Most people, when they research lemon laws, want to know how to get a refund or replacement vehicle. Perhaps you also want to know if you can sue for emotional distress caused by your lemon car. A lemon law attorney can represent you in your primary case to get a replacement or refund for your vehicle and, potentially, additional emotional distress compensation.
Your vehicle problems have likely played a major part in your life for months, or maybe even longer. Dealing with the stress that comes from having a lemon car that is not reliable or safe can be hard to handle. Your lawyer can help you organize testimony and documentation to prove how your lemon car or truck has affected your life negatively. This is in addition to helping you win your main lemon vehicle case.
But how do you pursue a claim for emotional distress relating to your faulty vehicle?
The Crux of Your Lemon Law Case
Let’s backtrack a bit and discuss how your attorney can help you pursue your primary lemon law claim. That will be the backbone of your case, onto which your emotional distress claim can be added. Defining your vehicle as a lemon will follow specific rules. Most states require that the vehicle exhibit a “substantial defect.” This defect should impose a definite negative impact on the use, safety, or value of the vehicle. There are some exceptions to this criteria that may be classified as more minor. These could cause buyers to form a negative impression of your vehicle, thereby potentially decreasing its perceived value. This loss of value can then, in some cases, allow for these more minor factors to be considered defects under lemon laws.
Under the law, the dealer gets a specified number of repair attempts to try and make things right. The usual number of required attempts is three. Your attorney will tell you what your state requires for timing on these repair attempts. If the car cannot be fixed within this time frame and meets other state requirements, it may be considered a lemon.
For more information on arbitration and other frequently asked lemon law questions, click here.
Once your vehicle qualifies as a lemon, your attorney can then also review your testimony and documentation that demonstrate emotional distress you went through due to the vehicle’s issues. One way of tracking this is to provide a description of particular situations that were directly attributable to your problematic vehicle. For instance, you could tell your lawyer about how stressed you were when your car broke down multiple times and your sick child missed important doctor’s appointments, complicating your worry about your child’s health. These incident reports, along with dates, times, people involved, and outcomes, can help prove your lemon vehicle caused emotional distress.
Please note: Not all stressful episodes or events relating to your lemon vehicle will qualify for compensation under lemon laws. Your attorney can determine if it is possible to file a claim for emotional distress. Here we’ll look at some possibilities and broad definitions. We encourage you to consult Allen Stewart, P.C., regarding your unique circumstances. Please call us at 866-440-2460 or contact us online.
Severe Personal Impact
A vehicle’s unreliability may lead to a spiral of stress that can be difficult to manage. The courts often look for situations where the manufacturer’s failure to properly address the defect has created a prolonged period of uncertainty and anxiety for the vehicle owner.
Here are a few examples of what you may have experienced relating to your lemon law case:
- You may have suffered from constant worry about whether your vehicle would start or operate safely.
- Your missed work may have led to professional setbacks.
- You might have endured strained relationships with family members due to transportation difficulties.
- You may have suffered isolation due to not being able to socialize or be with family because your vehicle wasn’t reliable.
- Your dealer may have acted in an unacceptable way during the attempted repair process, causing severe upset for you.
- You experienced symptoms such as headaches or other physical problems attributable to your vehicle-related stress.
Additionally, making excuses for your broken car may have reflected poorly on you and caused unnecessary stress.
Again, you will want to document your timeline with specific dates, occurrences, people involved, and outcomes to help prove your emotional distress claim.
Important point: Some or all of these alone may not be enough to qualify in your state against its definition of emotional distress in a lemon law case. This is not an exhaustive or specific list; please consult our lemon law attorneys to have your case reviewed. Contact Allen Stewart, P.C., at 866-440-2460 or contact us online.
When Emotional Distress Claims May Apply
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It’s easy for any of us to perhaps dismiss certain facts as not relevant to a claim. On the contrary, it’s important to give your attorney all the information you have, including all documentation, so your case can be fully evaluated. Let your attorney assess if your overall lemon law claim is valid and have them review any emotional distress claim relating to your lemon law case.
Lemon laws are confusing. Read our guide to the lemon law complaint process.
Legal Standards and Requirements
The legal threshold for emotional distress claims usually requires demonstrating that the distress goes beyond mere inconvenience or frustration. Your attorney will inform you of the particular requirements in your state. A single minor repair issue typically won’t qualify. If you can show a pattern of serious problems with your vehicle that create legitimate reliability or safety concerns and ongoing stress, these can potentially form the basis for a valid claim.
Proving the Emotional Toll
As we have discussed, documentation is vital to prove the emotional toll your lemon vehicle has taken on you or family members. You have documentation to prove your car’s mechanical problems; you will also need to document your emotional distress claim. A good idea is to create a detailed personal impact statement. Outline it point by point, describing specific incidents and their negative effects on your daily life. Your statement should show a timeline of your emotional distress. You’ll want to show any increase in symptoms or new signs of stress. In your statement, you may want to use photos, videos, or other facts to show the cumulative effects that an unsafe, unreliable, and devalued vehicle has had on your life. Professional medical testimony and any record of therapy or other treatment you received should be included in your documentation.
Get the Expert Lemon Law Representation You Need from Allen Stewart, P.C.
Trust Allen Stewart, P.C. for expert representation. You can depend on our attorneys’ experience; we have won many lemon law cases in Texas and across the country. In addition, you can count on us to structure your lemon law claim to not only help you win compensation for the malfunctioning vehicle itself but also for your emotional distress, should you have suffered that during your ongoing ordeal trying to get your vehicle repaired. Providing us with your timeline of events, including any proof of severe emotional upset, can help support your claim. It’s important to share all the facts with your attorney so that your claim can be fully evaluated and pursued.
Allen Stewart, P.C. provides experienced representation for all types of lemon law claims, including those involving the newest technologies, i.e., electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids. Have us review your case with a free consultation so we can determine if your claim can qualify under the lemon laws of your state or the federal lemon law.
Don’t leave money on the table. It can literally pay to be proactive and contact Allen Stewart, P.C. today. Each state has its own timing requirements for filing claims. If we determine that your case has merit, we will aggressively pursue compensation on your behalf. Thanks to federal law, our clients pay nothing out of pocket, so contact us now for a free consultation.
Not sure you need an attorney? Vehicle manufacturers have top legal teams representing them. So should you. Contact Allen Stewart, P.C. at 866-440-2460 or contact us online.