covid-19 Archives

Motorcycles and COVID-19

Episode 12: On today’s episode, Jim Desmond discusses motorcycles and COVID-19. Right now, in the world, people are struggling with let’s face it, Cabin Fever. With nice weather happening, motorcycle riders are taking full advantage. The biggest concern is now there may be drivers with no insurance or less insurance coverage than before due to lack of working or even lack of driving. When people are not driving, there comes a point of “Why am I paying for insurance that I’m not using?”

The problem with driving a motorcycle is that if there were an accident, the damage will be much greater than if you were hit in a car. It is important to protect yourself by having a policy set in place in case you were to get hit. Motorcycle coverages are treated differently and viewed differently because Kentucky has a no-fault policy. That means motorcycles will not be automatically covered.

There are 3 coverages that protect you as an operator of a motor vehicle. The first is no-fault coverage, which means your medical bills are covered by the vehicle you’re in for up to $10,000 immediately. This could also be loss of wages and other elements. The second is uninsured, which means your company may act like they insured that other driver. Then there is under insured coverage, which means there isn’t enough insurance available via the at-fault drivers’ coverage.

Uninsured or Underinsured coverage on any automobile or motorcycle policy you have on at least $100,000 per person will give your lawyers the tools they need to work with. You should always prepare for the worse case-scenario. There have been many times where the coverage will not match the damage. Most people had to learn the hard way. This is especially true when we consider the unfortunate relationship between motorcycles and COVID-19.

On a motorcycle, no-fault (or PIP coverage) is not automatic. In fact, they penalize motorcyclist. You will have to use your health insurance to get everything covered. The law goes on to say that the motorcyclist driver cannot recover the first $10,000 of their medical bills they treat them as if they are uninsured. The passenger cannot recover the no-fault coverage, but they can have their medical bills covered.

If you ride a motorcycle, you cannot assume any aspect of your automobile insurance will apply. There are often exclusions that may be hard to find on the contract regarding whether the coverage also applies to motorcycles.

If you or a loved one is in a motorcycle accident, it’s important to document everything. Get the contact information of witnesses and take pictures of the accident and maybe even your wounds. If there is a surveillance camera, it is important to try to get the tape. You have 3 claims you can make in a car wreck/motorcycle accident: property damage, medical bills, and pain and suffering.

Remember the key risk between motorcycles and COVID-19 isn’t that you’re going to get sick. It’s that the other drivers on the road may have reduced or cancelled their car insurance in an effort to save money. You are now at a much higher risk of getting stuck with significant medical bills.

For more information about Louisville Personal Injury Attorney Jim Desmond, visit www.AttorneyDesmond.com.

Important Disclaimers:

The information provided on this podcast is for general informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. You should seek the advice of an attorney for guidance related to your specific situation. I am only licensed in Kentucky and Indiana, so the general advice provided may not apply outside of those states.

This podcast maybe freely shared, but may not be the modified or edited in any way. This is an attorney advertisement. Principal office is located in Louisville, KY. Co-host Jim Ray is a non-attorney spokesperson.

Legal Experience Matters: The Importance of Attention to Detail

Episode 11: Louisville personal injury attorney Jim Desmond discuss why he wrote a controversial blog post. He demonstrates why attention to detail matters to him and his clients. A lady called to see if he could help. She had already been turned down by two other larger firms. Jim was able to figure out that actually, a fairly significant case did exist. Let’s talk about why this happens.

Louisville personal injury lawyer discusses why attention to detail matters

Many of the advertising law firms are very competent attorneys. However, when there are a ton of cases coming in, the process matters. Not every case will get the attention it may require. This is especially true if the case isn’t being handled by an actual attorney.

Some television ads mention how a specific firm may have tremendous financial resources to handle your case. That’s true, but it doesn’t matter if the attorney never really gets the time to work on your case. Large marketing budgets and staffs require a tremendous amount of case volume to support those overhead issues.

When an attorney, like Jim Desmond, has the time to investigate the facts and details of your case, there’s a good chance that an effective strategy can be developed, assuming the case itself has merit. Small discrepancies in the facts can lead to significant outcomes. An attorney needs to assess all of the factors, develop a strategy for the case and begin pounding away at the facts of the case. This takes time and attention to execute.

If you’ve been in an accident, the evidence is critical. Photographs, witness statements and other types of evidence help to support your attorney’s argument in the severity of the case, the resulting damages and the value of your case. An experienced personal injury attorney knows how to gather these elements and how to use them. Non-attorney staff members may not have that level of experience.

Jim discusses various ways he handles cases in an effort to maximize the settlement and the funds the client keeps, once all is said and done. This is extremely important when health insurance liens are involved. Kentucky provides no-fault insurance, which should often be reserved to enable other sources of funds to be used before tapping into the no-fault funds, if possible.

The facts of each case are unique to that specific situation. How the case is approached and managed may be very different, because the evidence and the related issues require specific steps to benefit the client’s objectives. A general approach (or template) doesn’t apply. It’s why when handling a legal case, attention to detail matters.

COVID-19 Impacts Law Firms, Too

The system has slowed down for a variety of reasons. However, the process is still moving forward. Staying organized and carefully monitoring the documentation is even more important when others may not be responding as quickly. Let’s be honest, the “normal” way of doing things has been disrupted.

Jim takes specific steps to ensure PPE measures are taken when he’s meeting with clients, during the COVID-19 crisis. Much of the contact can be done over the phone, via mail and other methods. It depends on what the individual client is comfortable with, at this time.

The key is to keep a client informed of the steps that are being taken, behind the scenes. A lot of what goes on may not involve/require direct interaction with the client, but a good attorney will keep the client up to date on what’s going on so they know the case is moving.

For more information about Louisville Personal Injury Attorney Jim Desmond, visit www.AttorneyDesmond.com.

Important Disclaimers:

LMPD May Not Show Up for Your Wreck

LMPD indicated yesterday that they will not be responding to non-injury car wreck and/or hit and run accidents. So, stop and think about the fact that when a car accident happens, you potentially have four claims immediately: 1) a claim for the damage to your vehicle; 2) a claim for the loss of use of your vehicle while it is being repaired or because it was a total loss; 3) a claim for any medical bills stemming from any injuries sustained in the car wreck and; 4) a claim for your pain and suffering. Even though LMPD may not show up, you should be proactive.

For the moment, just concentrate on 1 & 2 and realize that without a police report, YOU have the burden on obtaining detailed information so that you can get your car fixed! As a result, let’s discuss what steps YOU need to take as a consumer should you be in a car accident.

If there is not going to be a police report, the biggest change is realizing that the burden of getting detailed information about the car accident will fall to you! So, remember the old phrase that a picture is worth 1,000 words! The easiest way to gather information is to pull out your smart phone and go crazy by capturing the information through photographs.

What kind of information do you need?

Where did the car wreck happen? Insurance carriers will want street names, cross-streets. You should note any landmarks that might be useful later on. Make a note as to which direction both drivers were traveling and on what street. Take photographs of the street signs.
Take photographs of the location of the vehicles and the damaged area of each vehicle. Take a picture of the license plate of the other vehicle. For a Kentucky plate, we can run the license plate through the County Clerk and find out the insurance information for the last time that vehicle was registered.
You are going to want the name, phone number and address of the other driver(s). You can find liability insurance for a car wreck on the driver of a vehicle or on the vehicle itself. As a result, you will want to know 4) does the other driver own the car they were operating? If not, get the name, address and phone number of the vehicle’s owner.

Be Proactive at the Crash Scene, Because LMPD May Not Show Up.

Get the name and policy number of the other driver’s insurance carrier. When I call a claim into an insurance company, the first issue is can we locate an insurance policy on the at-fault driver. As a result, the more information I have, the better. So, take a picture of the at-fault driver’s license plate, insurance card, the vin number of the vehicle and the make and model of the vehicle. Correct, some of this may be overkill and you may not need to take all these steps. However, realize that without a police report, your personal injury claim against the at-fault driver will turn into an uninsured motorist claim against your own insurance carrier unless we know who hit you and who they are insured with. On that note, recall that Kentucky uninsured motorist coverage does not cover your vehicle; you need collision coverage for the property damage claim. So again, the lessen is go overboard on getting the information while you can so you can get your car repaired.
For a hit and run accident, remember the law does not want me to hit a tree and then have a personal injury claim because I said someone ran me off the road. As a result, the law essentially requires contact between the two vehicles. Now, because LMPD may not show up, you need to create documentation. So, if you are involved in a hit and run car wreck and can’t get a police report, take a bunch of photographs. Take photographs of the damage to your car and the accident scene while at the scene of the wreck.
Look for surveillance video that may have captured the car wreck at the surrounding businesses. It has become a regular part of my legal practice to look for videos of the car wreck. Why? Because when someone tries to argue my client was at fault for the car wreck, it is the best way to prove otherwise.
Insurance carriers are going to be more likely to ask you to give a recorded statement if there is not a police report. Insurance companies have to investigate a claim, even property damage, and a recorded statement is one way to do that. While I am not a fan of recorded statements, they do seem more necessary when there is no police report. As a result, my advice to you is to remember what you hear on television, “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a Court of law.” So, don’t minimize your injuries and don’t guess at facts you don’t know. Usually, I like my clients to give the recorded statement to their own insurance carrier and then get that insurance carrier to share the statement with the at-fault driver’s carrier. Also, more importantly, if you did your job and collected a bunch of photographs, get those photographs to both insurance carriers. It may prevent the need for a recorded statement.

For additional information, you can listen to my podcast episode on What to Do after a Car Wreck. It provides some additional tips for your consideration.

I hope this article provides you with with some valuable information you and your loved ones my need, during the next few weeks and/or months, especially because LMPD may not show up. If you need to speak with me, you can call my cell phone at (502) 609-7657. Please drive safely.

Tag: covid-19