Insurance

I am sure you have seen them on television, as they are everywhere. You know, the Seattle car accident injury lawyer commercial where they show the person on television saying they got $250,000 when the insurance company only offered them $25,000 but they look perfectly fine. How are these people allowed to have commercials so obviously deceiving? It also doesn’t say how much these people actually got in their pocket after very expensive medical bills are paid and attorney fees are paid.

News Flash: these people on television were not the people that were actually injured. In very small lettering at the bottom of the screen it says that these people are actors portraying other people. This is so deceiving it is ridiculous. I don’t understand how they are able to have someone who was not injured come on television and say this law firm got them $250,000 for their car accident injuries without saying in big letters this is not the person and the person injured was actually severely injured.

People that are perfectly fine are not people that get $250,000 for car accident injury cases. What these commercials are failing to show is what injuries these people that actually got $250,000 suffered from. I can tell you right now, $250,000 case is a case where there were either broken bones, surgery, or some other permanent type injury. This is not the type of reward you get from whiplash and seeing the chiropractor for 6 to 9 months with nothing else going on.

These Seattle personal injury lawyers are deceiving the Seattle people left and right. Some people who have not been in a car accident and believe that society is too litigious will believe, how did these Seattle personal injury lawyers con the insurance company to give this person who is obviously not injured $250,000?! They will look at these commercials and believe that lawyers and people that are in car accidents are faking injuries or taking advantage of insurance companies raising their premiums.

Other people that have been injured in a Seattle car accident will think how are these people getting all this money when I am in so much more pain than these people on television who look perfectly fine?!

These Seattle personal injury lawyers need to either show the people that were actually injured in the car accident and have them say what there injuries suffered in the car accident were or they need to stop making these commercials. They are too deceiving to be on television.

If you have been injured in a car accident in the Seattle area, give me a call for a free consultation. Seattle personal injury lawyers are paid out of the settlement so everyone can afford a personal injury lawyer but you can’t afford not to have one against the insurance companies.

If you are in a car accident and you are injured pretty severely, there is a chance you may not be able to recover everything that you could have recovered had the other person had enough insurance.

Here is the staggering figure: nearly 40% of drivers on the road are driving with the bare minimum amount of insurance coverage or no insurance at all. The minimum required liability insurance in Washington State is $25,000/$50,000. This means that the insurance only has coverage for up to $25,000 for an individual and $50,000 maximum payout in a car accident with multiple victims.

If you do not have UIM insurance (underinsured insurance coverage), you are stuck with trying to make $25,000 cover your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. UIM insurance coverage steps in and fills the gap, up to your policy limits, that you did not recover from the defendant who caused the Seattle car accident that you were injured in. UIM coverage can be $50,000, $100,000, and up to $1,000,000. It is very cheap to add to your coverage and is highly advisable to add to your coverage.

Even more so, your recovery is lessened because you have to pay back your medical bills. Yes, you must pay back your medical bills if you are injured in a car accident and this will come out of the $25,000 and is not separate from this recovery amount. You have to pay back your medical bills even if your medical insurance or PIP paid for your medical bills – they are entitled to reimbursement for the amount that they have paid. This means that you will not have as much money in your pocket from the $25,000 which could leave you with very little if anything depending on how much you are injured.

It gets tricky when there are multiple people injured in a car accident and the at fault vehicle only has minimum insurance coverage. In these situations, there may be only $50,000 available between 5 plaintiffs if one car is to blame but they caused two other cars to crash causing injury to two and three people. However, there may be more insurance coverage available if the plaintiffs have their own UIM insurance, which may come into play even if the plaintiff was not the driver of the car.

If there is no other insurance coverage available, the plaintiffs may have to fight for the money that is available. In these situations, you must act quickly to make sure that you get the money that you are entitled to or you may be stuck with nothing. You may have to contact the insurance company or file a lawsuit very quickly.

Many people have asked me what do I think of certain insurance companies compared to others in car accident injury cases in Seattle. I have experience with most insurance companies both from a 1st party (your own insurance company) and 3rd party (the defendant’s insurance company) view points. I want to break down my thoughts on each insurance company and how they handle these cases from both sides view points.

Every insurance company is in the business of making money first and foremost. While the insurance adjuster on the other line may sound very nice and genuine, they do not have your best interests in their forethought. They are first and foremost trying to have you settle your case for as little money as possible as soon as possible. This is why they want to have you give them statements, give them authorization to all your medical records ever, and tell you they have the money and this is how much your case is worth with a deadline to take it or the money goes away.

Geico is no different from these other insurance companies. They spend billions of dollars (it seems) on car insurance commercials every year. From the Geico Gecko, to the Caveman, to the many other crazy commercials, they spend a ton of money on advertising. They spend a ton of money on advertising to sign up as many people as possible. To offset these costs, they want to pay out as little as possible on your car accident injury case and their insurance adjusters reflect this mindset.

Geico as a 1st party insurance company in regards to PIP (personal injury protection) and paying you for your medical records are ok. They will for the most part pay most if not all of your medical bills without making reductions. They will not often threaten IME (independent medical examinations) to see if their doctor believes you need further treatment regardless of what your doctors are saying. An IME is a way for them to stop paying for your medical bills, or at least that is what they want to make you think.

However, if you have Geico insurance and the person that caused your car accident does not have insurance and you have UIM (uninsured motorist insurance), Geico is very tough to settle cases with. They will basically treat you as if they represent the defendant and will make all excuses or arguments that the defendant had. They will not be fair to you. They will diminish your injuries and force you to settle for how much they want to pay you, not much. They will not treat you as if you are their insured and give you everything you want. They are a business and want to make money and not give money away.

Geico as a 3rd party insurance company is notoriously stingy with their offers to settle cases. There is no real surprise here as most insurance companies will do this as well. However, Geico often will fight tooth and nails to make sure they diminish your story and your injuries. They are trained assassins when it comes to negotiating your settlement and will push most attorneys to file a lawsuit against them in order to get more money. If you try to settle your case with them without a Seattle personal injury lawyer representing you, good luck getting much money in your pocket and your medical bills paid.

If you have been injured in a car accident, you should contact a Seattle personal injury lawyer today for a free consultation. We are paid out of the settlement and are only paid if you recover a settlement. No settlement, no fee.

If you are injured in a car accident in Seattle and believe that the person representing the insurance company on the other line has your best interest and is just another person just like you, you are wrong. Insurance adjusters are professional negotiators and know how to get you to settle for as little as possible. Insurance adjusters often go to claims schools in order to become an insurance adjuster. At this school they are taught how to answer calls, how to evaluate claims, and most importantly how to make you settle for as little money as possible.

If you have been injured in a car accident, they will want to take your statement at the outset of your case and put words into your mouth on a recorded line. This is one of the tricks they play to show that either you caused the car accident in some way or another or you were not has hurt as you are claiming later.

What should you do then? You should tell them you are not comfortable making a statement at this time and you should ask a Seattle personal injury lawyer about your case. Rarely will a Seattle personal injury lawyer tell you it is a good idea to give a statement to the insurance company.

Insurance adjusters will try to offer you money soon after the car accident to compensate you for your injuries. They will try to make you realize that they have a check book and can write you a check right now to compensate you for your case. They will belittle your injuries and tell them your injuries are not worth much so you should take this offer now or it will go away.

When should you ever try to settle your case following a car accident? If you are trying to settle your case without a Seattle personal injury lawyer, you should wait until your injuries have healed and you are back to 100%. That probably means you need to go to a physical therapist, chiropractor, massage therapist, etc., in order to get better.

How do you pay for your treatment that you need if you are waiting for your settlement to pay for treatment? If you do not have your own car insurance policy called personal injury protection or PIP and you don’t have medical insurance, most physical therapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, etc., will wait to be compensated out of the settlement. However, most of the time they will require you to have an attorney representing you in order for them to give you treatment up front for free because they want to make sure they are paid out of the settlement.

How much is your case worth? This is a tough question that is dependent and unique to each individual case. However, you are entitled to compensation for medical bills whether you paid for them out of pocket or your insurance company paid for them, lost wages even if you used vacation or sick leave and were still paid, and pain and suffering. Pain and suffering is dependent on how long you sought medical treatment, how severe your injuries from the car accident were, and if you have permanent injuries, among other things.

If you have been in a car accident, don’t get schooled by these trained professional negotiators. Even the field and hire your own professional negotiator/ Seattle personal injury lawyer today. Consultations are free and we are paid out of the settlement so no up front costs. Personal injury lawyers are very affordable because we are paid out of the settlement and there are no out of pocket costs. Everyone can afford a personal injury lawyer but you can’t afford to not have one.

Hiring a Seattle personal injury lawyer for your car accident injury case could not be any easier. You only need to meet me once and then focus on healing while I work on negotiating with the insurance company. The only other time you usually will need to come in is to pick up your settlement check.

What to expect when you meet a personal injury lawyer and questions that you have should be answered in my videos but you can always ask for more information regarding your Seattle car accident injury case.

Questions you may have include how much does a personal injury lawyer for your car accident injury case cost? We do not charge hourly fees only contingency fees meaning we are not paid unless we receive monetary compensation for you in your settlement. Most personal injury lawyers charge between 33.333% of the case and 40% but we only charge 33.3333%.

Will your case have to go to trial? Most cases settle without filing a lawsuit and usually settle within 2-3 months of you completing your medical treatment and being released from care. This is much different from the horror stories that most people hear about personal injury cases taking years to settle and receive anything.

Additionally, if you do not have a way to pay for medical treatment right now, we can find you a chiropractor or physical therapist to treat you without up front payments – a huge benefit. If you have insurance to pay for the treatment you need, we will find it.

Consultations are free and I am paid out of the settlement so what are you waiting for!? Contact us today for your Seattle car accident injury case at 206-850-6716