Injured By A Defective Rental Car, $1600 Lost Wages, And The Company’s ‘risk Team’ Keeps Ghosting Me — What Are My Options?

Location: California

I rented a car from a major rental company. While opening the trunk normally, one of the lift supports snapped out, hit my hand hard enough to send me to the ER, and damaged the car. I got an X-ray and a tetanus shot. The doctor didn’t think it was broken, but I couldn’t wait hours for the final read because I was leaving for work in another state.

Because of this, I lost two days of well-paid work (about $1,600). At first, my main concern was making sure the company didn’t charge me for the damage since it was clearly a faulty part, but I did also report the injury.

It’s now been almost a month. I’m still in a lot of pain. I’ve regained some mobility, but I can’t use the injured finger for anything requiring pressure or grip — I can’t even tie my shoes the normal way. At the time, I thought the pain was just from swelling (as the ER doctor said), but now I’m worried. I have a follow-up appointment on the 10th.

The company told me someone from their risk management team would call me, but no one has followed up. I've called back three times (once to make sure I wasn't going to be charged for the damage, since they sent me a bill) but despite being told it would only be a few days until I got a call back, it's been over 2 weeks.

So:
- Should I be contacting them in a specific way?
- Do I need a lawyer to deal with this?
- If I do, what would I even ask for (lost wages, ongoing injury, etc.)?

For now, I don’t have medical bills, but that could change depending on what the doctor says.
I did call a lawyer in my area to get a consult, but their receptionist said they wouldn't even be interested in talking to me and at the time I thought my hand would be better soon so I haven't reached out to anyone else.