Our Durham Loss of Use Attorneys and Greensboro Loss of Use Attorneys are available to answer your loss of use questions free of charge. You can contact a Durham Loss of Use Lawyer or Greensboro Loss of Use Lawyer by calling (888) 820-5885 (we return all voicemails the same day) or sending an email to info@kregerthacker.com.
Our Durham personal injury lawyers get a lot of visitors to this blog looking for information on North Carolina Loss of Use Claims. Most of the questions relate to the loss of use of a car, truck, automobile, or vehicle after an auto accident. Some of our visitors have not been provided with a rental car from the other driver’s insurance company or chose not to accept a rental car from the other driver’s insurance company. If you fall into any of the categories above and are looking for information on loss of use, you can check out our previous blog posts on North Carolina’s loss of use claims.
The North Carolina Pattern Jury Instructions outlining the amount you should be awarded due to the loss of use of your property states:
- If your vehicle can be repaired at a reasonable cost and within a reasonable time, you may recover the cost of renting a similar vehicle during a reasonable period for repairs (whether or not you actually rent such a similar vehicle).
- If your vehicle is a total loss, you may recover the cost of renting a similar vehicle (whether or not you actually rent such a similar vehicle) during the time reasonably necessary to acquire a substitute vehicle.
Now that you see what the measure of your damages is (the cost of renting a similar vehicle (whether or not you actually rent a vehicle) during the reasonable period of time for your vehicle to be repaired or replaced, you can get an idea of how to prove such a claim.
The first step in proving your Loss of Use North Carolina claim is to determine what a reasonable time period is for your vehicle to be repaired or replaced. If your vehicle is being repaired, the best way to do this is to get a written statement from your auto repair facilities stating the reasonable period of time to complete the repairs (and outlining any challenges in completing the repair sooner). If your vehicle is being replaced, determining a reasonable time to replace your vehicle is more difficult. In this situation, you will want to document the difficulties you have encountered in replacing your vehicle (e.g., is your vehicle rare, do you have injuries that are preventing you from obtaining a replacement, etc.).
The second step in proving your North Carolina loss of use claim is to determine the cost of renting a similar vehicle. This step is easy, but a lot of people overlook it. If you file a lawsuit and fail to include documentation of what a similar vehicle rents for you will lose your case. You need to get a quote from 1-2 rental car companies that outline what the cost is to rent a vehicle that is similar in size and condition to yours.
Most Loss of Use Claims involve amounts less than $5,000, so you can sue in small claims court for recovery. Small claims court is quite informal, and contains an automatic right of appeal to the District Court, so the stakes are relatively low. Before you file any lawsuit, be sure that you have documentation to prove your loss of use claim. As outlined above, proof of your loss of use claim is obtaining a written statement from your repair facility outlining the reasonable length of repairs plus a quote from a rental car company showing the cost of renting a similar vehicle.
If you have lost the use of your property, whether that is a car, boat, motorcycle, etc., due to the negligence of someone else, you have a loss of use claim. If you would like assistance with receiving compensation for your loss of use claim you can contact our Loss of Use Durham NC Attorneys or Loss of Use Greensboro NC Attorneys for a free consultation by email at info@kregerthacker.com, completing the free consultation form to the right or placing a call to (888) 820-5885 (your call will be returned the same day it was received).
