Maryland Automobile Accident Claims Tips

Maryland Automobile Accident Claims Tips

Complimentary Free Copy

By Marc J. Atas

matas@ 410-752-4878 6 East Mulberry Street Suite 744 Baltimore Maryland 21202

The information obtained in this book is not, nor is it intended to be legal advice. You should always consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation. You may reproduce materials available at this site for your own personal use and for non-commercial distribution. All copies must include the copyright notice as listed above.

Maryland Automobile Claims Tips

Table of Contents

Chapter

Page

What can a lawyer do for me in an automobile 4-8

accident case?

What information do I need to obtain at the 9-10

accident scene if I am involved in an

automobile accident?

How much do car accident lawyers charge?

11-13

What determines who is responsible in an auto 13-15

accident?

What happens if the cause of the accident is not 15-16

clear?

What if the accident was partially or totally 16

my fault?

Contributory Negligence

16

Assumption of risk

16

Last clear chance

16

What if I believe the accident was partly my 16

fault?

Can I still Win My case if my memory of the accident 16

now conflicts with things I might have said

at the time of the accident?

I was in a car accident and the airbags did not 17

deploy. Do I have a case against the

automobile manufacturer?

What benefits can I collect in a motor vehicle 17

accident?

What Is PIP?

18

What is a PIP waiver?

18

Property Damage coverage

18

What type of rental car am I entitled to

19-21

And for how long am I entitled to a rental car?

How Does the Insurance Company Determine My 21-26

vehicle is a Total Loss?

Do I have to accept The Insurance Company offer to 26-29

total loss my vehicle?

Can I Make a diminished value claim?

30-33

If I don't feel Injured after an auto accident, 33

should I see a Doctor?

Medical Treatment

33

Medical Expenses

34

Lost Wages in The Past and In the Future

36-40

Non-Economic Damages

40-43

The Statutory Limitation ("Cap") On Noneconomic 43-44

Damages

Collateral Source Rule

44

Settle car accident claim without lawyer

46-48

How does a Baltimore personal injury lawyer value 48-53

a personal injury or auto accident case?

Submit a convincing and complete demand package 53

What does a typical demand letter look like 53-58

in an automobile accident claim to

an insurance company claim?

How long for car accident claim to settle?

58-60

If I file a personal injury claim do I have

60

to go to court?

What happens when the case cannot settle?

60

What does a typical complaint look like that is 61

filed in an automobile claim?

What Happens after suit is filed?

62-66

Questions Asked at trial?

67-69

Facebook posts

70

Depositions--giving your story to the

70-72

other side before trial.

Independent Medical Evaluations

72-73

What if the person who caused the accident does 73

not have insurance?

Uninsured motorist claim

73-77

Will my insurance Company rates go up if I collect 77-78

under the collision portion, uninsured portion,

or PIP portion of my policy?

Car Accident Claim Vs. UBER and LYFT

78-80

Does My Lawyer Have to Pay Medical Bills

80-81

or My Health Insurance Company?

What does Medicare have to do with my case? 81-82

Medicare Set Aside in Auto accident cases

82-92

What is the SOL for Medicare Conditional

92-93

Payments? MEDICARE COMPLIANCE

Discovering Insurance policy limits prior to 93-96

trial

Admissibility of Traffic Court Finding in a Civil 96

Case.

What can a lawyer do for me in an automobile accident case?

1) Collect all of the necessary data Contact an attorney immediately--even before you contact an insurance company? if you are injured in an automobile accident and feel that you are not at fault. Once you contact the attorney, he/she will take an interview from you to determine the full extent of the injury that you have received as a result of an accident and also to determine who is at fault in a particular accident. My office does not charge a fee for the consultation that assesses these two issues. 2) Find a qualified doctor Initially, if you have been injured and have not received medical treatment, an attorney can help you find the appropriate medical care. Often, specialists like orthopedic surgeons or neurologists have long waiting lists that cause patients to wait months before receiving care. Attorneys can help greatly with this lag time, as they are frequently able to get specialist appointments for their clients in a relatively short period of time, allowing for adequate medical treatment in a much timelier manner.

Individuals who are injured in automobile accidents often find, however, that doctors do not like to get involved in litigation because they do not like going to court. In order to prove to an insurance company and/or a jury that you were in fact injured, a doctor must provide detailed reports connecting the injuries to the accident. A lot of physicians refuse to dictate reports deemed acceptable by the insurance companies, thus it is important to select a doctor who is at least willing to dictate a report after each visit. Each document provided by the medical facility is extremely important in your automobile accident case, as insurance companies base the amount of money that they are willing to offer you upon the documentation available. Visiting a family physician who is unwilling to write a dictated medical report or who scribbles an illegible note on his office chart may result in a smaller settlement than would come from consulting a doctor who is willing to write a fully dictated report clearly outlining the injuries and necessary treatment. Therefore, how well the doctor documents your injuries can be extremely important, as inadequate documentation can lead to less money for the same injury.

3) Help Collect PIP benefits

A lot of insurance policies have coverage called personal injury protection coverage (PIP), which provides coverage for medical expenses and lost wages up to $2,500.00 or more. This amount is paid no matter who is at fault. If you collect under this particular portion of your policy, your insurance company cannot cancel you or raise your rates. If it is later determined that the other person is at fault, the money you've collected is not reimbursed to the insurance company but instead becomes additional money you can use to pay your medical expenses, so that you do not have to later pay for them out of your settlement.

PIP is paid by the insurance company which covers the vehicle that you were in at the time of the accident or if you were a pedestrian, the vehicle that may have struck you. If your medical expenses or lost wages exceeds $2,500.00, PIP will not pay anything over the $2,500.00 limit. PIP is typically paid directly to the medical provider, so that if the medical expenses exceed $2,500.00 and are paid to the doctor, then there will be no PIP benefits available for lost wages.

4) What is a PIP waiver?

A PIP waiver means you cannot collect PIP benefits and occurs in several ways. When the owner of the vehicle you were in at the time of the accident does not purchase PIP coverage from his insurance company, then PIP is waived for the owner of the vehicle as well as anyone who lives with the owner at the time of the accident and is a relative of the owner and over the age of 15. A PIP waiver can apply even though the vehicle you were in has PIP coverage if you live in a household where anyone in that household that you are related to has a vehicle and has waived PIP coverage, then it is waived for anyone in the household when they are involved in an accident even though that vehicle was not involved in the accident. For instance, if you are involved in an accident in your friend's vehicle that has PIP coverage, but you own a vehicle and you have waived PIP under that particular policy or if you live with your parents and they have waived PIP coverage under their policy, then you would not be able to make a PIP claim under the policy for the vehicle involved in the accident, even though that vehicle had PIP coverage. Anyone else who was in the vehicle at the time of the accident who had not waived PIP coverage anywhere else would be able to make a claim for PIP.

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