1% at Fault in an Auto Accident
Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: What if I was one percent at fault in an auto accident, can I recover compensation? That’s our topic on this episode of Main Street Law. My guest is North Carolina Personal Injury Attorney, Michael A. DeMayo of the law offices of Michael A. DeMayo. So Michael thanks for being here today.
Michael A. DeMayo: Pleasure to be with you Cindy.
Cindy Speaker: Well Michael, what is the answer to that question? Suppose I was rear-ended by another driver and I’m injured but I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, what happens to my claim?
Michael A. DeMayo: In North Carolina Cindy that really doesn’t matter. In North Carolina, we’re one of three states that have what’s called contributory negligence. So if you’re even one percent at fault, you don’t recover anything. One of the few exceptions is they cannot introduce evidence that you weren’t wearing your seatbelt. So that will not be a bar to recovery. But any other form of negligence generally would be.
Cindy Speaker: Now what is the difference between contributory and comparative negligence?
Michael A. DeMayo: Generally, most states in the United States have a version of comparative negligence which essentially says, “If you’re less than 50% at fault, you recover less your percentage.” For example if you were deemed to be 20% at fault and the defendant 80%, you would get full recovery less 20%. So you get an 80% recovery. There are three states, North Carolina being one of them, where if you’re even one percent at fault, you don’t recover.
So the example would be North Carolina and South Carolina. In North Carolina, you’re going down the road, someone pulls out in front of you, they alleged your speeding, you’re more than one percent at fault for that because you were speeding, and you would recover nothing. In South Carolina, let’s say they attribute 20% to you at fault because you were speeding. You would still recover less the 20%. So it’s a huge distinction. North Carolina has a very strict rules and regulations about how you can recover if you’re involved in an accident and it’s very important that you not give any information out before you seek legal help.
Cindy Speaker: Okay. Now you said North Carolina is one of the only three states that has this law?
Michael A. DeMayo: That’s correct, North Carolina is one that—North Carolina, I believe its Virginia, Alabama and there is one other state. I believe it may be the District of Columbia. But there’s generally only a few states in the entire nation that still have this law because it’s fairly antiquated and it’s pretty unfair because even if you’re one percent at fault, you recover nothing and people sometimes don’t get that. And unfortunately, when they don’t get that and they don’t do the proper things at the onset of their case, sometimes, that causes their case to be denied or devalued significantly.
Cindy Speaker: Well Michael, do you see any hope of North Carolina changing to comparative negligence?
Michael A. DeMayo: Ironically, there were some provisions actually this year in an effort to make the change, but the other side—the insurance industry put in so much other negative provisions into the bill that it really wasn’t worth giving up joint and several liability, paid versus billed, it wasn’t really worth giving up to get comparative, so it did not pass.
Cindy Speaker: Okay. Michael, what are some of the cautions in dealing with the insurance company?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well generally, the insurance company, their job is to get rid of you quick, cheap, and quiet. That’s how they get paid, that’s how they make money. The attorney’s job is diametrically opposed. Obviously the better we do for a client, since we work on contingency, the better we do financially. So we have a vested interest. We have a built-in interest to do well for the client where as the insurance company has the opposite. From a practical standpoint, some of the tricks that the insurance companies will use is right after the accident, they’ll give you what they call a short sale or quick settlement offer, they’ll get you to sign sometimes a medical authorization which is a big mistake, and sometimes they’ll do a recorded statement which is not required, although oftentimes they’ll tell you that it is.
Their job is to investigate the claim so that they can either deny it, delay paying it, or defend it if you go to court. So the reality is when people say the insurance company is being very nice, sure they’re being very nice, they don’t want you to get an attorney because statistics show that when you get an attorney, you generally recover three and a half times more with an attorney than without. So what that says is even someone like myself charging a third, the client’s net recovery is always going to be better as a general rule with me as opposed to without me.
00:04:57
And every once in a while, we’ll get a case where we say, “You know what, we’re really not going to add value,” we’ll tell the client that. We’ll be very honest and say, “Listen, you know your case is small. You only went to the doctor a few times. There’s only X amount of value for your pain and suffering, we’re not going to benefit you as much such that us taking our fee, you’re going to come out the same. So we’re not going to take your case. But think about us in the future if you should need us.”
Cindy Speaker: Excellent, great information. Well Michael, if someone has specific questions how can they reach you?
Michael A. DeMayo: They can certainly contact us by our toll free number which you can reach us anywhere in the United States, which is toll free 877-333-1000. We answer our phones 24/7, 365 days a year. Or obviously if they want to do a little research on our firm, they can go to www.demayolaw.com and they have a myriad number of abilities to get in touch with our office or ask questions or do research so that they can feel comfortable about our experience, knowledge, and our dedication to them.
Cindy Speaker: Very good. Well Michael, thank you so much for your time today.
Michael A. DeMayo: My pleasure.
Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV.
