[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by Indydealmaker

Make sure you seek medical help within 14 days of the injury for insurance purposes, and without a doubt get an attorney.

That is what one of the lawyers ads say!!!

[texasfal]

Yes you should get a PI lawyer. I recommend Tim Babiarz. He's on why 441 and has 20 years experience. I worked for him for 6 years. Nofault is not as easy as it sounds. Call Tim.

[DougB]

Originally Posted by Trayderjoe

?..........I was very lucky that it was my car that got the damage and I only had relatively minor scrapes and glass particles all over me (they used a dust buster in the ER to get the glass off of me)...........

That really sucked. Glad to hear you were OK.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Trayderjoe

I was in an auto accident years ago in New Jersey (a "no fault state"). Dump truck had a tire failure on a highway, piece of tire from the dump truck that looked like a basketball bounced off a pickup truck that was behind the dump truck, bounced across the highway, and came through my windshield. I was very lucky that it was my car that got the damage and I only had relatively minor scrapes and glass particles all over me (they used a dust buster in the ER to get the glass off of me). My insurance company advised me to not pay the medical bills beyond my deductible (they had a copy of the police report) they would cover the rest of the bills and would get compensation from the other driver's insurance company. Later on, I started getting calls from a collection agency about the balance of the unpaid medical bills. Contacted my insurance company, was told that the agent handling my claim left the company and they were just catching up. Got a second round of calls from collection agency-again contacted my insurance company and they claimed the new agent had also left so my claim hadn't been processed. I informed them that my lawyer would be in contact with them in regards to my pending lawsuit for breach of contract by THEM and for any damages resulting from any collection action. Bills got paid quickly thereafter. They later told me that the hold up was that the other driver did not have insurance. I asked them if they filed to take the dump truck from the guy and sell it to get their (my) money back since he didn't have insurance. They didn't do it because they said the guy needed it for the work he did (it was owned by him). Hello? The truck was not insured, did not have safe tires AND THEY WERE WILLING to let that keep happening? Never heard about any legal action against him other than a traffic citation.

The short of it was that I had to threaten bringing in an attorney to get my interests covered by my OWN insurance company for an accident which in no way could have been even partially blamed on me. I didn't actually get the lawyer involved, but don't assume that anyone will be concerned with your best interests. If they are, great, if not, you are prepared for the worst. As other's posted, get pictures of your injuries, copies of medical and police reports and be prepared to "go to war". Yes lawyers can be expensive, but if it is on a contingency basis, 70% of something is better than 100% of nothing.

Wow. And you wonder why nobody likes insurance companies. I'm glad you came out of that uninjured.

A dustbuster! How hi-tech!

[BarryRX]

Get a lawyer immediately. Whatever the other guys insurance company offers you,they are low balling you because that's their job. If you think you can handle yourself against lawyers from the other guys insurance company,you are wrong. Their only job is to get you to settle for the least amount of money possible ant to get you to sign a release against any further claims. A good personal injury lawyer should be able to collect more than you would have been able to on your own, and more than make up for their contingency fee. Think of it this way....the other guys insurance company would much rather deal directly with you than with your lawyer. Why do you suppose that is?

[njbchbum]

Lawyer or not - don't be surprised if your insurance company comes after your settlement for reinbursement of any medical bills it paid and did not recover from the insurance carrier of the driver who caused the accident and your injuries. That ate up my sister's settlement real quick!

[NottaVillager]

Originally Posted by BarryRX

Get a lawyer immediately. Whatever the other guys insurance company offers you,they are low balling you because that's their job. If you think you can handle yourself against lawyers from the other guys insurance company,you are wrong. Their only job is to get you to settle for the least amount of money possible ant to get you to sign a release against any further claims. A good personal injury lawyer should be able to collect more than you would have been able to on your own, and more than make up for their contingency fee. Think of it this way....the other guys insurance company would much rather deal directly with you than with your lawyer. Why do you suppose that is?

However..please keep in mind that the lawyer you hire is going to take anywhere from 35-50% of your settlement as his fee plus whatever expenses he bills you for. So your $300,000 settlement is going to deflate VERY fast. Just keep all of that in mind when you are making your choices.