Arizona Accident Law

Arizona Car Accident Defense Attorney are trying to change the law that protects you!

Arizona Car Accident Defense Attorney and lawyers have a difficult time dealing with car accident claims. Arizona follows a pure comparative fault scheme. This means that every party can recover against each other even for 1% fault. If party A hits Party B, but it is determine that B is 1% responsible, then A can sue B for that one percent. Depending in the situation, 1% of damages could amount to a lot of money.

Arizona Car Accident Defense Attorney knows that the insurance companies that they work for must pay for medical bills owed, some times twice or three times. How can that be? Arizona has statutes that forbid insurance companies from subrogating for medical bills they owed. So if you file a PIP claim, and your insurance company pays for those bills, they would be barred from asking the responsible party�s for compensation. They cannot subrogate (go after the responsible party).

But that would not mean that the person that hit you is off the hook. His/her insurance would have to pay for your medical treatment anyway, however they would not pay the doctors (they already been paid), but they would pay you. You read that right. You would get paid and so will your doctor.

Arizona car accident defense attorney and lawyers have lobbied to change the system. They have however faced bigger defeats. The Arizona Supreme court has allowed these statues to apply to Health Insurance Carriers. What this effectively means is that you can make a claim against your health insurance (i.e. Blue Cross), they will pay your doctor. Then, you can have your own auto insurance company pay you for the bills the should have paid the doctors, and then have the responsible party�s insurance company pay you AGAIN (a second time) for those medical bills.

The pressure to change this regulation is big and Arizona car accident defense attorney, lawyers, and insurance carriers are dealing very stiff opposition from plaintiff attorneys. This system is allowing them to double or triple compensation by simply filing claims. They will of course charge 30% or more for that. You can do this yourself. Remember that after those payments you would still be entitled to pain and suffering and other bodily injury claims.

Property Damage Notes:

Arizona does not allow for first party diminished value claims.

Arizona car accident defense attorney and lawyers have attempted to bar first party. They have been successful but the Supreme Court of the state has not ruled on the issue. Arizona�s Court of Appeals refused to allow recovery on a first-party claim for diminution of value in Johnson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 754 P.2d 330 (Ariz. App. 1988), where it stated: �We agree with the trial court that under the provisions of the insurance contract and the evidence here, plaintiff's measure of damages is not the difference in the market value of the automobile immediately before and after the collision. The contract of insurance does not so provide. To apply such measure of damages would be arbitrarily reading out of the policy the right of defendant to make repairs or replace the damaged part with materials of like kind and quality.�

See below for Arizona Accident Laws and Regulations.

Arizona Accident Law
Jurisdiction	Pure Comparative Fault
Liability Insurance required?	Yes
Personal injury liability maximum for one person injured in an accident.	15,000
bodily injury liability maximum for all injuries in one accident.	$30,000
property damage liability maximum for one accident.	$10,000
PIP required?	No
No-fault state?	No
Uninsured motorist coverage required?	No
Bodily Injury Statue Of limitations	2 years
Property Damage Statute of Limitation	2 years
Small Claims Court Maximum Limit	$2,500
First Party Diminished Value Claim in Property Damage	Not Allowed
Med Pay Subrogation Allowed?	No
PIP Subrogation Allowed?	No