind occurs, the victim should notify their employer and seek medical care immediately. However, work-related car and truck accidents can present additional opportunities for recovery. If any third party who is not connected to your workplace caused your recent accident, you are likely able to pursue a workers’ compensation claim as well as further legal recourse against this at-fault driver. However, successfully navigating all your recovery efforts will require the assistance of a seasoned La Quinta work injury attorney.

Why Do I Need to Hire an Attorney After a Work-Related Car or Truck Accident?

The attorneys of English Lloyd & Armenta have more than 30 years of professional experience representing injured clients throughout the Coachella Valley, including victims of work-related car and truck accidents. We know the legal challenges you might encounter when it comes to filing your workers’ compensation claim and additional legal recourse, such as an auto insurance claim and personal injury suit against an at-fault driver.

While it may be technically possible for you to navigate these legal affairs on your own, do not assume that doing so would simply be a way to save money on attorneys’ fees. You risk making procedural errors or encountering unexpected legal issues you will not know how to resolve by yourself. You would also contend with these various legal issues while struggling with your recovery, and even if you were able to succeed with any recovery efforts, you would risk unintentionally settling for less than you legally deserve.

Having an experienced La Quinta work injury attorney to assist you with your recovery efforts will significantly increase your chances of maximizing your recovery. Because your accident was work-related, your recovery efforts are likely to begin with a workers’ compensation claim followed by additional legal actions against the at-fault driver. Ultimately, the right attorney can make a tremendous difference in the overall quality of your recovery and reduce the time it takes for you to recover the compensation you legally deserve.

Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim in La Quinta

A workers’ compensation claim is a type of insurance claim that an injured employee must file through their employer. After any work-related injury occurs, the victim must report the incident to their employer, and the employer is legally required to facilitate their workers’ compensation claim. If an employer refuses to provide claim forms or engages in any unlawful retaliation against an employee’s request to file a workers’ compensation claim in good faith, the employer faces severe legal penalties.

The injured worker can seek medical care from any available doctor in an emergency, but a major part of their workers’ compensation claim will be a formal medical evaluation from a physician approved by the insurance carrier. This workers’ compensation doctor will examine the victim’s injuries and assign them a disability rating. This numerical value between one and 100 reflects the severity of the victim’s injuries and the extent of the long-term medical complications they are likely to face because of the incident. If you believe the first workers’ compensation doctor you saw did not assess your condition appropriately, you have the right to seek a second opinion.

Once you complete the medical review process, you should be ready to submit your claim to your employer’s insurance carrier. They will review the claim and contact you and/or your employer for additional information. If your claim is approved, they will send a determination of benefits that explains the compensation you can expect from the insurer. If your claim is denied, your La Quinta work injury attorney can be an essential asset for appealing the claim or bringing a complaint to the California Division of Workers’ Compensation.

Benefits Available for Work-Related Injuries in La Quinta

A successful workers’ compensation claim can yield two forms of benefits for an injured worker in La Quinta. First is medical expense coverage. The injured claimant can expect their employer’s insurance carrier to pay for all the medical care they need to fully recover from their injury. This includes future rehabilitation, prescription costs, and any other expenses related to symptom management and recovery until the claimant reaches maximum medical improvement from the injuries.

The second type of benefit they can expect is disability benefits, intended to offset their lost income when they are unable to work after a work-related injury. Total disability benefits are paid each week for up to 104 weeks, and the claimant can usually expect roughly two-thirds of their average weekly wage with each payment. If the claimant has some ability to work after their accident, but they cannot earn the same level of income as they did prior to the injury, the insurance carrier may approve partial disability benefits. The claimant will need to report how much income they are able to earn each week, and then the insurer sends a payment to reflect the difference in their earning power.

While workers’ compensation is an invaluable lifeline for many injured workers across all industries, it will not fully cover the entire financial impact of a work-related car or truck accident. Because workers’ compensation laws prevent injured workers from filing civil suits against their employers, it’s vital to determine if you have any additional avenues of legal recourse available after a third party has caused an injury while you were working.

Third-Party Personal Injury Claims for Work-Related Vehicle Accidents in La Quinta

Workers’ compensation insurance may prevent you from filing a civil claim against your employer in response to your work-related car or truck accident, but this does not mean that you will have no other options for enhancing your recovery. When a third party outside of your work is responsible for an accident, you can file your workers’ compensation claim because the injury occurred while you were performing your job duties, but you can also pursue additional compensation against the specific party responsible for your damages.

A third-party personal injury claim can enable the victim of a work-related car or truck accident in La Quinta to recover damages that workers’ compensation will not cover. If you were hurt while driving for work, a workers’ compensation claim is likely to be just one phase of your recovery efforts. You would then face a similar process as you could expect after any other vehicle accident. First, you can file an auto insurance claim against the at-fault driver, and if this does not yield full compensation for your damages, you can proceed with your third-party personal injury suit.

Workers’ compensation is likely to cover your medical expenses and a portion of your lost income, and an auto insurance claim against an at-fault driver may yield repayment of vehicle repair costs and other damages not covered by workers’ compensation insurance. A subsequent personal injury suit against the at-fault third party would then enable you to recover any outstanding economic losses as well as compensation for your pain and suffering.

Proving Fault for Your Work-Related Car or Truck Accident

Fault does not always come into play in workers’ compensation cases. It is possible for an injured worker to cause their own injury and still qualify for workers’ compensation benefits as long as the injury resulted from an honest mistake made while working in good faith. Fault will, however, play a major role in any further legal recourse the injured worker pursues following a work-related car or truck accident.

California enforces the fault rule for vehicle accidents, meaning the driver responsible for causing an accident is fully liable for all resulting damages. All drivers are required to carry auto insurance that includes property damage liability coverage and bodily injury liability coverage, but the injured driver will need to firmly establish fault for the accident before filing their auto insurance claim and/or a personal injury suit against the at-fault driver. A few of the most common causes of vehicle accidents in the La Quinta area include:

Speeding, which increases the chance of an accident happening as well as the severity of resulting damages. Excessive speeding is also likely to lead to reckless driving charges for the at-fault driver, especially if they injured or killed someone.
Distracted driving, one of the most commonly cited causes of vehicle accidents throughout the United States each year. Even a few seconds of inattention behind the wheel is sufficient to cause a devastating crash.
Traffic violations, such as running red lights or stop signs, failure to yield the right-of-way, or performing illegal turns.
Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs, which can lead to severe criminal penalties for the at-fault driver, including fines, loss of their driver’s license, and even jail time. Penalties for DUI automatically increase when the defendant has injured or killed someone from intoxicated driving.

An experienced La Quinta work injury attorney can not only assist their client through the workers’ compensation claim filing process but also help them establish fault for their work-related vehicle accident to pursue additional compensation from the at-fault driver.

One variable you must keep in mind when it comes to pursuing a civil claim for damages in La Quinta is the state’s pure comparative fault rule. Under this rule, it is possible for a plaintiff to recover compensation for their personal injury even if they bear partial liability for the injury. However, their percentage of fault will be taken from their final case award as a penalty. For example, 10% fault means losing 10% of their case award, 30% fault would result in the loss of 30% of the compensation won from the defendant, and so on.

If you have any concerns about bearing partial fault for your work-related car or truck accident, it is imperative that you speak with a La Quinta work injury attorney as soon as possible. Your shared liability may not impact your workers’ compensation claim, but it will affect any recovery you obtain from an auto insurance claim and/or third-party personal injury suit against another driver.

Claiming Compensation in Your Third-Party Personal Injury Claim

The state’s personal injury statutes allow a plaintiff to claim full repayment of all economic damages a defendant caused. However, your workers’ compensation claim is likely to cover all your medical expenses and a majority of your missing income following a work-related car or truck accident. There are limits to how much you can expect in disability benefits, however, so a third-party claim is your optimal choice for enhancing this aspect of your recovery.

If you were required to use your personal vehicle for work and it was damaged or destroyed in your accident, you may be able to recover some compensation for your property damage through your employer and/or an auto insurance claim against the at-fault driver. The main goal of your personal injury suit will likely be to maximize the pain and suffering compensation you secure from the at-fault driver.

California law does not place any limits on pain and suffering compensation in civil suits filed in response to vehicle accidents. This means you can claim as much as you believe to be appropriate to reflect the overall severity of your experience. The average person may struggle to determine fair financial compensation for subjective and immeasurable damages like physical pain and psychological distress, but your attorney can provide valuable guidance for this aspect of your claim.

Most personal injury attorneys use the multiplier method or the per diem method to assess suitable pain and suffering compensation for their clients. The per diem method is more applicable to claimants who are expected to fully recover from their injuries as this will award compensation based on the number of days it takes them to fully recover. The multiplier method focuses on the overall severity of a personal injury. Their attorney adds up the total of their economic losses and then multiplies this amount by a factor that reflects the severity of their condition. For example, your attorney may determine that seeking three times the amount of your economic damages in pain and suffering compensation would fairly reflect the extent of the negative experiences you endured from the incident.

What to Expect From Your La Quinta Work Injury Attorney

If you are struggling with the effects of a work-related car or truck accident in La Quinta, it is crucial to understand the value of having legal counsel you can trust on your side so you can recover as fully as possible. You need to find an attorney who can not only guide you through the workers’ compensation claim filing process and ensure you receive a fair determination of benefits but also one who can help navigate the additional legal recourse you pursue against the at-fault driver.

The attorneys at English Lloyd & Armenta have more than 30 years of professional experience helping our clients throughout the Coachella Valley with their workers’ compensation claims and related legal issues, and we have a strong record of successful cases behind us that proves our commitment to client recovery. We take time to listen to each client’s unique story and learn how their injuries have impacted their lives. We know that any injured worker is likely to have lots of questions about any work-related injury, especially one that presents opportunities for legal recourse outside of the workers’ compensation system.

You have a limited time in which to pursue your recovery from a work-related car or truck accident in La Quinta. California law enforces a one-year statute of limitations for workers’ compensation claims, but a work-related car or truck accident is likely to cause severe acute damages that will require immediate relief. If you have grounds to file an auto insurance claim against an at-fault driver, you face an even shorter time limit, and there is a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims related to vehicle accidents.

Ultimately, it is ideal to start your recovery efforts as soon as possible after another driver has injured you, and you may have more options for recovery than you initially expected. English Lloyd & Armenta can provide the compassionate and responsive legal representation you need to approach your recovery efforts with confidence and peace of mind. The sooner you reach out to our team, the more likely you are to maximize your recovery in the most efficient manner possible. Contact us today to schedule your free case evaluation with a La Quinta work injury attorney and find out how we can empower your recovery efforts.