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1) Don't Buy PPO Automobile Insurance
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Before you renew your automobile insurance, get the facts! Make the right choice! The PPO choice is not worth it.
Colorado insurance companies may provide a discount on your "no-fault" or "PIP" coverage if you sign a form accepting the PPO option. It is not worth it. Don't buy the PPO option. Insist on PIP benefits without the PPO option.
Insurance companies make more money when you sign up for the PPO option. The so-called discount applies only to the PIP portion of your premium - not the whole insurance policy. You save somewhere between $20 to $40 per year per insured vehicle. Yet the PPO option limits your right to choose your own doctor if you are injured in an automobile accident. Even if you are only slightly injured, you will be required to visit a doctor of the insurance company's selection, or pay a large deductible and co-payment, or incur some other disadvantage if you choose to see your own doctor.
The doctors on the insurance company's list are typically restricted in the type and amount of care they can give you under the PPO system. Pre-authorization and close monitoring of doctors' "averages" tend to reduce the benefits to you. Delays are common. Dissatisfaction is rising.
There are excellent doctors inside and outside the PPO. The difference is that doctors outside the PPO are free to use their own judgment in making decisions about your care, while doctors inside the PPO are often constrained by various factors. Sometimes these factors include the application of national averages to how much of what kind of care you are entitled to receive. You are not an average; you are not a national statistic.
Unfortunately insurance companies sometimes offer their agents a financial bonus for signing people to the PPO option. This is because the PPO option is very profitable to the insurance company. However, an insurance company can not require you to sign up for the PPO option as a condition of providing you with insurance coverage. You are always entitled to a choice. Indeed, if you have already signed up for the PPO option, you can reverse your decision by notifying your insurance company in writing that you want to do so. There will be a small additional charge - the amount of the so-called "savings" you previously experienced. Revoking this form will allow you to be completely free to visit your own doctors if you are in an automobile collision. More importantly, it will help to keep decisions about your healthcare where they belong - between you and your doctor, without an insurance adjuster interfering.
Ask your insurance agent for a premium quotation with and without the PPO option. Compare the dollar for dollar difference in cost, then decide if the savings justify a limited choice and restricted care. Even if you don't anticipate an auto accident, this is an important choice. No one plans to have an auto accident. (After all, we met because you were in a collision.) Being a good driver is no guarantee that you won't be injured because of the carelessness of another person. Maintaining your right to choose your healthcare goes a long way towards guaranteeing your full recovery.
The PPO choice is not worth it. Insist on the premium PIP coverage in your automobile policy.
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2) Uninsured Motorist Reminder
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An alarmingly high number of auto insurance policies seem to have very low uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage protects you if you are injured in an auto accident by an uninsured or underinsured driver. It is the least expensive auto insurance coverage that you can buy. It is pennywise and pound-foolish to maintain a low level of uninsured motorist coverage while maintaining a high level of liability coverage. In other words, why insure your own negligence for $100,000.00 but insure the negligence of an uninsured driver for only $25,000.00.
Please review your policy to see what your uninsured motorist coverage is. It should be as high as your liability coverage. The cost is very reasonable and the future benefit can be great.
According to one investigator who analyzed statistics from the Department of Motor Vehicles, 10 percent of the drivers on the road have no insurance. He suggested that his assessment was probably too low. I have heard various estimates as to the number of drivers on the road with no insurance, and those estimates range from 20 percent to 30 percent. In any event, about 20 percent of injury accidents are caused by uninsured motorist. Assuming that the investigator’s determination that 10 percent of the drivers on the road have no insurance, if 20 percent of injury accidents are caused by uninsured motorists, it would appear that uninsured motorist are twice as likely to cause accidents than insured motorists. This means that if you are involved in an injury accident, an uninsured motorist will be involved 20 percent of the time. Please keep this in mind when you are renewing your policy coverage. Please purchase uninsured motorist coverage in an amount at least equal to your liability insurance coverage.
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3) Insurance companies are not paying
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State Farm Insurance Companies, Allstate Ins. Co., American Family Ins. Co., Farmers and others have adopted various policies designed to minimize the effect of a collision on claimants.
You have only one claim. Your rights and responsibilities should be respected by insurance companies. You – with your smiles and dimples – make the case.
But you must still satisfy the Court’s requirements of proof in order to prevail. You must meet your burden of proof. And the burden of boredom is even greater than the burden of proof. The key – whether for settlement or trial – is the same: persuasion through presentation. You must distinguish your claim from the 500 other claimants the individual insurance adjuster is evaluating.
Plan your work, and work your plan. Your work plan should include preparation for trial and settlement. The tasks are straightforward: investigate the claim (facts, photos, documents, interviews, written statements, etc.); satisfy all conditions precedent (notice requirements, governmental entity requirements, no-fault threshold requirements, statute of limitations, etc.); evaluate the case; look at the nature and extent of injury, who the defendant is, whether the defendant can respond financially, the liability (and assess comparative negligence), causation, objectification of the injury, and a clearheaded anticipation and reputation of defenses and immunities.
The key to success is humanizing the claimant. You are the case. Present the account. Picture how the incident happened through your eyes and through key witnesses. Avoid dullness. Make the injury real. Provide the law. Chart, graph, illustrate, cartoon or whatever – but show the claim, and the resultant injury.
Answer the following questions: Why do you deserve to be paid? Why does the defendant deserve an adverse judgment? What will you do with the money? What difference will money make in your life?
You must tell the adjuster what to do. Describe his options. Provide him the information he needs in order to justify his payment.
If you, a family member, or a friend has suffered a severe permanent injury as a result of medical malpractice, you have the right to consult with an attorney to enforce and protect your legal rights. Doctors, hospitals and other health care providers make medical mistakes from time to time. They, and their insurance companies, will do everything possible to minimize your claim.
Larry has represented seriously injured individuals as a result of substandard medical care. He has available to him nationally qualified physicians with particular areas of specialization. He utilizes nurses and doctors to provide medical legal counsel. Medical malpractice means a doctor or other health care provider makes a medical mistake when treating your medical condition. If this medical mistake causes serious injury, then you are eligible for recovery. Medical malpractice can occur from action or inaction; it can occur from failure to diagnose a disease or condition; failure to properly treat a disease or condition; failure to advise you properly of the risks and hazards associated with treatment of a condition; failure to interpret x-rays properly; failure to properly perform a procedure; overstepping the physician-patient boundaries; disclosing confidential or privileged information; and other ways. If you, your family member or friend has suffered a severe or permanent injury while under the care of a doctor, hospital or other health care provider, you may wish to find out whether or not the treatment was inappropriate or the outcome unusual. Common areas of inquiry arise from surgical procedures, childbirth, or questionable circumstances surrounding a death.
Larry works on a contingency basis. There is no legal fee unless his client collects. Larry’s mission statement is to help people obtain justice.
These materials do not constitute legal advice, and are not guaranteed to be correct, complete, comprehensive or current. You should not act or rely on any information contained in these materials without first seeking out an attorney now, because delay may cause you to lose important rights.
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