What About the Other Guy?

What Will Happen to the Other Person?

            Accident victims who call us often ask, “What will happen to the person who caused my accident?”  They are concerned that making a claim for a personal injury will somehow ruin the life of the person whose carelessness resulted in the accident.  People who ask this question feel compassion for other people and are reluctant to take any action which will be harmful to someone else.  After all, accidents do happen, people don’t cause accidents on purpose, and it could happen to anyone.

            As admirable as this concern for the other person is, it should not be a deterrent to making a legitimate claim to be fairly compensated for an injury.  Because almost all claims are covered by insurance, there is little probability that the party at fault will ever have to pay a dime out of his or her own pocket to satisfy the claim.

            As developing the claim progresses the other person may be subject to some minor inconveniences, such as providing a statement to the insurance company or coming up with car repair bills.  In the unlikely event that the case must be put into suit (over 90% of cases get settled out of court), the other person may be required to attend a deposition to testify under oath about how the accident happened, and if the case actually goes all the way to a trial in court, then the person will have to be a witness.

            People who have been injured through someone else’s fault are entitled to be compensated for their losses including medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.  Concern for the wellbeing of the person at fault should not be a factor in the decision to proceed.

            At Lowry & Associates we share your concern, but we are prepared to make sure that you receive the best possible outcome for your case.  Call us at 800-999-LEGAL(5342) or use our contact form at www.lowrylaw.com.

Paying the Medical Bills

Why Do I Have To Use My Own Health Insurance?

            When an accident is caused by someone else, people who have been injured often wonder why it is that they have to get their medical bills paid by their own health insurance when the other person is to blame.  Why, they ask, shouldn’t the person who is at fault, or that person’s insurance, pay for the medical bills?  Good question.

            The fact of the matter is that under our legal system there is no obligation for anyone to pay for someone else’s losses, including medical expenses, until there is some formal determination of fault, such as a judgment in court, or a voluntary agreement between the parties.  For this reason, even though it might be totally clear that the other party is liable, except in  rare instances, the insurance company for the defendant will refuse to pay medical bills as they are incurred.

            This means that in order to receive medical care and to pay these expenses as the services are rendered, the doctors and hospitals will look to the health insurance of the injured person.  In the long run, of course, the person at fault is responsible for these bills, but this obligation will be satisfied as a part of the ultimate settlement of the case where the injured party will be awarded a lump sum to cover pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and other expenses as well as medical bills for treatment and care necessitated by the accident.  Then, out of the lump sum settlement, the injured party’s health insurance company will be reimbursed for the amounts it has paid.

            Thus the party who caused the accident ends up paying for the medical expenses, but only in the long run and in a round-about way.

            If you have questions about the process for pursuing a personal injury claim, you should consider ordering our free book, Guide for the Prospective Injury Client, which you can get by using the form at http://www.lowrylaw.com/reports/the-big-secrets-about-maine-injury-claims-what-no-one-is-telling-you.cfm, or give us a call at 1-800-999-LEGAL (5342).

Worried About a Big Lawyer's Fee?

Can I Talk With an Attorney for Free?

            Many people who are injured in an accident are hesitant to call a lawyer for fear of having to pay a large fee.  We have all heard of the high-powered lawyers who charge two or three hundred dollars and hour or more.  We often get the question from people who call, “Can I talk with an attorney for free?”

            The answer to that question is definitely “Yes” if you are calling Lowry & Associates about a personal injury claim.  Like most personal injury firms we are willing to provide a consultation for free to give advice on whether or not a person has a legitimate case and whether or not hiring a lawyer is a good idea.  In fact we welcome your call and even if it turns out that we can’t take your case, we can usually give you some advice on what to do..

            At Lowry & Associates we are dedicated to providing the answers to questions that people have about accidents and injury claims, and we are delighted to be able to provide this service for free as a way of giving back to the community.  As a part of this effort I have written a book which answers many of the questions people have about how injury claims are processed.  You can get this book for free by signing our order form at http://www.lowrylaw.com/reports/the-big-secrets-about-maine-injury-claims-what-no-one-is-telling-you.cfm, or by calling us at 1-800-999-LEGAL(5342).

           

Property Damage: Totaled

Property Damage: When is a Car “Totaled”?

            Dealing with injuries sustained in an accident is bad enough, but in most cases of motor vehicle collisions the person is also faced with a damaged car and the problems of dealing with an insurance company on the property damage.

            The first thing to realize in these situations is that a car may be “totaled” even though it clearly can be repaired to a perfectly drivable condition.  The fact is that the insurance company doesn’t have to pay for repairs which are higher than the value of the car. 

            Since repairs are quite commonly expensive and since the value of cars diminishes fairly rapidly with time, the estimated cost of repairs to a damaged car, even where the damage appears to be superficial, can easily exceed the value of a car even one which is only a year or two old.  Where this is the case, the car will be deemed “totaled”, and the insurance company will pay the market value of the car.

            There are a couple of problems here that many owners will face.  One is that the value of the car, and thus the amount being paid, is lower than the amount owed on a car loan.  Typically following purchase a car will lose value faster than the car payments will reduce the loan, so that getting paid the value of the car will not be enough to pay off the loan.  Most car insurance policies offer an option of “gap insurance” which will take care of the deficiency if the car is totaled.  Purchasing this optional coverage is well worth the money to avoid ending up owing the financing company more after settling the property damage claim.

            The other problem is that the insurance company is likely to use a method of evaluation which will understate the fair market value of the car, so it is important to be in a position to challenge the insurance company’s proposed value and to negotiate a higher amount.  At Lowry & Associates we are accustomed to dealing with these issues and are often successful in saving our clients quite a bit of money, a service for which we make no extra charge.

            If you have been in an accident, it is a good idea to contact us to see if we can help.  You can call at 800-999-LEGAL(5342) or fill out the contact form on our web site

http://www.lowrylaw.com/contact.cfm.

Will My Car Insurance Go Up?

Worried About an Increase in Insurance Premiums?

Some people who call us wonder if pursuing a claim for an injury which they received in an accident will result in an increase in their auto insurance premiums. In light of all of the shenanigans which insurance companies employ to increase their profits it is no wonder that people worry about this.

The answer, however, happily, is simply, no. In nearly 50 years of representing accident victims, I cannot recall an instance where an insurance company has penalized a person who has been injured in retaliation for making a claim.

Of course the claim usually involves the insurance company for the person who caused the accident, so in that case the injured person’s company would not be paying anything and would not have any good reason to go after their own customer. Sometimes, however, where the guilty party is uninsured or underinsured, the claim is indeed against the injured person’s own insurance company. Even in these cases, though, there is little chance that there will be an increase in the premium.

Short story: Call Lowry & Associates, 800-999-LEGAL(5342), or contact us on the web, www.lowrylaw.com , without fear of paying more for your auto insurance.

How Long Will It Take?

llHow Long Will My Case Take? Often people who have been injured want to know how long it will take to settle their case—and for good reason. Frequently they find themselves in a situation where the medical bills are piling up, or, even worse, they are out of work and don’t know how they are going to make their car payment or put food on the table. So of course they are very anxious to know how soon they can get paid on their claim by the insurance company for the person who caused the injury. Although instinct would tell us that where there is no doubt about who was responsible, payments to cover known expenses such as medical bills and lost wages should be made right away, this unfortunately is not the way our system works. Even though the police report makes it clear as to who was at fault, and even if the other person admitted his fault, the insurance company is not required to pay anything until the case is settled in full. Occasionally an insurance company will voluntarily pay some of the medical bills in advance, but this is not the norm. In almost every case an injured person would be making a big mistake to settle the case quickly, before the full extent of the injury and the time for treatment and healing are determined. For this reason the answer to the question, “How long will my case take?” is not easily answered shortly after the accident. It will generally take as long as it takes for the injury to be treated and heal. This is not the best news for the person who is facing unpaid bills, but under our system there is no way to force the insurance company to pay in advance of a full settlement or until the responsible party is found at fault in court.

A Hospital May Not Be So Good for Your Health

Some Dangerous Bugs May be Lurking in the Hospital A New Hampshire man has brought suit against Exeter Hospital on behalf of himself and 44 other former patients stemming out of an outbreak of hepatitis C. He was admitted to the hospital suffering from a heart attack when he contracted the virus which apparently originated in the cardiac catheterization lab. The suit seeks class action status and accuses the hospital of negligent supervision of its staff. I am sure that we have all heard that a hospital can be a dangerous place to be because of the possibility of the presence of infectious agents which sometimes abound. When seeking care for some serious physical ailment or injury, the last thing that one would want or expect is exposure to an unrelated illness. Hospitals are subject to being contaminated by contagious diseases, but they have the technological means to control these viruses and bacteria and should never allow their spread to unsuspecting patients. http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/2012/06/21/man-angry-with-hospital-hepatitis-case/5S6vUt6itNVDXXyez27qnK/story.html

What is Premises Liability?

Is the Owner Liable if I Fall on His Property? We often get asked, “If I fall down on someone else’s property, does the owner have to pay for my injury?” The answer depends on how the accident happened and just what the owner knew or should have known about the condition which caused the fall. A case recently decided in Penobscot Superior Court demonstrates how complex these cases can be. A woman brought suit against the owner of a farm for injuries which she sustained when she fell through an open bulkhead on a porch when she was there for her daughter’s horseback lesson. The defendant submitted a motion to the court to dismiss the case, because 1) premises liability should not apply because the defendant had no actual or constructive notice of the danger, and 2) lack of vicarious liability because the person whose negligence was alleged was an independent contractor and not an employee of the defendant. The court denied the motion to dismiss on either ground. The question of whether the defendant fulfilled her duty as owner who had control of the farm at the time of the accident is a question for the jury. Vicarious liability which applies when liability can be imposed on one person for the negligence of another is similar to an agency situation and is applicable when the tortfeasor is an employee, but not if he is a general contractor. In this case the court decided that the status of the person who negligently left the bulkhead door open was not clear and therefore the question should be decided by a jury. Demoranville v. Rose, Penobscot Docket No. CV-10-178 Call Lowry & Associates for answers to your questions (800-999-5342) or order ir free book to find out how a claim for personal injury is made. http://www.lowrylaw.com/reports/the-big-secrets-about-maine-injury-claims-what-no-one-is-telling-you.cfm

Does My Personal Injury Claim Forfeit My Privacy?

Release of Past Medical Records People often ask: why do I have to give my medical records to the insurance company for things that happened before the accident? Accident victims have a very legitimate concern that personal information of health issues that have nothing to do with the accident injury should be turned over to a big faceless corporation such as the insurance company. The initial reaction to a request for prior medical records is that it is none of the insurance company’s business. Unfortunately under the law the insurance company does have every right to obtain these records of past health issues and procedures before they will make any payment of a claim. The reason for this is that the insurance company for the person who caused the accident is responsible only for the injury caused by the accident and not for any prior injury or condition which may have contributed to the victim’s physical problems. So in order to be sure that there is not something in the victim’s past that is partly to blame for the injury, the insurance company will insist on getting all past medical records for 5 or 10 years before the accident. A typical example is a person who has had back pains in the past and has, perhaps, received some treatments from a chiropractor. When that person is rear-ended with a resulting flare-up with pain in the back, the insurance company will claim that not all of the injury is caused by the accident, but is attributable to the back problems which existed before the accident. To help people understand the process for pursuing an injury claim Don Lowry as written a book Guide for the Prospective Injury Client. To get your free copy sign up at http://www.lowrylaw.com/reports/the-big-secrets-about-maine-injury-claims-what-no-one-is-telling-you.cfm or call Lowry & Associates at 1-800-999-LEGAL (5342).

Percentage Fee: Of What?

What is Basis for Lawyer’s Fee? The lawyer’s fee in a personal injury case is, as I am sure you already know, based on a percentage of the amount recovered for the client, but some people want to know if this percentage is applied to the total amount of the settlement, or only to the amount to be received by the client after payment of medical bills. It is true that medical bills, including those paid by health insurance, usually have to be paid back, either partly or in full depending on the type of health insurance plan, when there is a settlement of a personal injury claim. The lawyer’s fee, however, is a percentage of the total amount of the settlement, so the medical repayments must be taken out of the remaining portion due to the client. The rationale here is that the efforts of the lawyer have been successful in relieving the client of the obligation to pay back these bills, so the client has benefitted in that sense, and the lawyer is entitled to be compensated for his or her work.