Edited with the suggestion of Efusco. I've also attached the Word file for download if anybody would like to do so. Don't worry, I won't charge you for it. Introduction I've been reading a lot of posts regarding traffic accidents and thought maybe we can have a sticky to help those of use who were in one. God forbid that anybody gets into a traffic accident, but since it is inevitable, it is important to be prepared. I work for a law firm that specializes in traffic accidents and I deal with automobile insurance adjusters everyday so hopefully this can help those of you who were already in an accident and for those who aren't, it can't hurt to be prepared. Types of Insurance The type of insurance you have is also very important in a traffic accident. A lot of people like to purchase the cheapest possible policy and as a result, they have what we call "liability only" coverage. Which means your insurance policy will only be responsible paying the other party's damages if you were at fault for the collision. Anybody who has ever inquired or purchased auto insurance probably has heard of the following terms: UM/UIM, Medpay, BI, Comprehensive, etc. Uninsured Motorist (UM) means if the other party that hit you doesn't have insurance; your own insurance policy can take care of the repairs for you. This also means that if you are involved in a hit and run, where the other party fled the scene, you can still get repairs through your insurance. Don’t worry; your insurance premium will not rise because you are not at fault for the collision. You insurance company will take care of you, and then turn around and sue the uninsured motorist. Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Underinsured Motorist is if the other party's policy is insufficient to pay for your damages. This typically occurs if one person is responsible for a multi-car accident and has to pay for all the damages. This is when UIM typically kicks in. Medpay is coverage for any medical expenses you may have incurred as a result of the accident. If the other party has insurance and is at fault, then their insurance will take care of any medicals but if they don't, med pay will cover it for you. Bodily Injury: I’ll get into this in the “filing a claim†section below. Comprehensive: This coverage is typically for glass damage, or non collision related accidents. You really pay for what you get in terms of auto insurance. If you want to save a buck and buy liability only, you're really **** out of luck if you are involved in a hit and run or if the other party doesn't have insurance. Because your own insurance will not pay for anything if this happens. [/i] Immediately Following an Accident: I can't stress enough the importance to GET A WITNESS right after an accident has occurred. I've seen plenty of cases where our client was clearly not at fault but since the other party lied about the accident facts and since there was no witness, the other party's insurance adjuster refuses to pay for the damages. Which then means that we need to go through arbitration, and if that doesn't settle it, court. A credible, independent witness makes everything a lot easier. Keep in mind that for civil cases. i.e. traffic accident disputes, traffic cameras cannot be reviewed to determine who was at fault. Traffic cameras can only be requested for criminal cases. Which makes a witness that much more important. It is also vital that you take pictures of the accident scene. Cell phone cameras are not recommended; go buy a disposable if you have to. I've seen insurance companies dispute damages due to bad resolution of a cell phone image. The reason for taking the photos is for evidence of damages. I've seen cases where the other party, who was at fault, repair their vehicles the next day out of pocket, and then claim the impact was so low there wasn't any damage to their own car. Just to protect yourself, take pictures of both your damage and their damage, as well as any skid marks or relevant images. Never, under any circumstances, admit fault for the accident. Call the police, they will come and take statements of all parties involved and prepare a police report. Let the police and the insurance adjusters sort through the mess. Primarily, who is at fault (liable) for the accident. You may think you are at fault when you really are not and vice versa. Just tell the police the truth and let them sort through it. The Claims Process An insurance claim is typically divided into two portions. The property damage portion (PD) and the bodily injury portion (BI). The property damage portion of the claim covers any vehicle repairs, rental, towing, and car seats; basically any property damage that occurred as a result of the collision. While the BI portion involved any medical bills, ambulance, ER etc. This is where the lawyers make their money. Since the PD portion is really cut and dry. This is how much damage, insurance pays for it. BI claims involve general and special damages, i.e. decline in quality of life due to injuries, suffering, emotional and physical. This is where hiring a lawyer is a good idea since if you try to do this yourself, insurance companies will just lowball you and get the claim over with. The property damage portion is processed very fast. Basically, once liability has been determined, the responsible party’s insurance will inspect your car, give you an estimate, and you can choose to have the car repaired or take a cash out. They will also be responsible for putting you into a comparable rental to the car you were driving. Note: this is a very debatable term. For example: A Corolla is typically considered a comparable to a Prius and a Taurus is full sized sedan. The BI portion takes a lot longer because you must complete treatment with your doctor. You doctor will send you or your lawyer a medical report and then your lawyer will compile a demand package that justifies why you deserve X amount of money for your suffering. On average, I’d say the PD portion is completed within two to three weeks and the BI portion can take anywhere from 4 to 24 months, depending on the severity of your injuries. If you file a BI claim against the other party's insurance, they will almost always request a statement from you. This is typically done over the phone or in person, depending on the severity of the case. They will ask you a series of questions regarding the accident and what happened. The Dirty Word: Lawyers: This is where the grey areas come in to play. It is immoral, wrong and irresponsible to make a BI claim where you weren't really injured. It is borderline fraudulent. That being said, a lot of times, the shock from an accident actually numbs any pain from any injuries that you may have sustained from the accident. If there are any obvious and severe injuries go to the ER and get treatment. If not, go home and let your body settle down. Get a good night's sleep and then see how you feel in the morning. It is also highly immoral, wrong and irresponsible to alter the facts of the accident to try and avoid responsibility for an accident. JUST TELL THE TRUTH. It is the right thing to do. A lot of times, the parties involved don't get any witnesses and they both have different versions of what happened. Then the insurance carriers just deny liability for their customers and the victim of the accident is left in the dust. Regarding lawyers, I may be a bit biased but if you are involved in an accident where you have really sustained injuries, hire one. Injuries don't necessarily have to be a broken leg or shoulder. It can be sprains, bruises etc. You don't have to worry about the costs because injury lawyers typically work on a contingency fee basis, which means they take a percentage of any settlement money. The industry standard is that the client gets 33%. However, this is negotiable. You can compare different firms and haggle with them as far as how much you get. We've had clients who have gotten 60% or the winnings. The average is anything from 40-50%. You don't have to worry about them not working on your case if you ask for too much money, because they don't get paid if you don't. They know the ropes as far as dealing with insurance companies and they will take care of your whole claim. When they've reached a settlement for your BI claim, you have to sign a release, which releases the other party for any responsibility for any future claims. Basically, you can't sue the other party anymore after you sign the release for X amount of $$. You take your share of the settlement and case closed. Obviously the whole process is a lot more complicated than this. There are a lot of details that I have not mentioned here. The purpose of this post is simply to educate. This isn't an attempt to turn you all into insurance scammers and frauds. It is to teach you how to protect yourself if you are involved in an accident. Like I said, TELL THE TRUTH and things will take care of themselves. Hope this helps, if there any questions, I will do my best to help. Cheers! Stay Safe!
I moved this to the Care/Maint/Troubleshooting forum and will make it a sticky, but I'd strongly urge the OP to reformat the 'article' with topic headings, underscore/bold-face, maybe numbering and submit it as an article to place under the features section.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bigj3347 @ Jun 21 2006, 05:00 AM) [snapback]274557[/snapback]</div> The CLIENT gets 33%? Damn, I'm moving my practice to CA.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jun 21 2006, 09:39 AM) [snapback]274611[/snapback]</div> Great idea, I will get to that as soon as I get a chance.
By traffic cameras, I assume we are talking about the ones used in traffic reports on the news and such, and not talking about red light jumper cameras? After all, the latter is admissable in a traffic citation, why couldn't it be used for an accident? Regarding witnesses, be sure your insurance/lawyer/sombody of importance gets a statement from them ASAP. Twice I was called as a witness two years later after the event. The first time was a letter after two years after the accident, and one year after I moved out of state. I could not help anyone at that point. The second was an accident that I was also involved in, but someone else involved in the accident was suing the at-fault driver (which wasn't me) so I was asked for a statement as a witness. Memories fade and witnesses can become useless after a few months, let alone a few years.
Not an attorney or insurance agent, but: Some clarification on uninsured motorist coverage. I generally does not cover property damage. So your car will not be repaired through uninsured motorist coverage. You car will be repaired under your collision coverage. Deductables normally apply unless you have an unisured motorist deductable waiver. Uninsured motorist covers bodily injury when the other driver (if at fault) is uninsured, not property damage. Many people don't understand this and are miffed when they have to make a claim under their collision policy to get their car fixed and pay a deductable. This may vary a bit from state to state. In California all auto policies are written with UM coverage. If you don't want it, you have to specifically decline it.
