FAQ: Should I Pay My CoPays?

Well, the answer is you want to pay your copays,  you will want to use your medical insurance. Often the medical providers will request the information from the at fault driver. However, what you want to do is use your medical insurance to pay for those medical bills. Don't worry. The law in most cases requires that you pay back your health insurance company once you settle your case; however, there's a lot of benefits to you making sure that you use your own health insurance instead of allowing any medical provider to try and bill the at fault driver's car insurance.

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FAQ: When Should I Go See a Doctor After a Car Accident?

Well, the answer is as quickly as you need to. In other words if you need emergency medical services, then you need to take the ambulance to the E.R. If it's a type of injury that you believe you can wait or that gets worse over time, then you want to go to the doctor as quickly as possible. A preference would be your family doctor who knows your medical history and has treated you over a long period of time, so that would be the priority. However, don't wait too long to get to your doctor. If it's going to take a few days to get you an appointment, then what I would recommend is to go to an urgent care facility that could see you right away. You don't want to let too many days pass until you get to a doctor. You want to go right away.

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Replacement Vehicle After Car Accident?

You can get a replacement vehicle as soon as you'd like. However what I recommend is waiting until you've completed the negotiation with the insurance company and they have sent you and you've received the settlement check. Then you can take that settlement check and you can take it to the car dealer to get a new vehicle.

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Why Won’t the Adjuster Pay My Doctor Bills After a Car Accident?

Why Won’t The Hospital Take My Health Insurance After A Car Accident?

What If I Told the Officer I Wasn’t Hurt After a Car Accident?

What is a Statute of Limitations and How Can It Destroy My Case?

What is a Statute of Limitations and How Can It Destroy My Case?

A statute of limitations is the maximum amount of time you have to file a lawsuit. If you do not file a lawsuit before the time limit, then your lawsuit will likely be thrown out. This will destroy your case.

The time limit starts when the injury occurs under most circumstances. For personal injury cases, like automobile accidents and slip/trip and fall injuries, there are two potential time limits.

Three Year Time Limit

The three year statute of limitations is the general time limit for most personal injury cases, excluding medical malpractice cases. For example, you generally have three years to file a lawsuit from the date of a car accident.

Two Year Time Limit

Some personal injury cases have a two year statute of limitations if the injury was caused by a government department or person working as a government employee (police officer, county employee, etc).

Some Exceptions Exist

There are limited exceptions to the start date. One exception exists for minors—you have extra time. A second exception exists for exposure cases. For example, if you were exposed to asbestos and develop problems years later. If you believe an exception should apply to your case, you must talk to a lawyer right away.

Properly calculating the statute of limitations is crucial to your case. If you have any questions about what the statute of limitations is on your case, please call me for a consultation at 888-510-3959

All About Medical Releases

All about medical releases

Federal law requires medical providers to keep individuals’ health information private. Medical providers can only disclose your health information if you authorize the medical provider to release that information. The authorization is called a medical release and may be referred to as a HIPAA release.

HIPAA is the acronym for the federal law that includes the privacy rule. It stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The portion of the law that deals with keep health information private is called the Privacy Rule.

When you make an injury claim to a wrongdoer’s insurance company, the insurance company will require documentation. Specifically, the insurance company will require your medical records and bills. Insurance companies offer to request your medical records and bills for you (isn’t that nice), but must have your authorization first. So, the insurance company sends you a medical release they want you to sign and send back to them.

Here, the devil is in the details (or fine print) of the medical release the insurance company will send you. Most people believe that the insurance company will only request their health records and bills that are related to the collision. No one wants random people combing through their medical history. However, insurance companies may not limit the medical release. Often, the insurance company will want you to sign a medical release that allows them to get your complete medical history, even records from five, ten, or even twenty years ago. Their medical release acts as a blank check into your health history.

The solution is gather your medical records yourself or through your lawyer. If you hire a lawyer, your law firm will request these medical records as a part of their representation. Sometimes, the insurance company will require additional medical records for three to five years before the collision. Our firm evaluates these requests for reasonableness and then requests these records for our clients.

The bottom line is to avoid signing a blank check authorization for the insurance company to comb through your entire medical history. If you have any questions regarding medical releases, please call me.

If you have been hurt in a car accident:

1. Please read why I don’t believe it was an accident, here;
2. Request my Free Guide, South Carolina Car Accident Claims Guide in Plain English, by clicking here.
3. Call at 888-510-9359 or contact me for a free consultation. There is no obligation.

Car Accident Settlement Key People

Who are the key people involved in a car accident case?

Insurance Adjuster – this is the person from the insurance company who determines how much money to pay you. You may have multiple insurance adjusters on your car accident case.

Property Damage Adjuster – this is the person from the insurance company who reviews the damage to your car and determines how much money it will take to fix it or how much your car is worth if your car is totaled. You may have a property damage adjuster from your car insurance company and the insurance company from the person who hit you.

Bodily Injury Adjuster – this is the person who will evaluate your physical and mental injuries and determine how much money the insurance company is willing to pay. Some adjusters use complex computer based systems to make this determination. Others use their experience and knowledge.

Investigating Officer – this is the law enforcement officer who investigated your collision and completed a report. Often, this officer will make a determination of who was at fault. Most people will never have additional interaction with the investigating officer. However, the investigating officer may be a witness if your car accident case goes to trial.

Subrogation Representative – this is the person from your health insurance company who determines how much money, if any, your health insurance company requires you to pay back after your settlement. Most health insurance companies will require that you pay them back if you recover money based medical treatment the health insurance company paid for.

Medpay / Personal Injury Protection Adjuster – this is the person that will determine how much money to to pay you based on your medical bills. This person will represent either your car insurance company or the car insurance company for the vehicle you were in during the crash.

If you have been hurt in a car accident:

1. Please read why I don’t believe it was an accident, here;
2. Request my Free Guide, South Carolina Car Accident Claims Guide in Plain English, by clicking here.
3. Call at 888-510-9359 or contact me for a free consultation. There is no obligation.

How Long For My Settlement?

How Long Will My Car Accident Settlement Take?

Some cases settle within a few months. Other cases take years to resolve. Most cases settle in between. Its impossible to say with any certainty because there are factors outside your control. For example, some injures take longer to heal, other might not heal. Your medical treatment may last two months or two years.

Additionally, some insurance companies take longer to respond than others. Conflicting witnesses statements on who was at fault may make additional investigation necessary. Unreasonable offers from the insurance company may necessitate filing a lawsuit.

The key to a speedy settlement is having a system that tracks treatment status, medical records, and responses to information requests from the insurance companies. To speed up your settlement, make sure to organize your medical bills, review your insurance paperwork, and document your recovery.

If you have been hurt in a car accident:

1. Please read why I don’t believe it was an accident, here;
2. Request my Free Guide, South Carolina Car Accident Claims Guide in Plain English, by clicking here.
3. Call at 888-510-9359 or contact me for a free consultation. There is no obligation.