The Claim

To be reimbursed for damages to your vehicle or property plus any injuries you suffered in an accident, your first step is to make a claim against the other person’s insurance company.If you have been injured by someone else’s negligence (meaning your injury is due to the other person or company not taking proper care in doing something and they are responsible for causing your injuries), then you have the right to be treated by physicians and specialists. The cost of your treatment will be paid for either by the person or company that caused the injury or by their insurance company.When you present all of your medical and damages information to the other party’s insurance company, that is called “making a claim.” You are claiming that you were injured in some type of accident, that the accident was caused by the insurance company’s client, and that your treatment has already cost, or is expected to cost, a certain amount of money. Prime Medical Accident Injury will help make sure you get the documentation needed to maximize your claim.

Two different types of claims may arise from an auto accident: vehicle damage and personal injury. Regardless of the claim type, insurance companies require you to promptly notify them of an incident that could trigger a claim, whether or not you believe you sustained any injuries. That usually means you need to call within a matter of days, or a few weeks at most. Remember that sometimes injuries don’t appear immediately, or may worsen over time, causing you to make a claim later. If you’re not at fault, the other driver’s insurance company will be responsible for paying for damages to your vehicle and for any medical bills you incur. If you need to go beyond filing a claim and have to file a lawsuit, then some time limits come into play. Arizona Statute of Limitations Every state’s deadline to file an injury lawsuit is different, but most states, including Arizona require that you file an injury claim within two years of the injury occurring. Keep in mind that every situation is different, and you’ll want to make sure that before you make a claim, you talk to all the people that might be involved in your recovery. You need to know exactly what you’re facing, what surgeries or therapies will be required to get you back to 100%, how long that will take, how long you may be out of work, what therapies you may be facing in the future, and for how long, and whether you will make a full recovery.For all these reasons, it’s important to make the call to Prime Medical Accident Injury as soon as you believe you may have suffered injuries during the accident. The doctors at Prime Medical know exactly how to document your injuries to prevent your claim from being denied.

Whenever an accident occurs, the party or parties who are “at fault” are responsible for paying for any property damage and for any injuries, treatment and pain and suffering that occur.After an accident, the first call you should make is to the police. They will take everyone’s statement who was involved in the accident and then they will make a report detailing how the accident occurred and who was involved. If it is unclear who is responsible for causing the accident, the police report may help determine fault. Once liability is accepted, an at-fault party (or parties) will be declared.The at-fault driver’s insurance will help to cover the costs of car repairs, medical bills, as well as other pain and suffering costs. These costs can include lost wages and alterations to the victim’s lifestyle. If accident is your fault, then claims will be filed with your own insurance company.

If you’ve been in a car accident, your own insurance company will typically require you to promptly notify them of an incident that could trigger a claim. That usually means you need to call your own company within a matter of days, or a few weeks at most. On the other hand, you are not required to speak with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. The law does not require you to talk to the other driver’s insurance company, their agents or adjusters. In particular, do not speak with the insurer if there’s a possibility that you, a passenger, or the other driver may make a claim for a serious personal injury.

First and foremost, be armed with the knowledge that insurance companies will always look for ways to find another driver at fault, because that means they won’t have to pay out as much money.The other driver’s insurance company will use your statements against you and may even blame you for the accident (or argue that you were partially at-fault for the accident).They will also try to argue that your injuries or damages are either non-existent or extremely minor. Keep in mind that many times, the effects of an injury don’t appear until long after the accident itself.Never agree to have your conversations recorded with the other driver’s insurance company. Anything you say can be used as a reason to refuse paying you anything, or to reduce the value of your claim. Only state facts; don’t guess at what might have happened. If you don’t know what happened, say that. Finally, ask the other person’s insurance adjuster to deal with your attorney

There are two main types of automobile liability coverage:

Bodily Injury Coverage This pays the medical expenses associated with any injuries a person might have incurred from an accident. In some instances, it may also cover lost wages and legal fees associated with a lawsuit. Bodily injury coverage includes not only medical bills, but also lost wages and pain and suffering damages. What does this mean for me? If you are involved in an accident caused by another driver and they carry minimum coverage, their insurance company will cover up to $25,000 of bodily injury liability per person and a maximum of $50,000 to cover everyone involved.

Property Damage Coverage This pays for the damage that results from an accident, including vehicle repair or replacement, as well as any other property that may have been damaged.The minimums stated are the insurance coverages required to drive on Arizona roads. Many people carry more than the minimum, knowing that the costs of an accident can skyrocket quickly if expensive vehicles and serious injury are involved.

The settlement is the amount the insurance offers or you negotiate. Your attorney will negotiate until you reach an amount agreeable to you. You can also file a lawsuit if they cannot reach an agreement you are satisfied with. Your attorney will guide you through this process.

Accident to Settlement: The Timeline. If you’ve been involved in a car accident, expect the following sequence of events to occur:

1. A car accident occurs. The police will issue a report and insurance companies will be notified that an incident has occurred that may trigger a claim.

2. Get medical attention if there is the possibility that you’ve been injured, whether at the emergency room or at Prime Medical Accident Injury. The doctors at Prime Medical are here to help get you on the road to recovery, we will document your injuries and treatment, and submit the documentation to the insurance company on your behalf.

3. Gather documentation to support your claim for damages to your vehicle.

4. Gather documentation to support lost wages, pain and suffering, changes in your lifestyle and any other monetary or non monetary damages you’ve suffered. In Arizona, a number of elements may be considered when awarding damages for pain and suffering, including:

  • Impairment of bodily health and vigor
  • Interference with normal living
  • Diminished capacity to work and earn money
  • Interference with enjoyment of life
  • Actual pain and suffering experienced (past and future)
  • Fear experienced regarding the extent of the personal injury
  • Mental anguish experienced (past and future)
  • Shock of the injury’s impact.

5. Submit your claim to the at-fault driver’s insurance company.

6. The insurance company’s investigation begins. After you have submitted all your documentation to the insurance company, the insurance company will do its own investigation of the accident. Do not agree to making any recorded statements; the insurance company can and will look for any discrepancies in your statements and hold them against you. You may want to involve a personal injury attorney at this point; they can handle all communications with the insurance company on your behalf.

7. The insurance company makes an offer. The insurance company will verify the documentation you’ve submitted and may come up with documentation of their own. They may disagree with the dollar amount that you are stating is necessary to cover the costs of your case. Some factors that may impact the dollar value of the offer include:

  • Percentage of fault (to what extent did your actions have some bearing on the accident)
  • Extent of your injuries and whether there will be lasting effects. Did you break a bone, or have permanent brain damage?
  • Strength of your medical records. Medical records are important evidence in supporting your accident-related injuries. Seeking medical treatment immediately following an accident allows a medical professional to diagnose your injuries, link them to the accident and prescribe treatment. This is where the documentation your partners at Prime Medical comes in to support your case. If you do not have strong medical evidence, insurance companies may try to say your injuries are not related to the accident or are not as severe as you state, leading to lower settlement offers. The stronger your medical records, the greater chance of a more favorable settlement.
  • The statements you made during and after the accident to police, witnesses and the insurance company.

8. Counter any offers the insurance company makes until you settle on an agreed-upon figure. Be prepared to discuss your request for a higher amount using evidence such as police reports from the accident, hospital and medical records, evaluations from the medical experts at Prime Medical Accident Injury and even comparable cases. Having evidence of your losses can improve your odds of getting a higher settlement offer.A personal injury lawyer can help you outline how the accident has impacted your life, whether it’s your ability to still do your job, take care of your children, or enjoy the company of your spouse. Emotional appeals can help bolster your case for a higher settlement, including punitive damages. Often, having a personal injury attorney involved in the discussion will bolster your chances of the insurance company agreeing to the amount you ask for. Have a dollar amount in mind before getting into the counter-offer discussion.

9. File a personal injury lawsuit if you’re unable to come to agreement on the value of your claim. The lawsuit may or may not continue through a trial.

10. Reach a settlement and receive your monetary compensation for damages. This may be at the conclusion of either the negotiating process, the pre-trial motions, or the trial itself. After more than 30 years experience in managing auto accident cases, it is the opinion of the Prime Medical organization that it is very difficult for the average person to settle their case in a satisfactory manner without professional assistance from a quality personal injury attorney.

The Settlement

There is no set answer to the question of how long it takes to reach a settlement. After you’ve made a claim against the other party’s insurance company, there may be some back and forth about the merits of the claims and the costs of the treatments to get you back to 100%.The insurance company will want to analyze who is at fault. Sometimes it is easy to determine who caused an accident, but other times, many different factors may have come into play. The seriousness of your injuries will also affect how long it takes to reach a settlement.

Professional legal assistance can be the difference between getting what you need and deserve to recover from an accident and losing out on large amounts of monetary damages.

To shield you from insurance company traps. If the at-fault driver in your auto accident case is insured, his or her insurance adjuster might attempt to contact you. They might also request that you give a recorded statement, which will give the insurer a chance to elicit harmful admissions or contradictory statements that can be used to attack your credibility. While the adjuster might seem amicable enough, innocent statements can be twisted to sound like you are admitting responsibility. A personal injury lawyer can handle negotiations with the insurance company to prevent you from inadvertent statements that could undermine your claim. To help you recover all the types of damages you are eligible for. There is a variety of damages you may be eligible for that you may not know about. Of course, you are entitled to your medical bills and damage to your vehicle, but you may also be eligible for things like lost wages, emotional distress, and pain and suffering. While some car accident victims might wonder about the value of retaining an attorney, studies suggest accident victims cannot afford to proceed without legal representation. A study conducted by the Insurance Research Council (IRC), for example, found that auto collision injury victims who were represented by attorneys recovered nearly forty percent more than parties who handled their claim without a lawyer. To evaluate an offer. Your attorney can help you decide if the offer from the insurance company is acceptable, and what the implications of accepting the offer are. To comply with statutes of limitations. If the amount the insurance company offers is not enough, you can file a lawsuit. However, in Arizona, you only have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit in most situations. Failing to file the lawsuit in that time forces you to give up your right to sue forever. An attorney will make sure you meet all deadlines. To handle all aspects of filing a lawsuit. From gathering facts, hiring experts, presenting your case and negotiating your settlement, having an attorney on your side strengthens your case in every regard.A personal injury lawyer can help you outline how the accident has impacted your life, whether it’s your ability to still do your job, take care of your children, or enjoy the company of your spouse. Emotional appeals can help bolster your case for a higher settlement, including punitive damages. Often, having a personal injury attorney involved in the discussion improves your chances of the insurance company agreeing to the amount you ask for, and smoothing your way to a full recovery. Two different types of claims may arise from an auto accident: vehicle damage and personal injury. Insurance companies require you to promptly notify them of an incident that could trigger a claim, whether or not you believe you sustained any injuries. That usually means you need to call within a matter of days, or a few weeks at most. Keep in mind, though, that sometimes injuries don’t appear immediately, or may worsen over time, causing you to make a claim later. If you’re not sure if you can make a claim, call your attorney and they will help answer your questions. If you’re not at fault, the other driver’s insurance company will be responsible for paying for damages to your vehicle and for any medical bills you incur. If you need to go beyond filing a claim and have to file a lawsuit, then some time limits come into play.

If you and your attorney are unable to come to an agreement with the insurance company, then you’ll need to take the next step: filing a personal injury lawsuit. State laws govern the amount of time you have to file a lawsuit. The amount of time you have to file is called the statute of limitations. If you want to file a lawsuit over injuries you sustained in the accident, the statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of the accident to file the suit. The law clearly states how long you have to file a lawsuit in these cases, so if you miss the filing date, you can expect the court to dismiss your suit. This is why it is so important to understand the statutes of limitation that apply to your case and how they affect your situation, and if you plan on filing a lawsuit, to start early enough to give yourself plenty of time to file within the statutory limit.

In most personal injury cases, if you decide to retain a lawyer to handle your case, he or she will represent you under a contingency fee. This means that you do not pay anything “up front,” and your lawyer will only be paid if your case reaches a favorable solution for you, whether through an agreed-upon settlement or after a civil court trial. Then, your lawyer will collect a percentage that was agreed-upon in the initial fee agreement you signed. Typically, this percentage is around 33 percent of the settlement amount, but many fee agreements spell out that the percentage may be lower, or may be higher if the case requires going to court.At Prime Medical Accident Injury we have been handling auto accident cases for over 30 years. We have relationships with many attorneys and can connect you with quality attorneys and the best medical care possible, increasing your net settlement amount. Once less thing for you to worry about. Call us today to find out how! If you already and an attorney, we are happy to work with them to achieve the best results for you.

There are two main types of automobile liability coverage: Bodily Injury Coverage This pays the medical expenses associated with any injuries a person might have incurred from an accident. In some instances, it may also cover lost wages and legal fees associated with a lawsuit. Under Arizona law, the minimum limits of bodily injury liability required are $25,000 per person. Bodily injury coverage includes not only medical bills, but also lost wages and pain and suffering damages. What does this mean for me? If you are involved in an accident caused by another Arizona driver and they carry minimum coverage, their insurance company will cover up to $25,000 of bodily injury liability per person and a maximum of $50,000 to cover everyone involved. Arizona split limits mean that at minimum coverage, the most the insurer will pay for bodily injury to one claimant is $25,000 and that, the maximum the insurer will pay for anyone claim is $50,000 (regardless of the number of claimants involved). Property Damage Coverage This pays for the damage that results from an accident, including vehicle repair or replacement, as well as any other property that may have been damaged in an accident, including fences, houses, buildings, or other types of property. What does this mean for me? If you are involved in an accident caused by another Arizona driver and they carry minimum coverage, their insurance company will cover up to $25,000 worth of combined property damage to your and anyone else’s vehicle involved in the accident. The minimums stated are the insurance coverages required to drive on Arizona roads. Many people carry more than the minimum, knowing that the costs of an accident can skyrocket quickly if expensive vehicles and serious injuries are involved.

Third-party liability is when someone buys insurance (first-party) from an insurer (second party) for protection against damages claims made by a third party. Your auto insurance covers you for anything that you might have caused to happen to your vehicle, for instance, if you back into a wall. It also covers you if you have an accident where you hit another car and damage someone else’s car. Your insurance pays for someone else’s car to get fixed. Just the same, when an accident is someone else’s fault, their insurance will pay for your damage and injuries. Their insurance will either pay you directly by giving you a check, or they will pay the body shop who fixes your car and the doctors who take care of you. Some other person bought insurance in case that another person causes an accident in which you incur bills, in other words, their insurance company will pay your bills. Prime Medical Accident Injury accepts payments from other insurance companies who are paying your bills.

This article was not written as legal advise but as a guide to help inform you in what can be a complicated process.