Insurance

What should you do following a car accident?

January 18, 2021 Andrew Cherin Bike Accidents, Car Accidents, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Passengers, Pedestrians, Tips

Many people wonder what is the best thing to do after a car accident to help preserve their case and make sure they are crossing their T’s and dotting their I’s. Here are the top things you should do following a car accident to make sure everything goes smoothly in case you have a personal injury car accident case and need to hire a Seattle car accident injury lawyer.

Take pictures of the car accident – there is nothing more telling of how a car accident actually happened then a picture of where each car is right after the car accident and the damage to each car. Make sure to take pictures of the road, your car’s placement, the other car’s placement, and the damage to each car. These pictures can tell who is at fault, how hard the impact was, and the conditions of the road at the time of the collision.

2. Get witness contact information – some times car accidents may seem cut and dry but that all can change when the other driver talks to their insurance company. A witness who saw the car accident that may be in another car or a pedestrian can help convey what actually happened in the car accident and who had the red light or who had the right of way. Getting their phone number could be the difference in who is deemed at fault. These people may leave once they see everyone is ok or have things under control so it is important to look for these people quickly.

3. Call the police – it’s not always necessary to have the police come to a car accident and exchanging information may work just fine, however, it is important to call and file a police report if you are hit by someone and they leave the scene without exchanging insurance information or they don’t have insurance, as you may need to by contract law due to your car insurance and uninsured motorist policy, that you will need to use. Police reports are not 100% determinant of who is at fault for a car accident as the police did not actually see the car accident happen, however, they can act as another witness who saw the scene of the car accident and collects witness information and insurance information strengthening your case.

4. Exchange information with the other driver – It is very important to get the other person’s insurance information at the scene of the car accident. If the person says they don’t want to go the insurance route, you should push for their insurance. Not going the insurance route can severely hurt your case if you are injured and need to find the person to determine if they actually had insurance so that you can use your uninsured motorist insurance policy to cover your damages.

Most people try to avoid insurance because they don’t want to hurt the other driver financially, but this is the reason everyone has insurance so they don’t have to pay anything more than their premium every month or 6 months. Not going the insurance route only hurts the injured victim and doesn’t save the other person money, who otherwise would have only had to pay an increase in premium for a car accident that was their fault. You pay more going this route as it is much harder to for you to get your bills paid timely and get the compensation you need and deserve for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property damage caused by the other person in the car accident.

5. Call an ambulance or take yourself to urgent care – If you are injured in the car accident, it’s important to get checked out by a doctor immediately to make sure you are ok. Car accidents can cause severe injuries to your neck, brain, and other parts of your body that need to get checked out right away. It’s best to go to urgent care right after a car accident if possible to get checked out. You can go the next day if it is too late at night. Urgent care usually has less people and can get you evaluated quicker than the emergency room. If your car is not driveable and you are severely hurt, call and ambulance immediately.

6. Call a Seattle car accident injury lawyer – It is important to preserve your case and make sure everything is in line and a Seattle car accident injury lawyer can make sure you are doing everything necessary with your insurance company to do this. Additionally, the defendant’s insurance will not pay for your medical bills until you settle with them (unless you were a pedestrian, bicyclist, or passenger and the at fault driver had personal injury protection (PIP) auto insurance coverage), this is why it is extremely important to know how your medical bills are going to be paid without having them go to collections and have a plan. A personal injury lawyer will be able to give you all the options to make sure your medical bills get paid or are not sent to collections. Options include using your car insurance personal injury protection (PIP) policy to pay for your medical bills, medical insurance, or having the provider wait to get paid out of the settlement.

7. Call your insurance company and report accident – It’s very important that you report the car accident to your own insurance company to set up your claim and document your case. You most likely have insurance coverage that you will need to use to help your case so you need to report it to your insurance company. Your rates should not go up because of a car accident that was not your fault. If for some reason they try to say that your rates are going up, you should talk to an agent on the phone and tell them you are going to go to another insurance company. I am sure they will change their minds and keep your rates the same, they want your premium every month.

If you or someone you know were injured in a car accident, give Cherin Law Firm, PLLC a call today for a free consultation on the phone 206 850-6716.

How to settle a car accident injury case?

June 26, 2018 Andrew Cherin Bike Accidents, Car Accidents, Insurance, Tips

If you are injured in a car accident, your focus is being torn many different ways. You have to focus on setting up medical appointments, go to medical appointments, do the treatment, fill out insurance claim information, get a hold of insurance adjusters to get your claims paid, call places to get your car repaired, get your car repaired, answer phone calls from insurance companies trying to settle your case when you are not ready, and live your normal busy life.

Dealing with insurance companies is no fun and by hiring a personal injury lawyer, you can relax and trust that your going to be getting the max amount for your case and your medical bills are getting paid or will be paid soon. It takes the guessing game out of so much of your case allowing you to focus on healing and living your life, which is already a lot to do.

What if you wanted to settle your case on your own with hiring a Seattle car accident injury lawyer? You can absolutely do this, even though studies have shown that hiring a personal injury lawyer will put more money in your pocket than negotiating on your own. Here are some tips on settling your car accident injury case on your own.

Know the statute of limitations – This is the amount of time you have to settle your case before you will lose your rights. In Seattle and Washington State, you have three (3) years to settle or file a lawsuit on your car accident injury case. This varies from state to state and type of injuries, like medical mal practice, so check your state laws.
When should you start settling your case? – You should start settling your case when you are fully healed and done with treatment or you are close to the statute of limitations. The reason for this is because you want to know how much it is going to cost to get you back to normal. For Seattle cases, you can afford to wait to get all the treatment that you need because the statute of limitations is three (3) years. In other states, you may have to settle your case before you are done with treatment. Waiting until you are fully healed will allow you to collect all your medical bills, receipts for medications, and figure out your lost wages.
Know what you are entitled to – You are entitled to compensation for your medical bills, prescription costs, costs of help or assistance you required while you were healing, lost wages, future lost wages, compensation for disability, and pain and suffering among other things. If you do not hire a car accident injury lawyer and your insurance company paid for your medical bills, your insurance company will collect the medical bills that they paid directly from the at fault insurance company and this will not be part of what you recover. However, if you had to pay co-pays for your doctors visits, keep track of these and include them in the settlement demand.
What do you send to the insurance company? – You are going to create an insurance demand to send to the adjuster representing the defendant who caused your car accident. You should collect all your medical records and bills from all of your treatment providers. Once you have them all, you should write a letter to the insurance company that summarizes what you went through in the eyes of the doctors and yourself. You should find key dates in your medical records that state times where you were in a lot of pain and not the dates in the letter and state what you felt. You should note key dates when your doctors diagnosed you with a certain injury and write that in the letter. You should also include your lost wage information like pay stubs from weeks you missed and letters from human resources stating you missed these dates.
How much should I ask for? – Generally, insurance companies are going to offer you something very low to begin with in an effort to anchor your expectations to a lower number. You should combat this by starting very high, but not too high where they laugh you out of the conversation and stop dealing with you. You want to create a figure that you feel happy with accepting for what you had to go with as your middle ground between what you start off with and where they start off with, so start with a high offer above what you want to accept.

After you send this letter, the insurance adjuster will go through all the medical records and bills and review your demand. They will then put certain information into a computer system program that will spit out negotiation numbers for them to start with and the most they should pay. This computer program varies by insurance company but is relatively the same. It may take them a couple weeks to get back to you with their offer.

They will then send you a counter offer, this is not the most they can offer not matter what they say. They have more money available for you and are expecting you to counter their offer to you. You can either call them back and negotiate on the phone or send them another offer by email, fax, or mail. Negotiations with insurance companies can last weeks or months depending on the insurance adjuster and you.

Some insurance adjusters are easy to work with and you can negotiate a good offer within a couple phone calls to them. Other insurance adjusters are very difficult to work with and can be very nasty and bossy. The mean insurance adjusters will berate you are your case and offer you little or nothing. Don’t let them get to you. Continue to be polite but forceful and never attack them personally. Continue to ask for what you deserve and lower your number until you are within striking distance of your goal settlement. This is all easier said than done and you may feel like giving in, but don’t.

If you feel like you are getting no where and you are tired of dealing with nasty insurance adjusters, give a Seattle personal injury lawyer a call for a free consultation. We can take over and re-evaluate your case value and send another demand out. We can advocate for you and file a lawsuit if we do not get anywhere either.

Car Insurance Tracking Your Driving?

June 1, 2018 Andrew Cherin Car Accidents, Insurance

Is it worth giving your data to the insurance company for a discount on insurance? Maybe. It all depends on what they are doing with your data, which for the most part is unknown. Are they selling your data to ad companies or are they trying to use the data against you? Maybe they just want to make sure you are a safe driver and have altruistic reasons. Maybe not. They are a business with the number one goal being to make money, after all.

Car insurance companies have been offering discounts for years for allowing them to hack into your car and track your driving. Progressive Insurance company started doing this in 1998 with the snapshot insurance discount. Other insurance companies have followed suit and offer discounts for using the tracking device, Allstate uses drive wise.

Insurance companies will offer a discount if they deem your driving has been safe. Some companies require you to use the device for 90 days, 180 days, or all the time, in order to get the discount on insurance policies.

These devices are either plugged directly into your cars computer system or use a smartphone app to track your driving. The device can monitor your speed, location, braking, and more. Generally, the insurance company is looking to see if you are speeding regularly or braking hard, which may indicate you are not paying attention to the road. It can also see if you roll through stop signs as most of these companies hook the technology up to GPS systems to show mapping of traffic lights and stop signs.

Additionally, the GPS system can track your whereabouts and if you drive in “high risk areas” that are prone to break ins. It also tracks if you drive at night, which can be seen as a risk by insurance companies.

Insurance companies have wide discretion to determine whether or not someone has a driving record based on the information from the tracking device to warrant a discount in insurance. They can site whatever they want really and may not give you a discount.

What could be good about using these trackers is that they possibly could be used to determine who was at fault for a car accident or not. They could show position, speed, and braking to give more information to a he said she said argument. However, it is unknown how trustworthy these tracking devices actually are.

An insurance company could also just as easily use this device to say that you were at fault for a car accident and deny your insurance claim based solely on the data they can interpret and mold. This could cost you a lot of money in a personal injury case where you were severely injured in a car accident caused by a hit and run, only to have your insurance company deny your case because of their data on the car.

If you are injured in a car accident, whether it is a first party claim using your own insurance company because the other party did not have insurance or a third party insurance claim where they have insurance, you should hire a Seattle car accident injury lawyer. That way you are not bullied by insurance companies and their games. Get what you deserve, not what insurance companies want to pay you.

Seattle Car Accident Injury Case with Pemco

May 14, 2018 Andrew Cherin Car Accidents, Insurance, Tips

If you are injured in a car accident with someone who has Pemco insurance, here are some things you should know before settling your case.

Pemco is in the business of making money.

They are not in the business of handing out money they don’t have to. If you are injured in a car accident and representing yourself, you are going to be fighting an uphill battle. They have the money and you have not experience negotiating about how much an injury case is worth. Therefore, they are only going to offer and pay you what they want to pay you, not what you deserve.

Pemco is only going to pay for your medical bills once you settle with them.

This can be problematic for people that do not have a lawyer and do not have PIP insurance. PIP insurance is an auto policy that you can purchase that will pay for your medical bills while you wait to settle your case with Pemco.

What can you do if Pemco is not paying for your medical bills?

Pemco will generally only offer to pay for your bills right now if you qualify for their PIP insurance under the defendant’s policy. Generally, the only way you can qualify for their PIP insurance is if you were hit by their insured while riding a bike, walking across a street, or as a passenger of their insured. You can use your PIP insurance, medical insurance, or pay back your medical providers on a lien out of the settlement.

Do not settle your car accident injury case with Pemco until you are fully healed or the extent of your injuries are known.

Pemco will pressure you into settling your case early by telling you that they will not pay anything more so you better take the money they are offering now even though you are not done with your medical treatment. Tell them you do not want to talk to them until you are fully healed. In Washington State, you have three (3) years to settle your case so there is generally a lot of time to heal after a car accident and not feel pressured to settle by Pemco.

How much is your case worth against Pemco in a car accident in Seattle?

Generally, you are entitled to pain and suffering, medical bill compensation, and lost wages, among other things. The best way to maximize the value of your case against Pemco is to hire a Seattle car accident injury lawyer. Hiring a lawyer does not mean that you will have to file a lawsuit, contrary to many beliefs. It does mean maximizing your case value by have an lawyer who only negotiates car accident injury settlements, negotiate your settlement and lower your medical bills.

Hiring a Seattle personal injury lawyer is easy and costs you nothing.

Personal injury lawyers are paid out of the settlement and studies show that people that hire a car accident injury lawyer for their case put twice as much money in their pocket as those who do not hire a lawyer and try to settle on their own, even after lawyers fees are taken out.

What to do after being injured in a car accident?

May 10, 2018 Andrew Cherin Car Accidents, Insurance, PIP, Tips

If you have been injured in a Seattle area car accident, you can quickly become overwhelmed with paper work from your insurance company and the defendants insurance company. You may have a lot of questions such as: Who should repair your car? Who should pay for your medical bills? Whose claim number should you use to give to your chiropractor or physical therapist?

Who should repair your car?

Generally, you can go with the defendant’s insurance company to repair your car and you will generally be treated fairly. However, there are a couple conditions for this statement. If your car has minimal damage, you may want to consider having your own insurance company cover the damages to your car.

The reason for this is because you do not want the other company to get the advantage of seeing your car when you can’t see their car’s damage, which may show much more than the damage to your car. Bumpers are solid and made to absorb impact but front ends of car are generally not as well protected, so your car may show little to no damage while their car shows a lot, which can be misleading showing a low impact. Low impact cases will limit the value of your case without a lawyer.

Another reason, is if your car is fairly new with very little mileage on it. If your car has very little mileage and is less than one year old, you are entitled to a diminished value claim which can be worth a few thousand dollars. You will want to have an attorney representing you for this portion of your case if you have a new car.

What claim number should you give your medical providers?

You should never give the defendant’s claim number to your chiropractor, physical therapists, etc. This gives the defendant insurance company and early view of your case and may increase phone calls pressuring you to settle your case. Only give your PIP claim number or medical insurance information to your medical providers.

Who should pay for your medical bills?

The defendant’s insurance company will pay for your medical bills, eventually. However, they will not pay for your medical bills up front unless you are hit by a car as a pedestrian, bicyclist, or were riding passenger in a car that was at fault for a collision. You must wait until you are fully healed and then the defendant’s insurance will settle with you for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering in one lump sum. They will never pay for you medical bills as you go and your bills will be sent to collections.

Who pays your medical bills right now then?

You have a couple of options to pay for your medical bills including your auto insurance policy persona injury protection plan, medical insurance, or pay them back on a lien basis out of the settlement.

Personal injury protection is an auto insurance policy that you can elect to have or not. Generally, it is $10,000 but some people elect to pay a little more for higher limits. Personal injury protection will cover your medical bills and lost wages. You do not need to have a referral from a medical doctor to see a physical therapist, chiropractor, etc., when using PIP, although it may help with your overall case.

Chiropractors can refer you to physical therapists, take x-rays, refer out for MRI’s, and refer you out to specialists. This is why starting with a chiropractor can be an excellent first stop to start your healing process after a car accident.

Medical insurance can be used for your car accident injury case to pay for medical bills right now while you are waiting to settle your case. Medical insurance often covers large hospital bills and other doctors’ appointments. However, medical insurance is not taken by some chiropractors. Additionally, most insurance plans do not include massage therapy or acupuncture, two types of therapy that really help people injured in car accidents heal faster.

Medical liens are a good option for those who do not have personal injury protection on their auto policy nor have medical insurance that is accepted by chiropractors, physical therapists, massage therapists, etc. Most medical providers will allow you to obtain medical treatment on a lien basis as long as you have an attorney representing you for your car accident injury case. The medical providers will want you and your attorney to sign a lien that guarantees payment out of the settlement.

If you have any questions about your car accident injury case, please do not hesitate to reach out to me for a free consultation (206) 850-6716 or [email protected]. Hiring a personal injury lawyer does not mean filing a lawsuit but does mean maximizing the value of your case. Most cases do not need to go to trial but can be settled outside of court and usually within a couple months of you completing your treatment.

Drunk Driving Car Accidents

April 20, 2018 Andrew Cherin Car Accidents, Drunk Driving Cases, Insurance, Liability

Being injured in a Seattle car accident with a drunk driver can have life altering consequences. In the flash of an eye, the drunk driver can seriously alter the course of someone’s life and their family’s lives as well.

Drunk driving is a serious issue even today with all of the potential ways to get home besides driving themselves, like Uber, Lyft, Lightrail, the bus, etc. There are too many options to make the excuse that someone had to drive home from the bar or club when they were drunk. This excuse is inexcusable.

How to recover against a drunk driver?

If you are injured in a car accident with a drunk driver, you can make a claim against their insurance company. The minimum limits on insurance coverage in Seattle is $25,000, hardly enough to even cover one hospital bill.

With some statistics showing nearly 50% of people driving around with bare minimum or no insurance coverage, everyone should get uninsured or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage added to your policy today. UIM insurance stands in and covers the additional damages that you suffered that were not covered by the policy of the drunk driver. This can cover lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering, etc. Depending on how much coverage you buy, this could significantly help you if you are hit by a drunk driver.

What if the defendant and your UIM insurance is not enough?

Drunk driving car accidents cause drastic injuries that can have $500,000 in medical bills alone. If you or the defendant don’t have combined car insurance policies of $1,000,000 or more, you probably are not getting completely compensated for your injuries.

In the likely event that there is not enough insurance coverage to go around, you may have to look for other avenues to obtain compensation for your injuries. If other cars were involved, you may have another avenue to pursue that car’s insurance coverage.

Bars and restaurants can be liable for their drunk drivers

However, a more likely source of recovery is the bar or bars that the defendant who was drunk driving got hammered at. Bars are liable for over serving alcohol to people that are obviously intoxicated. The reason is that bars are making money off of selling lots and lots of alcohol, often taking advantage of people who are too drunk to understand when they have had too much to drink.

The state of Washington, like many other states, believes that bar owners and serves should prevent people from getting too drunk to drive. In Washington state, the legal blood alcohol limit is .08, which can be as little as two alcoholic drinks. Many people drink far more than two alcoholic drinks when they frequent a bar.

To make bar owners and servers more responsible so they don’t take advantage of drunk people and to keep drunk drivers off the road, the state of Washington created a statute which holds bars responsible for their patrons who get too drunk and hit someone while drunk driving. This is called the dram shop statute.

What is the dram shop statute?

The dram shop statute states that bars must refuse to serve people that are obviously intoxicated or they will be responsible for injuries that are caused by the drunk driver. The state requires training for bar tenders to detect over intoxicated patrons.

Bars are jointly and severely liable for the injuries caused by drunk drivers that got drunk at their bar. This means that the bar can be responsible for 100% of the damages that are caused despite the other person’s fault in driving drunk.

Bars in Seattle are generally required to have a minimum of $1,000,000 in liability insurance for these very reasons.

Dram shop cases are very tough and require a lot of investigation to determine that someone was over served while at a certain bar. However, most people go to bars or clubs with friends. There will be witnesses to see how drunk someone was at the bar or club and someone saw them continue to be able to buy drinks besides obvious signs of intoxication.

Witnesses are hard to find and their testimony may become vague or clouded over time. For these reasons, it is important to hire a Seattle personal injury lawyer as soon as possible in order to collect and preserve vital evidence to your injury case. Call today for a free consultation (206) 850-6716 or email [email protected]

Motorcycle cut off and crashes, who is at fault?

April 18, 2018 Andrew Cherin Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents

If you are injured in a motorcycle accident in Seattle, you should hire a Seattle personal injury lawyer to look into the facts of your case. Most insurance companies are biased against motorcycle riders and feel like they are unsafe people in general. However, this is not the case. Motorcyclists are just like every other person who enjoys the freedom of driving with the wind in their hair/helmet.

Motorcycle riders are susceptible to greater injuries than car drivers in car accidents

Motorcyclists are also far more vulnerable to being severely injured in a car accident. Motorcyclists are more prone to being injured in a car accident because they do not have the safety equipment like a seat, head rest, insulation of a big car, safety belt, and windows from protecting them. Motorcyclists are prone to being thrown from their bike if they are in a car accident, which is the equivalent of being thrown through a windshield in a car accident.

Motorcyclists are susceptible to aggressive drivers – who are at fault for car accidents

Motorcyclists are just like all other drivers on the road, plus a little more maneuverability. However, when someone cuts off a motorcyclist, they cannot merely slam on their brakes and be ok. When a motorcycle slams on its brakes, it severely increases the ability of the driver to be thrown over the handle bars or the bike from sliding out. This means if a car drives in front of a car at the last second and the rider ditches their bike or falls off, the car that cut off the biker is at fault for any resulting injuries to the motorcyclist.

Motorcycles are hard to see but it is not their fault

Some people claim that motorcycles are hard to see so they cannot be at fault for cutting off a motorcycle, illegally changing lanes in front of them, or coming into contact with them on a lane chance. Not heading the right of way to a motorcycle driver while going down the street is not a good excuse for car drivers who cause a motorcycle driver to fall off their bike and crash. The car driver will be at fault 100% of the time.

Motorcycle riders need help collecting evidence

Being injured in a motorcycle accident can leave the driver of the bike unconscious, whereby they cannot defend themselves if the other driver says the motorcycle driver was driving too fast, speeding, etc. that caused them not to see the motorcycle. There is a bias against motorcycles that are street bikes because people believe these people are racing at all times. This could not be further from the truth. However, this is why it is important for motorcycle riders to have mounted cameras on their bikes to act as an independent witness in case no one sees the motorcycle accident.

If you are injured in a motorcycle accident, contact a Seattle motorcycle accident injury lawyer today for a free consultation. We are paid out of the settlement so there are never any out of pocket fee costs to you. Call today (206) 850-6716.

Why you should use your insurance in a car accident?

April 12, 2018 Andrew Cherin Car Accidents, Insurance

I have heard it a thousand times, people believe that it is not good to use their own insurance in a car accident injury case. They want to go through the other party’s insurance to repair their car. This is not a good idea, especially if you are injured in the car accident.

You have car insurance for this very reason, yet many people want to not get their insurance involved because they believe that their insurance premiums will go up to a point where they cannot afford.

New flash: your insurance company will get wind of your car accident one way or another. Insurance companies like to talk and chances are the defendant’s insurance will report that you were in a car accident. Your insurance will get wind of it one way or another.

If your insurance company wants to raise your rates because you were injured in a car accident caused by someone else, that is a problem with the company and not you. You should find another company if this is the case. How dare you use your insurance for something that you pay a premium to them every month for! Trust me, there are many insurance companies out there that want your premium every month and they will charge you less than what your insurance company charges.

Here are the three reasons you want to use your insurance for a car accident injury case:

Your insurance company has an obligation to treat you fair: This means that they cannot play games with evaluating you and your injuries. The other insurance company has no obligation to you and will try to convince you to drop your claim against them or diminish it as much as possible.
The other insurance company will get an unfair look at your car damage and not give you the same courtesy: Often times in a car accident, the car that rear ends another car often has much more damage then the car that they hit. This is because rear car bumpers are generally much sturdier than the front bumper, which also house the hood and lights. If they have your damages and your car didn’t suffer much, they may try to claim a low impact case without revealing their insured’s major damages, which can pigeon hole your case and make you settle for much less than you deserve.
You pay a lot of money in premiums to cover your car repair and medical damages with PIP premiums, why not use it? You should go through your own insurance company to pay for your medical bills because the other insurance company will not pay for your medical bills until you settle your case with them. This means that your hospital bill will go to collections and you may not be able to use your medical insurance to cover physical therapy, chiropractor, and massage therapy that you need. However, PIP covers all of these expenses immediately so that your bills do not go to collections and you can get the treatment you need now.
PIP puts money in your pocket: If you use your PIP to pay for your medical bills and hire a Seattle personal injury lawyer to represent you in your car accident injury case, you will get more money in your pocket. This is because your car accident injury lawyer will be able to lower the amount you owe back in medical bills to insurance companies if you use your own PIP, which you wouldn’t get if you didn’t have a lawyer. The other insurance company would just pay back the other insurance company directly for the bills.

If you have been injured in a car accident, you can give Chern Law Firm a call today for a free consultation. Cherin Law Firm charges on a contingency fee, which means that we do not get paid unless you recover money. We do not charge you out of your own pocket. We are paid out of the settlement that the insurance company pays.

When to use your insurance and when to use the defendant’s?

April 3, 2018 Andrew Cherin Car Accidents, Insurance

There seems to be a lot of misguided information and confusion around the topic of whose insurance you should use following a car accident injury case to pay for your medical bills. Mistakenly, many people don’t want their insurance rates to go up so they try to avoid using their car insurance policy as much as possible since the other person was at fault. This is bad and here is why.

The defendant’s insurance will not pay for your medical bills, pain and suffering and lost wages, until you settle with them.

This means that the defendant’s insurance company will not pay for your medical bills until you come to a settlement with them, which should only be when you are fully healed and have completed all your medical treatment. There is one exception, this doesn’t apply to people who are injured while using a bike or as a pedestrian, which are entitled to the defendant’s PIP (personal injury protection) policy, which acts like medical insurance and pays for your medical bills. If you are injured in a car accident, you can only use your own PIP if you are the driver. If you were the passenger, you get to use the driver’s PIP as well as your own, if you have a separate policy.

In the mean time, who is paying for your medical bills?

Since the defendant’s insurance company will not pay for your medical bills suffered in the car accident, who is going to pay for your medical bills and stop them from going to collections? If you have a PIP plan with your car insurance, you should absolutely use it.

PIP pays for any and all medical treatment such as hospital bills, ambulance rides, emergency room bills, chiropractor visits, physical therapy, massage therapy, doctors visits, and more. Most people have $10,000 in PIP benefits but some have $35,000 or more. Check out your insurance policy or call your insurance adjuster to find out how much you have.

If you run out of PIP, you can use your medical insurance to continue paying for medical treatment so long as the treatment is covered according to your policy and the treatment provider is ok with using it.

Additionally, some medical facilities will allow you to pay them back out of the settlement and continue to get treatment after your PIP has been exhausted. However, most medical facilities will require you to have a personal injury lawyer represent you and have them sign an agreement that says they are entitled to be repaid out of the settlement for their treatment of you.

What claim numbers do you give to your medical providers?

It is important that you give your PIP claim number to all of your medical providers especially hospitals and ambulances who will send you to collections very quickly if they are not paid within a couple months of service. You should not give the defendant’s insurance claim numbers to your medical providers, as they cannot bill them and the claim will be rejected, which may make the medical facility send you to collections.

Give your PIP claim number to all of your medical providers at the outset of your appointments so that all billing goes through your PIP.

They were responsible, shouldn’t they pay?

Yes, and they will. The defendant’s insurance company will repay all medical bills that have been paid by your PIP policy, medical insurance, and those you paid out of pocket or are waiting to pay back on a lien. This will come out of the settlement in addition to compensating you for your lost wages and pain and suffering.

Using PIP puts more money in your pocket

All medical bills are subject to being paid back by the defendant’s insurance company and to whoever paid them. However, if you hire a car accident injury lawyer to represent you for your injuries, your lawyer will be able to reduce the amount of PIP benefits that you have to pay back by at least 1/3, putting that money in your pocket, instead of your insurance company’s pocket. This is because you hired a lawyer to represent you and attorney’s fee are usually 1/3 of the settlement. State courts have found it unfair for the PIP insurance company to benefit from your hiring of a lawyer, who obtains money for their repayment out of the settlement.

Scared of racking up too many bills?

If you are scared of racking up too many bills because you believe you may not be able to get them paid for out of a car accident settlement, you should contact a car accident injury lawyer today. The Cherin Law Firm offers free consultations and will answer all your questions about your case, case value, PIP benefits, etc. Additionally, the Cherin Law Firm is paid out of the settlement and charges 1/3 of the settlement, which never comes out of the client’s pocket. Therefore, anyone can afford our services but you cannot afford not to have a lawyer representing you against the insurance company who are professional negotiators.

How to Preserve Your Case Value

March 14, 2018 Andrew Cherin Car Accidents, Insurance, Tips

If you are injured in a Seattle personal injury car accident, you need to find a good Seattle personal injury lawyer to represent you and preserve your case value as soon as possible.

Here are the things to do to preserve your case value in a car accident:

Contact both insurance companies. Immediately after a car accident, you need to contact your insurance company and the other company’s insurance company to set up your case. However, don’t give a statement to the defendant’s insurance company, only your own. Contacting your car insurance is important to preserve your auto insurance benefits like personal injury protection and uninsured motorist policies. Uninsured motorist policies require you to give them notice of a hit and run or an uninsured driver within a 24-48 hours in some instances so you should absolutely contact your insurance company immediately.
Go to your medical doctor immediately. As soon as you can after the car accident, get looked at by your medical doctor to determine the extent of your injuries. Your medical doctor can refer you out to physical therapy, chiropractors, or specialists if you need more treatment. If you go to the hospital right after the car accident, follow up with your medical doctor when you can to start getting the treatment you need. Do not wait too long to start treatment that you need. Get on it now.
Get the treatment that you need and don’t miss appointments. Nothing will hurt the value of your case more than missing appointments with your medical team like physical therapy, chiropractors, etc. Your case value is based upon your injuries, the extent of your injuries, and the time it takes for you to get better. If you miss appointments or have gaps in treatment like a month without going, the insurance company will use that to their advantage and state you aren’t that injured if you stop going to treatment for a month or regularly miss appointments.
Don’t settle your case until you are 100% healed. In Washington State you have three years to settle your car accident injury case. This means that you have three years to get the medical treatment. You should not feel pressured to settle your case. You need to get the medical treatment you need to get back to normal but this does not mean that you can wait a year or two to start getting treatment. You must get treatment from the get go and continue to seek treatment that doctors say you need or you will hurt your case.
Hire a Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer. There is no better way to preserve the value of your case than by hiring a Seattle car accident injury lawyer for your car accident injury case. Personal injury lawyers are paid out of the settlement and most charge 1/3 of the settlement. Therefore, they are not paid hourly and there is no risk of having to pay out of pocket for your personal injury lawyer. Additionally, you will get money in your pocket even after your personal injury lawyer is paid. Contact one today for a free consultation.