Car Wrecks Archives - Page 11 of 12 - Attorney Jim Desomond

The Three Most Important Types of Insurance for a Motorcycle or Car Wreck!

I am going to make this blog short as I have preached about this subject a 100 times over. However, I still believe that this is one of the most important issues facing any personal injury claim stemming from a car wreck or a motorcycle accident.

In short, I settled a personal injury claim this week for the maximum insurance coverage on several different insurance policies. The problem is that the medical bills, incurred by my client even though he did not cause the wreck, exceeded the maximum amount of insurance we could recover. In addition, I spoke to a single mother who was very savvy on financial issues but rides a motorcycle regularly. So of course, I had to lecture her about the proper insurance coverage and how a serious motorcycle wreck could alter her financial planning. Lastly, I signed up a gentleman today that was able to return to work after the car wreck but I am concerned that his arm may be fractured and he may need surgery to one of his knees.

All these examples illustrate that if you are lucky enough to be hit by a UPS truck, a personal injury lawyer may be able to recover the maximum value of your pain and suffering claim. However, if you were hit by someone driving an 1980 Ford Pinto, even a good personal injury lawyer will be stretching a dollar bill in 30 different directions to recover a fraction of what your claim is worth.

Very simply, on every car or motorcycle insurance policy that you or your family has, make sure you have at least $100,000 per person of Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. While I practice law in Kentucky and Indiana, this advice really applies on a nationwide basis. Further, keep in mind that should you travel outside your home state and be involved in a car wreck, the protection of this insurance follows you. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you need:

$100,000 per person of Uninsured Motorist Coverage;

$100,000 per person of Underinsured Motorist Coverage and;

$30,000 of no-fault or med-pay coverage.

Should you settle a personal injury claim immediately after a car wreck?

Hmm? Good question. Nine of ten times I have to tell a client “No!” Today, to my own surprise, I had to suggest to a client that she accept an early settlement of her personal injury claim.

I represented this lady for another car wreck about six months back and she was just involved in a second car wreck over this last weekend. In short, I did some investigation and all indications were that the at-fault driver was not insured. As a result, we opened an uninsured motorist claim with my client’s own insurance carrier and a no-fault claim.[1] The problem is that the uninsured motorist coverage would cover only her pain and suffering; it does not cover the damage to her vehicle. [2]

To my surprise, the Uninsured Motorist Carrier made an unsolicited offer on her personal injury claim during out first phone call with us. Admittedly, it was a good offer. I was not going to charge this client an attorney’s fee on this second wreck because she had been responsible for several other people using my law office. Also, since she did not have collision coverage and the at-fault driver was uninsured, she was without the money to purchase a new vehicle. Consequently, while it was my client’s decision, I had to admit that I thought she ought to accept the offer from the insurance carrier. However, there were some caveats she needed to be aware of.

First, when she accepted the settlement, her personal injury claim was over and done with. So if she found out that this car wreck injured her back in such a manner that she needed surgery two months from now, she would be unable to recover anything further. Second, the settlement had to be exclusive of the no-fault benefits. In short, this allowed her to have her medical bills, paid by her own insurance company, up to the $10,000 limit. Lastly, we made sure to add language to the release that made it clear she could still recover for the damage to her car should the at-fault driver prove to have insurance coverage after all.

Just to be clear, there is not a hard and fast line to knowing when to settle a personal injury claim. Just make sure you know all your legal rights first and that you are comfortable with the fact that it is a “Full and Final” settlement of your legal rights even if your arm falls off tomorrow because of the car wreck.

[1] If the wreck had occurred in Indiana, we would have opened a med-pay claim and an uninsured motorist claim.

[2] In Indiana, uninsured motorist coverage may cover the damage to the vehicle depending upon how the insurance policy is written.

Two days in a row State Farm’s claim number says “We are too busy. Call back another day.”

Two days in a row, State Farm’s phone system says “We are experiencing extremely high call volume, please call back another day.”

Really? If these companies are going to spend all this money on advertising to get you to insure with them, they can at least make sure they have the proper means of addressing your personal injury claim.

Kentucky Car Wrecks: Having To Use Your Car Insurance to Pay Your Medical Bills

I signed up a mother injured in a car wreck in Louisville, Kentucky last week. The problem is that the mother was driving a car owned by her daughter. Consequently, even though the driver/client was not at fault in causing the car wreck, I have to use the daughter’s automobile insurance to pay my client’s medical bills. This is why they call Kentucky a no-fault state. It does not mean that you can’t make a claim for pain and suffering against the at-fault driver. Rather, it means that the car insurance for the vehicle you are riding in is responsible for the first $10,000 of your medical bills and lost wages, regardless of how the car wreck occurs. As a result, I have dealt with several phones calls this morning from both the mother and daughter addressing their concern about using their own car insurance when the mother did nothing to cause the wreck.

The idea behind Kentucky no-fault law is that I should not have to prove fault for an automobile accident in order to get the medical treatment I need. As a result, the Kentucky statutes made this kind of coverage automatic. In essence, when you are involved in a motor vehicle accident in Kentucky whether you were or were not at fault for causing the wreck, you are immediately entitled to $10,000 of medical expense and lost wage coverage. So when you see attorneys advertise that they can immediately get you $10,000 on your personal injury claim, now you know what they are referring to. They are misconstruing the law for the purposes of an advertisement. You don’t get the $10,000 but rather, the insurance carrier has to provide you with medical expense and lost wage coverage up to that amount.

Kentucky law goes on to say that in exchange for that coverage, you give up the right the right to recover the first $10,000 of medical bills and lost wages from the at-fault driver. That legal right of recovery becomes the right of insurance carrier who is responsible for your medical bills and lost wages. If you think about it, it only makes sense. If we are going to obligate the no-fault carrier to pay your medical bills, they should have the right to recover any amounts paid. However, it is for this reason that you do not have a choice but to use your own car insurance to pursue your personal injury claim.

For example, if I submit a personal injury claim on behalf of my client and he has $5,000 worth of medical bills and I want another $6,000 for his pain and suffering claim for a total of $11,000, the insurance company will still only offer me $6,000 at best for my client’s pain and suffering claim. Why? Because they know that it is not my client’s right to recover the first $10,000 in medical bills but rather, it is the right of the no-fault carrier. They also know that if they paid me the full $11,000 on the claim, Kentucky law would still allow my client to make a no-fault claim for the $5,000 in medical bills. Then the no-fault carrier would have the right to recover the $5,000 they paid from the at-fault insurance carrier that now would have paid out a total of $16,000 on the claim when they should only have had to pay out $11,000.

I understand that is complicated. In essence, for a Kentucky motor vehicle wreck, the at-fault carrier will not agree to pay the first $10,000 of your medical expenses as part of your pain and suffering claim because of the risk that they might have to pay these bills twice. Consequently, to not use my client’s no-fault insurance would mean that I could not recover some of the medical bills that compose their personal injury claim. So yes, even though my client did not cause any part of the car wreck, I have to use her own car insurance or I cannot recover fully on her personal injury claim.

A topic for another day is Indiana law in regard to car wrecks and medical bills. In essence, Indiana law does it just the opposite and all medical expenses are considered part of the personal injury settlement.

How to Discuss your Personal Injury Claim with your lawyer.

I had a phone call earlier today from a young man who had been hurt in an automobile accident in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He already had a personal injury lawyer so I was limited in what information I could tell him. However, I knew this personal injury lawyer from when I went to law school in Lexington and I knew he had a good reputation among the attorneys in Warren County. Moreover, from the information he was telling me, I could tell that this injury attorney was properly handling the personal injury claim. Nevertheless, the young man’s phone call was justified as he was not receiving an adequate explanation as to the steps involved in the handling of a personal injury claim.

I get it. Lawyers are busy people who are constantly being pulled in five different directions. Also, even though my injured clients can contact me on my phone through texts and calls, none of us are perfect in keeping our clients informed all the time. However, you as a consumer and as the injured victim of a car wreck, have legal rights.

When you hire a personal injury lawyer, you effectively turn the handling of those legal rights over to his/her care. My point is that every person injured in a car wreck has the right to know the status of their personal injury claim stand and the game plan is for the ultimate resolution of that injury claim. I don’t care if the car wreck happens in Bowling Green, Louisville or New Albany, Indiana. All car wrecks share some common elements:

1) Who was at fault for the car wreck and what evidence do we have to prove fault?

2) By whom and how are my medical bills and lost wages going to be paid?

3) How long do I have to present my personal injury claim?

4) Can my personal injury claim be settled without a lawsuit or will I have to prove the other driver was negligent and responsible for my damages?

If you have been involved in a car wreck and whether you are representing yourself or have hired a personal injury lawyer, you need to know the answers to these questions. You are paying a personal injury lawyer the same contingency fee, usually 33.33% of the total amount recovered on your personal injury claim, whether you meet with him 1 time or 100 times. Why not make sure he has told you what you need to know so you can feel confident as to the handling of the legal claim and concentrate on getting the medical treatment you need.

Category: Car Wrecks

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