Hit-and-Run Lawyer Elia Castranova

For more than 30 years, Elia J. Castranova has been helping victims of hit-and-run accidents get the compensation they need.  As a hit and run lawyer, He knows how to maximize your compensation, even when the negligent driver cannot be found.

To schedule a free consultation with Mr. Castranova, call 818-284-4779 or contact us online.

Leaving the scene of an accident is against the law in California.  In addition to criminal charges, the hit-and-run driver can also be held accountable for your medical costs, pain and suffering, and lost wages.  Our Encino hit-and-run accidents lawyer can help you try to track down the driver and bring him or her to justice.

If the driver cannot be found, we will help you obtain compensation from your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM.)  There are strict timelines in filing UM/UIM claims, so it is important that you contact our firm as soon as possible to ensure that you meet the deadlines.  We will protect your rights if the insurance company tries to deny or reduce your compensation.

Mr. Castranova will also make sure that you receive the medical care that you need, including any necessary testing or treatments.  He can connect you with physicians who will accept payment from the proceeds of your settlement.

For a free case review by our seasoned hit and run lawyer, contact us online or call 818-284-4779.  Our firm accepts personal injury cases on a contingency basis. You will owe an attorney fee only if we obtain compensation for you.

Hit and run accidents are different from most other accidents in that without the identity of the other party, you have to pursue the case against your own insurance company under your uninsured motorist policy.  First of all, to qualify as a hit and run accident there must be actual contact between their vehicle and yours, which could even be a part of their car that comes off and hits yours.  A near miss does not count.  In hit and run cases, the recovery will be for your injuries, just the same as other car accidents, where the identity of the other party is known, except compensation will be provided by your own insurance rather than the other party.  This is of course only possible if you carry uninsured motorist coverage, which costs just a few more dollars a month but will protect you in such instances where you do not know the identity of the person who hit you.  What you must do is make a police report and notify your insurance company immediately in order to insure coverage under your own insurance policy.  If you are in the hospital, this could be done by a friend or acquaintance.  We will assist you with making the claim, advise you in making the statement to the insurance company, help in making the police report, and ensure that you see the appropriate medical professionals given the particular injuries sustained in the accident.

As far as settling an uninsured motorist case, it is just like settling a case against another insurance company, but we will be dealing with your own insurance company.  In fact, these cases are often much better as far as the leverage you have against the insurance company because your own insurance company owes you a duty of good faith to deal with you in a fair manner and not to delay in settling or evaluating your case.   If they do not act in good faith,

they can open themselves up to being sued for other damages in addition to your injuries.  If we can not resolve the case what we do is demand arbitration from your insurance company. The case is heard usually before one single agreed upon arbitrator, and the arbitration award that is made by that arbitrator is just the same as a judgment in a court of law.  In fact it is often economically more feasible to go through arbitration because it doesn’t cost as much as a full trial and you can get to it fairly quickly, usually within a year of making your demand, whereas in a court trial it could take up to two years before seeing a courtroom and trials are very expensive to undergo.  We have arbitrated over 500 uninsured and under-insured motorist cases and have done very well.  I have never lost an uninsured or underinsured motorist arbitration in my entire career.   We are of course limited to the policy limits themselves and most people do not carry more than 250,000 dollars in uninsured motorist coverage.  So, unfortunately, this is the difference as far as the monetary recovery.  When we go to trial against a third party there is no limit, so if the injury is fairly bad, we can get as much as the jury will afford.  But in these uninsured motorist cases, where we do not know the identity of the third party, the maximum we can recover is dictated by the policy limits.  We have had some fairly big judgments of up to 250,000 dollars in uninsured motorist arbitration cases.  Recently I had a case where the insurance company had offered only 25,000 to my client whose shoulder was severely injured in a hit and run accident, but through arbitration we were able to obtain 100,000 dollars, the maximum covered by his uninsured motorist coverage. Elia J Castranova

Google and other Reviews

J M *****

I hired Elia after I was in a catastrophic automobile accident.  Throughout the whole process he guided me and made me felt confident I hired the right attorney to handle my lawsuit.  Elia made me feel like he had my best interests throughout the suite, and it was a huge help having one less thing to stress about, and that gave me the freedom to focus on my health and recovery.

Elia navigated through the process efficiently and looped me in along the way.  He examined the case, and after taking depositions he hired an expert team of witnesses to gather enough information to effectively negotiate a large settlement.  I hired the right attorney to help me during a tough time.

Thank you for everything, Elia.

Robert Craig *****

I contacted the Law Offices of Elia J. Castranova after being involved in a car accident. Attorney Castranova was very professional and compassionate. He explained the legal process to me and fought hard to get me the compensation I deserved. I would highly recommend him to anyone who needs a personal injury lawyer.