auto accident

[mydognamepuaboy]

my um is $30000.00 ( three hundred thousand dollars ) per person per accident. PIP is $10000.00 (ten thousand dollars). my van devalue or appraisal value of $3500.00 and was towed to a salvage lot and I am not allowed to see the damage or even take out some of my important belonging from my van till I paid storage fee, tow fees which is now amass to atleast $500.00 (five hundred dollars) do you think if i file a suit to the small claim court against the other car owner and driver i still need a lawyer assistance. the police report already indicate that I did not cause the accident and it was not my fault, do you think if I presented my case to the small claim court base on the police report evidence I will win my case.

 

[ecmst12]

You can go to small claims court for your property damage on your own. I hope your van is no longer accruing storage charges where it is now and it's only a past bill that you have to pay.

I think you have a chance of getting the full policy limit for your injuries IF you get a lawyer. Without one, definitely not.

For future referance, you can also carry Uninsured Motorist Property Damage coverage, which would cover your car if you are hit by an uninsured driver. Then you wouldn't have to worry about small claims court.

 

[mydognamepuaboy]

how about my medial bills. most of my medical bills is paid by my medicare health insurance and my auto insurance. if ever I get money from my auto insurance am I to pay back medicare health insurance for all the money they pay for my care. thanks for all your advises.

 

[ecmst12]

Your PIP coverage should have paid first, and yes, you will have to pay back medicare for whatever they paid for your bills out of your settlement.

 

[mydognamepuaboy]

so let me get this straight. my PIP will cover my medical bills first, my medical bills is $60000 (sixty thousand dollars) my PIP is $10000 (ten thousand dolard) so this means $60000.00 minus $10000.00 equals $50000.00. if I have to reimburse medicare health insurance I will only reimburse them $50000.00 is that correct. this medical expenses thing is something I dont understand. I am paying my premium to medicare health insurance to cover me if I get ill. part A is hospital, part B is medical and part D is prescription drug cost. since I have this medicare health insurance coverage how come I still need to reimburse medicare for all the money they spent for my care. by the way, if I accept the insurance offer as a settlement I have to minus my medical expenses first then the left over 33% goes to the lawyer and the rest is for me, is that how it works, I am puzzle on this one I need your advise.

today, I hired leavitt, yamane and soldner law corporation to represent my case and they gladly take my case without upfront fees. they also guarantee that if my case ever go all the way to the court they will be well prepared for battle. now that i have a lawyer to stand by my side and fight my case I can now rest and sleep good. this is the first time that I have talk one on one and face to face to a lawyer and I am amaze to be told that I have many right that i didnt know about it, i hope they are right to what they said to me and not lead me to more trouble. they also told me that they will contact the other car owner or driver to find a way for them to pay my van full blue book value and if they do not cooperate we will have to pursue a law suit against the car owner. I know the other car owner and driver is already in a big trouble because of this incident and I dislike to put them even deeper into trouble but somebody has to pay for my van. in 2001 I bought my van brand new paid it in full in cash and i did take good care of her, I am the only one who drive this van and now she is gone. I dont like to rip off the other car owner and driver but since they cause the accident by not obeying yield sign, its only fair that they will pay my van and maybe because of this they will learned a lesson and next time they drive on public road they will make sure they have auto insurance.

 

[ecmst12]

You have to pay back medicare what they paid out, not necessarily what the doctors billed. This is because the settlement has to make everyone whole. Medicare paid for injuries that were due to someone else's negligence. You are recovering from your own insurance company because he had no coverage, but it is AS IF you were recovering from the at fault party. Medicare lost money due to him just like you lost your truck, lost money for your copays, lost time from work, lost function from your body. They need to be made whole again just like you do.

Whether your lawyer's percentage comes out of the settlement BEFORE or AFTER expenses are paid (including Medicare) is a matter for negotiation in your contract with them. If you already signed, then you can read it to find out. Most likely, they will want to get their fee before bills are paid. But if you haven't signed the contract yet, you can negotiate it with them. Depending on how badly they want your case (which is a pretty easy victory), they may accept your terms or not. Then you have the choice of staying with them or looking elsewhere.

 

[mydognamepuaboy]

that is a great point sir, I commend you for your expert advise. unfortunately I sign the lawyer contract just this morning because the lawyer came to my house to gather all information necessarily for them to take over my case, the lawyer flatly explaine to me that they will take part 33% of anything I will collect from the insurance company, i agreed and I sign the contract. after I sign the contract the lawyer is rushing to leave leaving me thinking that I did the right thing. then when i read your response I went over to read the contract that i just sign from page one to the last page and it say lawyers will take 33% of all monetary collection i will collect from the insurance company either for settlement, judgement or award but no mention about my medical bills how is to be paid. what recourse do I have to retract and negotiate about deducting medical bills first before they can get 33%. or is it a done deal because I just sign the agreement contract. thank you sir for your advise.

 

[ecmst12]

You can talk to them about it, but you really should have read it more carefully before signing it.

 

[mydognamepuaboy]

I spoke with my lawyer today and they were helpful. they were not too hard about money they were more interested to winning my case than getting paid so we reagreed that my medical bills will be paid first before they can take thier fees share. the only problem was it may take them sometime to a year to complete my case because last months my auto insurance has sent me a letter wanting to settle my case for much less amount I expect, I reply back to reject thier offer and yesterday I called my auto insurance to inform them that I am no longer to handle my case and I give them my lawyer info. the person I talk to beg me to drop my lawyer is because they already in the process of settlement with me. I spoke with my lawyer about it and they inform me not to speak to my insurance anymore and let the lawyers now to handle everything beside they said the insurance offer is way too low and my lawyer can get me 4 times more than what they presently offering. is the lawyer is right for getting me 4 times more. the insurance offering me settlement of $120000.00 (one hundred twenty thousand dollar) my demand is $310000.00 (three hundred ten thousand dollars) for permanent injury plus another $50000.00 (fifty thousand dollars) for pain and suffering plus $60000.00 (sixty thousand dollars) for medical bill and expenses and $100000.00 (one hundred thousand dollars) for future medical expenses. if the insurance company is unwilling to pay the full amount of my demand this case may end up in court. do you agree or disagree. am i asking too much? the reason why I am asking this amount is because i am already declared disable and could no longer work. thank you again

 

[ecmst12]

You don't have that much coverage. You can't get more then the 310k because that's all that is on your policy. They are demanding for more because that's how it works. You should not talk to your insurance company AT ALL anymore.

 

[mydognamepuaboy]

I have another question. My lawyer inform me that the other car that involve into accident with me have no auto insurance but their other car which his wife own have auto insurance. since him and his wife living together in one house we will have to file a suit in the wife insurance and if there is not enough coverage my unisured/underinsured will kick in. is the lawyer right about this? is it possible that this can happen. I need to know your advise.

 

[ecmst12]

His wife's policy isn't going to cover the husband's car that's not listed on the policy. But do what your lawyer tells you to do.

 

[mydognamepuaboy]

making correction...
the wife car have auto insurance and he was listed as a added driver. his car that involve in accident with me have no auto insurance. I was advise by my lawyer that we will pursue a suit in the wife car since he was listed as a driver on the wife car auto insurance.

 

[ecmst12]

Insurance follows the car, not the driver. If he wasn't driving the car on the policy, the policy is not going to provide any coverage.

 

[mydognamepuaboy]

my lawyers advise and your response is differ and I dont know which of you is correct. my lawyers was a experience trial lawyers with a reputation for result and former JAG officer board certified civil trial specialist, certified by national board of trial advocacy. this lawyers is well known in state of hawaii to win cases 95% at a time and I have a full faith in them to do what is necessary to get me the high possible compensation. there are many things that i may not agree of what they say to me but they are the expert and they know the law better than me. according to my lawyers state of hawaii is a no fault state therefore the fault party is responsible for their action so to shorten the story we will include the wife insurance in the suit. I dont understand this but I will go along and wait for the result. no matter what happen I will get compensated is just a matter of time.