Most people ask what their case is worth. The more useful question early on is how much insurance exists, because on a large share of Fresno collisions that is what actually caps the claim, and it is settled before anyone discusses your injuries.
Culver Legal, LLP represents injured drivers and passengers across the Central Valley from an office at 1690 W Shaw Avenue, Suite 220 (by appointment only) in Fresno. We work on contingency and advance the costs of the case, so there is nothing to pay up front and no fee unless we win. If there is no recovery, you are not charged those costs either. Call (310) 600-7881 at any hour.
How Much Insurance Is Actually Available?
California’s minimum liability coverage is $30,000 for injury to one person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage. Those limits rose on 1 January 2025 under SB 1107, from a long-standing $15,000 per person.
A minimum policy is exhausted by a single serious injury, often before the hospital bill is finished. When that happens the driver’s policy stops paying, and the question becomes what else responds:
- Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, which exists for exactly this gap and which many people do not know they carry
- A second liable party, such as an employer where the driver was working, a vehicle owner, or a business that served an impaired driver
- A public entity, where the road itself contributed, which moves the claim to a six-month deadline
Whether the other driver was on the old limits or the new ones depends on when their policy renewed rather than on when the crash happened. It is one of the first things worth checking.
Was the other driver on a minimum policy?
$30,000 does not go far on a serious injury. Your own coverage may respond where theirs runs out.
Who Investigated It, and How Do You Get the Report?
A collision on a city street inside Fresno is normally the Fresno Police Department’s. The report comes from Police Records at 2323 Mariposa Street, on (559) 621-2534, open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., which is an hour earlier than most people assume. Collision reports are ordered online for a $12 convenience fee, charged by the service that fulfills the report rather than by the city.
A collision on Highway 99, Interstate 5 or State Route 41 is normally investigated by the California Highway Patrol instead, and the request goes to the CHP office covering the location.
So the first question is not how to get the report. It is who wrote it, and people make a wasted trip by assuming.
Do not wait for it before protecting anything else. Camera footage from nearby businesses is usually overwritten within days, and the report has nothing to do with that clock.
What If the Insurer Says You Were Partly at Fault?
That is an opening position, not a finding, and it does not do what people fear.
California is a pure comparative fault state. Where fault is shared, a recovery is reduced by the percentage rather than eliminated. Somebody found 30% responsible still recovers 70%. So the argument is about the percentage, and the percentage is decided by evidence: the damage patterns, the point of impact, the sight lines, and any footage.
An adjuster’s early view of fault is formed quickly, often from one driver’s account, and it is routinely revised once the physical evidence is examined.
Where Will You Be Treated, and Where Would the Case Be Heard?
Community Regional Medical Center, 2823 Fresno Street, describes itself as the only Level I trauma center between Los Angeles and Sacramento, verified at that level by the American College of Surgeons. Serious collision injuries in this region go there, which means one hospital holds the imaging, the trauma activation record and the first responder narrative. Those are separate documents from the discharge summary and are requested separately.
See a doctor the same day even if you feel able to go home. A gap between the crash and the first medical record is the first thing an adjuster points at, and soft tissue and head injuries frequently declare themselves over the following week.
A car accident claim seeking more than $35,000 is an unlimited civil case, filed at the B. F. Sisk Courthouse, 1130 O Street, and heard in Fresno County before a Fresno County jury.
How Long Do You Have?
Two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1.
Six months to present a written claim if a public entity is involved, under Government Code 911.2, which covers a city or county vehicle, a FAX bus, or a claim about the road itself. For the City of Fresno that goes to Risk Management, 2600 Fresno Street, Room 1030, in duplicate.
What Kind of Collision Was It?
- Rear-end and intersection collisions, where liability is usually clearer than fault arguments suggest
- Collisions involving a commercial truck, which bring federal regulations and several possible defendants
- Collisions with a motorcycle or a cyclist
- A driver who struck someone on foot
- A rideshare vehicle, where which policy responds depends on what the driver’s app was doing
- A collision that proves fatal, which becomes a wrongful death claim brought by the people the statute allows
Has an adjuster asked for a recorded statement?
You are not required to give one. It is worth taking advice first.
Why Do Fresno Clients Choose Culver Legal?
We are in Fresno, at 1690 W Shaw Avenue, Suite 220 (by appointment only), and where you cannot travel we come to you.
Our team speaks Spanish, Farsi, Filipino, Hindi, Mandarin and Korean.
The economics are simple. Contingency, costs advanced, nothing up front and no fee unless we win. We advance the case costs, and if there is no recovery you are not charged those costs either. Culver Legal has recovered $200 Million and counting, and the phone is answered 24 hours a day.
Fresno Car Accident FAQs
Is it better to settle with the insurer or get a lawyer?
It depends on facts you can check rather than on a rule. Where nobody was hurt and the only issue is vehicle damage, handling it yourself is often reasonable. Once there is an injury, the questions that decide the figure are ones an adjuster will not raise with you: whether the other driver’s limits cover your treatment at all, whether a second policy exists, whether your own underinsured coverage responds, and whether the injury has finished declaring itself. A first offer made before treatment is complete is an offer made without the main number in it.
How long after a car accident can you get a lawyer?
Any time within the deadline, and the earlier the more useful. The filing deadline is two years, or six months for a written claim where a public entity is involved, but the practical clock is shorter: camera footage is overwritten within days, vehicles get repaired or scrapped, and witnesses become harder to find. Bringing somebody in late does not disqualify you, it just means there is less to work with.
The other driver had no insurance. Is that the end of it?
Not necessarily. Uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy is designed for exactly that, and it responds whether the driver was uninsured, underinsured, or never identified because they left. Whether you carry it depends on your own policy rather than theirs, and checking is one of the first things we do.
Do I have to give the other insurer a recorded statement?
No. You have obligations to your own insurer under your policy. You have none to the other driver’s, and a recorded statement taken early, before you know the extent of your injuries, is used later to argue you described them as minor.
How much will a lawyer cost?
Nothing up front. These cases are handled on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win. We also advance the costs of running the case. What we will not do is quote a value for your case before we know what happened and how the injury settles, because a figure given that early is a guess wearing a valuation’s clothes.
I am undocumented. Can I bring a claim without putting myself at risk?
Yes, and the protection is stronger than most people expect. Under Evidence Code 351.2, added by AB 2159, evidence of a person’s immigration status is not admissible in a civil action for personal injury or wrongful death, and discovery into it is not permitted either. It cannot be raised at trial and it cannot be asked about beforehand. It is not a question we ask you, and it is not a question the other side gets to ask.
Contact a Culver Legal Fresno Car Accident Lawyer
Evidence in a collision case has a short life. Footage is overwritten within days, vehicles are repaired, and the first account written down is whichever driver was able to give one. If you were hurt anywhere in Fresno or the surrounding Central Valley, reach us at (310) 600-7881 at any hour, or at 1690 W Shaw Avenue, Suite 220 (by appointment only). The review costs nothing.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Culver Legal, LLP is a California law firm. The information on this page is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
