Tag Archive for: personal injury lawyer

How Do I Negotiate With An Insurance Company?

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If you’ve been in a car accident, can you negotiate with an insurance company on your own? The short answer is yes, you can negotiate your car accident insurance claim and settle it, without an attorney. But read on to find out a few reasons why you might want to consider hiring a Charlotte personal injury lawyer to assist you with the personal injury claim.

When Should I Consider Representing Myself?

As a personal injury lawyer, my temptation of course is to scream “Never!” but the fact is that’s just not true. I think one of the first things to consider in representing yourself is how badly you were hurt. If you slip and fall in a grocery store and suffer only a bruise or twisted ankle, you may be able to quickly negotiate what you believe to be a fair settlement with the insurance company. The same could be said of a very minor car accident.

Insurance companies do want claims to ‘go away’ and for a small claim like the ones referenced above, you may be able to successfully negotiate the injury claim to get your medical bills paid and put a small amount of money in your pocket for the pain and suffering you’ve experienced as a result of someone else’s negligence.

When Should I Consider Getting A Personal Injury Lawyer?

In most other instances outside of those listed above, you’re typically going to come out better with a personal injury lawyer, even after they take their fee from the settlement. The reason is that, much like anything involving insurance and liability, what appears to be cut and dry in the beginning quickly becomes complicated. Below, are just a few issues that can necessitate you to make a phone call to a personal injury lawyer:

  • The insurance company denies the claim based on Contributory Negligence. This is a common response and essentially in NC, it means that the insurance company believes you were at least 1% at fault, and as such, believes a jury would not find it in your favor.
  • The other party doesn’t cooperate. It’s amazing how often the other side simply won’t give you their insurance information, which allows you to get a claim started. In an instance like this, your personal injury lawyer will either threaten the other side with legal action or take legal action to force them to disclose the existence of applicable insurance policies related to the incident or accident.
  • The fault isn’t clear. Quite often, once the facts are on the table, an argument can be made that you contributed in some small manner to your injury. In a slip and fall case, maybe it is that you were wearing shoes that were not appropriate for the activity. In a pedestrian case, perhaps you were not walking inside the crosswalk or were wearing dark clothing at night. In auto accidents, if you weren’t rear-ended, the insurance company will likely raise one of many defenses and use that as their reason for denying or lowering the value of your claim.

Why Does A Personal Injury Lawyer Make A Difference?

When you represent yourself, the insurance company knows that generally, you are not going to file a lawsuit. With that in mind, the negotiation or claims process is where things begin and end. Because of this, despite their apparent willingness to communicate and negotiate with you, while you negotiate with an insurance company on your own, their number will remain low relative to the value of the claim or case. When you involve a personal injury lawyer, the insurance company knows that if the matter isn’t resolved at the claims level, the lawyer will file a lawsuit.

Insurance companies are businesses and they are run like businesses. When a lawyer threatens a lawsuit, the insurance company starts examining the claim differently. They turn to their in-house counsel or outside counsel and ask how much it will cost to litigate this particular claim. If the answer is $10,000 in legal fees alone, all of a sudden the negotiation numbers change for the insurance company, which changes the settlement negotiations.

Personal injury lawyers also work routinely with the same insurance companies. As a result, your personal injury attorney will have an opinion about that particular insurance company. His or her experience in the past with that company will also allow for the development of a strategy designed to maximize the settlement offer received by that particular insurance company.

The Main Reason To Call A Personal Injury Lawyer – It’s Free

The call is free. Take advantage of the free consultation and have your case evaluated. Call 704.749.7747 today or click HERE and we’ll call you at a time you specify. We hope you’ll choose to Recover With Us.

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Free Mecklenburg County Police Report

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Need a copy of your Mecklenburg County police report from a car accident? Call us and we will obtain it for you for free. Within a few minutes, and with a few details from your accident, we will be able to locate your police report online and order it for you at no expense. You’ll be provided with a PDF of the free police report via email.

If you have any questions about your free police report, you will have access to a Mecklenburg county personal injury lawyer to answer those questions—whether it is for the purpose of helping you understand the free police report or answering questions about a personal injury claim arising from the accident.

If you would like to order the police report yourself, you can do so by clicking HERE to be taken to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department website. You’ll be asked to enter the date of the accident, location, and police report number if you have it.

How To Request Your Free Mecklenburg County Police Report

  • Call 704.749.7747 to tell us a few details about your accident so we can locate the report for you;
  • Click HERE and let us know you’d like a free Mecklenburg county police report—we will reach out to you for some more details.

Do I Have A Personal Injury Case?

Whether you have a personal injury case or not will not be 100% determined by your police report, but it’s a good place to start. Generally, the attending officer makes notes on the report indicating what he or she observed, and what the two drivers indicated happened.

If you would like a claim or case evaluation, we would be happy to evaluate your police report, answer any questions, and give you our opinion as to whether you have a personal injury claim worth pursuing. You can reach us at 704.749.7747 or click HERE to ask us to reach out to you. We hope you choose to Recover With Us.

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NC Car Accident Laws And Your Personal Injury Case

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What Are The NC Car Accident Laws?

In North Carolina, there is not a specific set of car accident laws. Instead, attorneys use the existing set of case law to guide them. What this means is that rather than look to a NC car accident law, your Charlotte, NC personal injury lawyer assesses the body of cases that have been tried, to date.

How Will NC Case Law Affect Negotiations For My Car Accident?

Depending upon what judges and juries have decided in the past, regarding specific fact patterns in a NC car accident, your personal injury lawyer can better predict what a judge or jury will decide about your case. While there are instances where case law becomes “codified” or is passed as a statute in the state, most case law accumulates over the years in a way which helps lawyer assess whether they can win your case based on the facts you have.

Is Contributory Negligence Case Law?

If you’ve been reading about NC car accident laws, no doubt you’ve read about Contributory Negligence. Contributory Negligence is a doctrine that is followed by our state. As was decided in  Sorrells v. M.Y.B. Hospitality Ventures, 332 N.C. 645, 648 (1992), “[A] plaintiff’s contributory negligence is a bar to recovery from a defendant who commits an act of ordinary negligence.” In that case, a patron became intoxicated at a restaurant and drove his car, which resulted in his death. His estate attempted to make a claim against the establishment that served him but his estate’s claim was barred by his contributory negligence.

Determining whether someone is contributorily negligent is also based on case law, as was decided in   Newton v. New Hanover County Bd. of Educ., 342 N.C. 554, 564 (1996), where it was determined that “A plaintiff is contributorily negligent when he fails to exercise such care as an ordinarily prudent person would exercise under the circumstances in order to avoid injury.”  These are the very elements of your case that your personal injury lawyer will argue for you, both at the claims level and at trial.

But How Will NC Car Accident Laws Apply To MY Case?

If you would like  personal injury lawyer to assess your case for you, simply reach out to us. The assessment is free and there’s no obligation to move forward with our firm. You can reach us at 704.749.7747 or give us an email address HERE and we’ll reach out to you. We hope you’ll choose to Recover With Us.

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Are Doctors Bills Paid From My Personal Injury Settlement?

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Doctors bills are a common concern for our personal injury clients, and the concern especially arises when doctors bills exceed the settlement amount. If the doctors bills are paid, then essentially the client ends up with nothing or close to nothing. However, in an alternative arrangement, the attorney could disburse the settlement proceeds to the client, and the client’s doctors bills would follow the client after the settlement. While this may not be ideal, it does allow the client to make payments on the bills while keeping some money for themselves.

Aren’t Doctors Bills Liens Against Settlement Proceeds?

Some medical bills constitute liens against settlement proceeds. According to N.C.G.S. sec. 44-49, allows a person, corporation, state entity, county, or municipal corporation to claim a lien to the extent that entity provided medical services, drugs, medical supplies, or ambulatory services in connection with the injury for which the settlement has been reached.

While chiropractors are not specifically mentioned in the statute, it is generally understood that a chiropractor’s bill associated with treatment for the injury that gave rise to the settlement, constitutes a lien.

Does The Law Firm Negotiate Doctors Bills?

Yes. We will negotiate your medical bills for you. One way to maximize the benefit of your settlement is to have your personal injury lawyer negotiate your bills (medical bills, doctors bills, etc) as part of the settlement. Generally, we reach out to the medical providers, let them know the amount we are considering settling for, and encourage them to reduce their bill in order to make the settlement figure work for all parties.

Typically, as part of the reduction, the medical providers collectively will reduce their bills so that one third of the settlement proceeds goes to the attorney, one third to all the medical providers, and the remaining third goes to the client. So, by way of example, if you had a settlement of $90,000 but bills of $70,000, the personal injury lawyer would negotiate the bills down to $30,000. In the end, the client would end up with one third of the total settlement, and the negotiated bills would be deemed PAID IN FULL—the client wouldn’t owe anything to the medical providers after settlement.

If you have a question about a personal injury, a doctors bill, or would like to speak with an attorney about a personal injury, please call 704.749.7747. You can also request a consultation HERE. We hope you choose to Recover With Us.

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Your Personal Injury Claim and Health Insurance

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If you speak with a Charlotte personal injury lawyer about your personal injury claim, one topic that comes up frequently is health insurance. There are a few roles health insurance plays in your personal injury claim. This article explains a few of them. If you have any further questions, pick up the phone and call us—we’re here to help.

ERISA LIENS

This Applies If: you have medical bills which are paid by or through an employee benefit plan which is provided by your employer, or by a health insurance policy.

The Result: The health insurance company or employee benefit plan that paid for treatment related to your personal injury claim is entitled to seek reimbursement out of the personal injury recovery, if you settle the case or get a jury verdict.

Can It Be Negotiated: Typically, yes. The insurance company will of course want to know the settlement amount, and the negotiation will be based in part off of that as a starting number.

MEDICARE LIENS

This Applies If: you’re a Medicare recipient and Medicare paid for any treatment related to your personal injury claim.

The Result: Your personal injury lawyer must obtain a Conditional Payment Letter from Medicare detailing the treatment provided and the amount Medicare seeks as a lien.

Can It Be Negotiated: The attorney can attempt to negotiate Medicare liens in a personal injury claim but Medicare only agrees in extreme hardship cases.

MEDICAID LIENS

This Applies If: You are a Medicaid recipient and Medicaid paid for health services rendered for injuries related to the accident.

The Result: Your personal injury lawyer must obtain a Conditional Payment Letter from Medicaid detailing the treatment provided and the amount claimed as lien against personal injury claim proceeds.

Can It Be Negotiated: Generally not negotiated, but as compared to Medicare, Medicaid is only entitled to a pro-rata share of settlement proceeds. Your personal injury lawyer can tell you more about this percentage and how it works for practical purposes.

SPEAK WITH AN ATTORNEY

While there are some simple personal injury claims which can be resolved without an attorney, and without the fear of compromising your rights, generally the best course of action is to speak with a personal injury lawyer. The phone call is free and we’re happy to help. You can reach us at 704.749.7747. You can also request a call HERE. We hope you choose to Recover With Us.

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Understanding Your Accident Report

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Your auto accident report is the first set of facts established in your car accident claim. While both drivers will have their own story to tell (or pedestrians, in a pedestrian accident), the accident report is written, was taken down by an officer, and ties both parties to an account of the car accident.

If you’ve been in a car accident you should call a personal injury lawyer for help understanding your accident report. The personal injury lawyer’s office is accustomed to reviewing accident reports and can even explain over the phone some of the codes used when information was entered by the officer.

The injury lawyer’s office can also answer any questions you might have about liability, negligence, damages, and insurance related to the accident. If you were a passenger in an auto accident, you have some additional concerns and the personal injury lawyer can point those out and guide you in the right direction.

If you would like to understand your accident report on your own, here is a downloadable link to understanding your accident report. With this guide, depending upon where your accident report was generated, you should be able to scroll through the explanations and use them to decipher your own report.

What Does The Accident Report Contain

Generally, the accident report contains information about the individuals and vehicles involved in the accident. Information about witnesses and road conditions, and a diagram showing the position of the cars in the accident will often appear as well. Quite often, the attending officer will make a statement in the accident report as to whose fault the car accident was—and make note if a citation was issued to either or both drivers.

Who Uses The Report

Because the accident report is created by a police officer, insurance adjusters and personal injury lawyers use the report to establish the basis for understanding the auto accident claim or personal injury case. Both sides are of course looking for facts that support their interpretation of what happened, and how it aligns with personal injury case law.

Can I Change My Accident Report

Generally, no, you cannot change your accident report. While you can make a request that the report is changed, it will be up to the law enforcement agency as to whether to change the report. Changes related to factual information are typically acceptable—the type or year of vehicle, insurance information, etc.—while changes related to the facts will typically not be changed or amended. In other words, if you feel the report reads unfavorably as to who caused the auto accident, there’s not much you can do except calling a personal injury lawyer and see if he feels he can overcome the negative impact of the report when representing you in your personal injury claim.

Speak With An Attorney

If you’re confused about a report or would like to speak with a personal injury lawyer about an auto accident you’ve been in, call 704.749.7747 today to speak with an attorney. The call is absolutely free and we hope you’ll choose to Recover With Us.

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