insurance coverage disputes

Talk to a Phoenix Personal Injury Lawyer Before You Talk to the Other Person’s Insurance Company

By Personal Injury Lawyer on March 2, 2010

As a specialist in personal injury law, I’m very surprised by how often people are willing to trust the insurance company for the driver that caused the car accident before they will trust a lawyer that they hire. Or, to be more specific, they refuse to consider even hiring a lawyer and instead try to handle the case on their own and talk directly to the insurance company that is against them.

Now, let’s be very clear. I understand I am a personal injury lawyer. I understand that all I do is help people who are hurt. I therefore recognize the fact that I have a “bias” when I talk about the need to trust a personal injury lawyer before trusting the insurance company for the other side.

On the other hand, this is not about me and it’s not about my firm. Sure, we take great pride in the fight that we put up to help our clients. Yes, we know we are straightforward with our clients and we are honest with them so that they know what they are facing. We also have the experience to know how to protect our clients from making mistakes that will jeopardize their claim when they have every right to recover. However, it is not about our firm but about hiring any good, experienced, top-level personal injury lawyer before talking to the adverse insurance company. This is especially true with serious personal injury cases.

The adverse insurance company is not on your side. They are not supposed to be on your side. There are shareholders that are in effect owners of that insurance company that expect that insurance company to do whatever they can to save money. The money they save is at the expense of the person who has a very serious personal injury case. As a result, it is a mistake to expect the insurance company to be “fair” when that is not the job they are paid to do.

We strongly encourage anybody who has a serious personal injury or auto accident claim to talk to a good, honest Phoenix personal injury lawyer before they talk to the insurance company. The insurance company may twist your words against you. The insurance company may claim you said things that you never said. What we know for sure, even if the insurance company is not dishonest in any way, is that they do not have your interest at heart. They are concerned with their money not your rights.

Talk to a good lawyer. Get your questions answered. Then, and only then, consider whether it makes sense to talk to an insurance company that is likely to try to minimize the claim that you are making.

What is the Difference between an Uninsured Motorist Claim and an Underinsured Motorist Claim?

By Personal Injury Lawyer on February 9, 2010

An uninsured claim can be made only when the person who caused an accident had no insurance coverage at all. Your own insurance policy may, however, cover what the other person’s insurance should have covered.

For example, let us say that you or someone you love was seriously hurt in a car accident in Chandler that someone else caused. The person who caused the accident should be responsible for paying medical expenses, lost income, pain, frustration, and all other damages resulting from the accident for which the injured party can claim compensation. What would happen, however, if the responsible party had not bothered to pay for insurance? Just because the responsible party did not have an insurance policy does not mean that the injured party is without recourse or cannot make a claim.

A Chandler, Arizona car accident victim may be compensated in such cases if he or she had uninsured motorist coverage in the same manner in which they would have been compensated had the negligent party had at fault insurance.

Underinsured motorist coverage deals with similar situations. It is utilized more frequently when serious injuries result from an automobile accident. Let us theorize that a negligent driver causes an accident resulting in a serious injury that costs a considerable amount of money to treat. Medical expenses in some cases are so high that the other person’s insurance does not cover all of the medical bills, leaving no money available to reimburse lost wages from being unable to work or for anything else the law allows compensation.

By contacting a top Chandler car accident lawyer, you will not only be able to learn what your case may be worth, but you will also find out if there is additional insurance coverage that was unknown. In cases of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, it may often require the services of an experienced personal injury trial lawyer to find the coverage that will allow full and fair compensation after a Chandler car accident that was not your fault.

Should I Settle My Chandler Auto Accident Case?

By Personal Injury Lawyer on February 2, 2010

Many personal injury lawyers in Chandler, Arizona focus on the fact that they settle nearly every case that they take. Commonly settlements are done because most people do not want to go to trial, and people who have been seriously injured in a car accident want to settle their case. These people want compensation to which they are legally entitled.

Despite what some people may think, most people who have suffered a serious personal injury or who have lost a loved one in an accident are not looking forward to some giant payday. Most people who file a personal injury claim are simply looking to get what is fair. It is not in most people’s interest to go to trial, and if they can settle for a monetary figure that is fair, that is what they want to do.

It is important that someone injured in a Chandler car accident be very careful when searching for a lawyer who will promise to settle a case. The insurance industry has become extremely sophisticated, and they know who the best Chandler personal injury lawyers are. They also know that the top Chandler car accident attorneys will take the case to trial if necessary.

A lawyer’s willingness to take a personal injury case to trial makes it far more likely that an insurance company will settle the case. If an insurance company knows that a seriously injured person has hired a lawyer who settles every case out of court, the insurance company has no incentive to make a fair offer.

As skilled Arizona personal injury lawyers, we will explain why we feel a settlement offer is not sufficient, but in the end it is up to our clients. If you’re looking for honest answers to your questions regarding filing a personal injury claim, please feel free to contact Breyer Law Offices, P.C. We can help.

What Should I Do after a Chandler Car Accident if I Need Surgery but Do Not Have Health Insurance?

By Personal Injury Lawyer on January 29, 2010

The best personal injury lawyers in Arizona care about their clients’ medical conditions. Even if a lawyer wins every case, yet ignores his or her clients’ medical prognosis, that lawyer is not among the best. Conversely, an inexperienced lawyer who fights to the end with every legal tool available to make certain that his or her client gets the best medical attention available, deserves significantly more credit.

A top injury lawyer will do more than just ensure that the legal claim is resolved. While the best personal injury attorneys will certainly make sure that their seriously injured clients receive the most compensation allowed under the law and protect their rights, they will also involve themselves in the medical aspect of the case when necessary.

The goal as far as medical care is concerned is to make sure that doctors do everything they can for the injured person. Many times, however, our clients do not have money to pay for required surgery. We understand that doctors do not work for free, nor do we think that they should, and hospitals too have a right to be paid. It is for this reason why many surgeries that are not emergencies will not be performed unless the doctors and hospitals who provide the care are somehow guaranteed payment. In situations like these, a person could live with a serious, painful, and debilitating medical condition because of a lack of funds.

Experienced Chandler personal injury lawyers can usually find excellent medical care in such cases. They can help find medical practitioners and medical facilities that will provide the needed care for their client without payment or health insurance. This is not free, however. The medical practitioners will put a lien on the case, which means that they are entitled to reimbursement once the case has been settled.

To learn more about how you can ensure that your medical bills are paid for after being in an accident caused by another person’s negligence, please get in touch with the attorneys at Breyer Law Offices, P.C. We have assisted injury victims for many years in obtaining full compensation for their injuries so that they can get the medical treatment they need. Call us today for a free, no-obligation consultation.

Filing an Insurance Claim after a Chandler Car Accident

By Personal Injury Lawyer on January 20, 2010

We like to hear the question, “How do I file an insurance claim after a car accident,” from injured victims who come to us after a Chandler, Arizona car accident. When someone asks this question of an Arizona personal injury lawyer, it means that the injured party has yet to file an insurance claim. We know that an insurance claim should be filed as soon as it is practical, yet it is nearly always best that someone who has been seriously injured or has lost a loved one should first consider whether to hire a personal injury lawyer before filing a claim.

It is not complicated to file an insurance claim. Usually, it involves only a phone call. The problem with talking to insurance companies about personal injury claims is that some insurance companies will use the situation to gather information from the injured party before he or she has a chance to talk to a lawyer. This often places the plaintiff at a disadvantage and gives the defendant a head start on collecting information on the personal injury claim. It is for this reason why we always recommend that after a Chandler car accident, an injured party consult first with the best personal injury lawyer he or she can find.

When you hire a top Chandler car accident lawyer, he or she will usually prevent an injured party from talking to the liable party’s insurance company to prevent any statements being made that could later be twisted against the person seeking compensation. A good personal injury attorney will attempt to prevent statements to the injured party’s own insurance company. This will help prevent insurance companies from using the sometimes dubious means that these companies often used to take advantage of injured parties without legal representation.

If you have been injured in an auto accident in Chandler, please contact the skilled car accident injury attorneys at Breyer Law Offices, P.C. We always offer a free, no-obligation consultation to injury victims. Call 480-753-4534 today.

Understanding the Value of Uninsured or Underinsured Coverage

By Personal Injury Lawyer on January 15, 2010

Obviously, the amount of medical bills, the amount of wage loss, the amount of the other person’s policy and the injured driver’s underinsured policy change on a case-by-case basis. But what’s essential is to purchase these additional coverage options to protect you or your loved ones if an uninsured or underinsured driver causes an accident while you’re on the road.

Finding underinsured motorist coverage and uninsured motorist coverage policies in particular can require an experienced Arizona personal injury trial attorney. A competent litigator knows how to locate the clauses in the policy that protect you by allowing full and fair compensation for everything you or a family member has gone through after a car accident.

If you or a loved one has recently been in an auto accident in Peoria, the experienced Peoria car accident lawyers at Breyer Law Offices, P.C. can help. We always offer free, no-cost consultations and are more than happy to answer any questions that you may have. Call 623-930-8064 today.

Protect Yourself from Insurance Company Unfair Settlements After a Motorcycle Accident

By Personal Injury Lawyer on January 14, 2010

One way an insurance company may deny compensation to someone who is owed payment on a personal injury claim is to not share the uninsured and underinsured motorist laws when it comes to motorcycle accidents in Arizona.

Even if you have not purchased uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage for your bike, the policy for any vehicle you own or any vehicle owned by a family member with whom you reside may be adequate to cover your motorcycle accident. This fact gains significant importance as soon as the medical bills following a motorcycle accident are too expensive for the other at-fault driver’s insurance company to pay. In this way, hiring an experienced Peoria, Arizona motorcycle accident attorney who understands Arizona insurance laws will increase the possibility of gaining a greater amount of money to resolve medical bills and compensate for wage loss and other out-of-pocket expenses.

If you want honest answers and an expert opinion on how best to pursue a motorcycle accident claim, please feel free to phone us at Breyer Law Offices, P.C. We call it as we see it. We will not tell you only what you want to hear or tell you how great your case is even if there are problems with it. For honest answers to help you decide whether or not you have a credible motorcycle accident claim, give our Arizona personal injury lawyers a call. For a realistic picture of the kind of compensation you can expect to win, give us a call.

Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Peoria Car Accidents

By Personal Injury Lawyer on January 6, 2010

Underinsured motorist coverage is called upon more frequently than uninsured coverage when the injuries suffered in an auto accident are more serious. Let’s say a driver causes a serious injury that requires a substantial amount of costly medical treatment. Phoenix personal injury lawyers have seen first-hand how medical costs can be so great in some cases that the at-fault party’s insurance does not even cover the hospital bills. And if the policy cannot even cover those expenses, it is unlikely to sufficiently reimburse past and future lost wages, rehabilitation, or other expenses that are allowed by law. In these cases, uninsured motorist coverage claims are made.

An uninsured motorist claim allows an injured motorist to turn to her own insurance policy (or a family member or other loved one’s policy, which may also cover the motorist even if she did not pay for the policy herself) to defray medical expenses, pain, frustration, and all the lost wages and other losses left over when the other driver’s insurance policy limit has been reached. So if the person at fault had a $100,000 insurance policy and the injured party incurs $80,000 in medical bills, the injury victim’s medical bills alone nearly exhaust the entire policy. If the claim includes damages for pain and suffering or ongoing rehabilitation costs, the person who caused the accident does not have enough insurance to cover the entire claim.

In this case, the injured party would be very interested to find out that she has taken out an underinsured motorist coverage policy. If her policy provides an extra payment in this circumstance, she could claim the money that should have been otherwise paid out by the at-fault driver’s insurance, had it been sufficient.

To learn more about what role underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage may play in your auto accident case, please feel free to contact the experienced Peoria car accident lawyers at Breyer Law Offices, P.C. We have assisted many injury victims in obtaining the compensation that they deserve for their injuries sustained in accidents with uninsured and/or underinsured motorists.

Protect Yourself from Missing the Settlement You Deserve

By Personal Injury Lawyer on December 31, 2009

When looking at insurance coverage from the point of view of an injury victim, one can expect that the insurance company will almost always do everything possible to make sure that a release form is signed before they pay out any money. In other words, before the insurance company will pay, they want to ensure that the recipient has signed away any right to seek more money in the future.

This obviously creates a problem for plaintiffs with severe or permanent injuries. Those who have been seriously hurt in a Peoria, Arizona car accident may want to settle their case within the first year following the incident, but will not have reached the end of their medical needs at that time. Some unfortunate victims of serious injury may never again return to work.

Therefore, it is imperative that any settlement includes money for anticipated future medical care and future lost wages. This task often requires the help of a skilled Arizona personal injury lawyer, who can help auto accident victims obtain honest assessments from expert witnesses to determine the cost and likelihood of future medical care and the anticipated wage loss as a result of the injury.

Be advised that injured persons or their representatives assume a huge risk by signing any document without asking a lawyer to review it. Even documents that may appear not to waive any future rights may cause serious unforeseen ramifications. Certainly, it is vital not to sign a release or agree to accept money without making sure a lawyer has reviewed the case and the document first. It would be a horrible and unjust outcome if somebody who is seriously injured accepted money and signed a release early in the case without realizing that they had signed away their right to payment for future medical care that was directly necessitated by the crash.

How to Prevent Insurance Companies from Making Unfair Offers

By Personal Injury Lawyer on December 24, 2009

If an insurance company knows that a seriously injured person is represented by a lawyer who refuses to go to trial and settles every case, the insurance company knows it has no incentive to make a fair offer. They will continue to make unfairly low offers to the attorney and the injury victim until the trial gets close, at which point the attorney will likely advise the client to accept an inadequate sum, and the case will be settled. In this type of scenario, the injured victim will never receive the amount that he or she truly deserves.

It’s vitally important to hire a lawyer who is willing to take cases to trial if a trial is warranted to secure ample compensation. An Arizona personal injury lawyer who has experience fighting for clients in front of a jury offers a much greater value to any clients he or she represents.

At Breyer Law Offices, we feel that there is a big problem with pushing clients to settle cases when there is not a fair offer on the table. Not only does it hurt the individual client, but personal injury lawyers who refuse to fight for their clients, who do not take cases to trial, develop a reputation amongst insurance companies as pushovers who are unwilling to put up a fight. If you know the other side is not willing to put up a fight, there is no reason to offer a fair sum to the client. That is why we are very proud of the fact that we are not just Peoria personal injury attorneys. We are Arizona trial lawyers who fight for our clients from day one to the very end.