2004.02.19

Understand Your Michigan No-Fault Rights

If you have been in a car accident, you need to know your rights.
I am a Michigan lawyer hanlding Michigan car accident litigation.   This web site will help you understand your first-party and third party no-fault  rights and fight for the money and benefits to which you are entitled.

THE BASICS:  I was in a Michigan automobile, car, truck or bus accident.  What should I do?

1.    Don’t sign anything given to you by an insurance company without consulting a Michigan automobile accident lawyer first. Insurance companies don't represent your interests.  Your best decision is to educate yourself about your legal rights and speak to an attorney.  You may have to sue to obtain the money to which your are entitled.

2.   Document your injuries early, get competent medical treatment and take photographs in the hospital, or when you get home.

3. Don’t be fooled by insurance adjusters who pretend to represent your interest. They will often attempt to convince you to sign papers and take settlement offers which are well below the compensation to which you are entitled

Michigan is a 'no-fault' insurance state. The laws that govern Michigan automobile accidents are very complex but essentially involve First-Party Benefits and Third-Party Benefits. 

You should contact a Michigan automobile accident attorney to fully understand your no-fault rights. Insurance companies are very skilled at taking your premium payments every month.  Unfortunately, they are also very skilled at avoiding payments even when a legitimate claim is made. Such bad faith denial of benefits forces good people into litigation where having an aggressive, experienced lawyer can make all the difference.

COMMENTS

After being in a wreck, it's important to take steps to protect yourself and your assets. Obviously, this can be difficult considering the circumstances.

The route to claiming can be difficult, getting witness statements can really help your case, as the above poster discusses- you can't trust anyone.

As far as the issue of automotive insurance is concerned, I've found it to be far more common for owners of classic cars (jaguars, aged chevies and some others) a lot more likely to low-balled some offers than others...and I don't think it's just me that feels this way. Very good advice you have going there - DTA - don't trust anybody.

Hope you can help me! I had an auto accdient while on work time, workers comp paid for eight months to injuries, but then had there unethical doctors say I was 100% which was not at all and they stopped paying a civil lawsuit was filed with the auto insurance PIP within the year time but they have not paid one cent. My doctors have testified I need help and due to mental illness I can not goto court with workers comp. Auto says they don't have to pay one cent since workers comp is main. I am still being treated for bad injuries. How do I get past this unethcial law of the insurance companies playing off each other? I think the auto should start paying some part since workers comp stopped and should not medical docs show its realted to accident i need a driver to docotor procedures and also need help cleaning the house. Should I write a complaint to the district attorney about the workers comp unethical practices of denying me healthcare i need.

Here is a link to a great article on choosing an attorney...
By Kurt English.

An excerpt:

"Your relationship with your company's attorney is similar to the relationships you establish with your customers, vendors, employees and service providers. By nurturing and strengthening these relationships, you can change the level of service you receive.

... In choosing an attorney for your home business, treat the decision like any other business relationship. Seek to make it a long term relationship. Choose your attorney(s) with care and educate yourself."

TRAVERSE CITY - A 31-year-old Detroit woman and a 3-week-old baby boy were killed in a car accident on US-131 near Kalkaska.
Tabitha Ann Hendon, 31, of Detroit and infant Oroscio Sotelo, also of Detroit, were pronounced dead at the scene of a two-car crash Sunday, said the Kalkaska County Sheriff's Office.
The accident occurred when William Hardin Winn, 82, who was traveling north on US-131, allegedly pulled into the southbound lane in an attempt to pass another car. Winn's car collided with the driver's side of Hendon's car, which she was driving south on US-131.

More...

By VANESSA McCRAY
Record-Eagle staff writer

Nearly 43,000 people died in car accidents in 2002, according to auto accident statistics available through the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This figure has increased by 1.5% from the previous year. Although the number of traffic-related injures has declined from 3.03 million to 2.92 million, auto accident statistics show that the number of fatalities due to drunk driving has steadily increased. More than one-quarter of Americans have been involved in a car accident in the last five years.

Additional auto accident statistics:

About 26% of drivers have been involved in a car crash in the last five years.
There were 17,419 alcohol-related fatalities in 2002.
More than half the fatalities reported --59%--were not wearing seatbelts.
Deaths from rollover crashes totaled 82%.
For the past five years, motorcycle fatalities have been steadily increasing.
Deaths of motorcyclists aged 50 and over have climbed by 26%.
Every 13 minutes, there is a death caused by a motor vehicle accident. Auto accident statistics show that Americans from the ages of 1-33 are more likely to die from a car accident than from anything else. On the other side of the spectrum, elderly adults aged 75 and up are most affected by motor vehicle crashes. The good news is fatalities of children seven and under have dropped, most likely due to safety seats. Also, pedestrian deaths have declined by 1.9 percent.

Most car accidents are entirely preventable. Recent auto accident statistics reveal that the drivers involved in accidents are most likely distracted, tired or possibly drunk. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration reports that most drivers engage in activities that take their attention away from the road. These activities include:

Talking with other passengers: 81%

Playing with the radio or CD: 66%

Eating or drinking: 49%

Using a cell phone: 25%

Hi Dave: In Michigan, contingency fee cases for personal injury matters are 1/3 of the money recovery, received either by way of settlement or verdict. This is the standard fee charged by all, or virtually all, Michigan contingency fee lawyers for automobile accident cases. There are instances where a lower fee or hybrid fee structure are possible, such as when the insurance company has already offered an amount in settlement, or when the client pays all costs of litigation. In these instances, a lower contingency fee can be negotiated. We are pretty innovative and flexible on fee agreements. Feel free to give me a call if you have any further questions. I'd be happy to learn about the specifics of your situation.

Enrico Schaefer, Attorney

How do you determine the level of your contingency fee?

Time, law on insurers' side in paying claims
By PURVA PATEL
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Click here for full story.

When Teresa Thomas and her daughter were rear-ended, they assumed the other driver's insurer would pay her daughter's medical bills. It was after all, the other driver's fault, and the insurer agreed to pay the forwarded bills. But the company took three years to cover the $3,600 treatment Thomas' daughter needed for a torn neck ligament. That's three years after bill collectors came knocking. The injuries worsened, and the Houston woman sued. ...

Although Thomas sued to get what she thought was rightfully hers, consumer groups say the strategy's not likely to keep insurers from stonewalling other policyholders. They point to weak laws and light penalties for companies that drag out the claims process...

....The combination has made insurance companies bolder and left consumers springing for repairs or medical bills out of pocket as insurers put off settlements. "What we see most is the runaround. After you file a claim, they may respond within the proper deadlines but come back with lowball offers or try to delay and delay and not negotiate," said Dan Lambe, executive director of consumer group Texas Watch....

"Insurance companies are inherently financial animals. People say insurance companies are immoral; I say they're amoral. It's all about money," Kincaid said. "As their penalties go down, it allows behavior that, over the long haul, will save money."

....

Insurance companies have a contractual obligation to protect their clients when they're in an accident they didn't cause. But if the law forced insurers to meet deadlines on behalf of someone who files a claim against their client, they could find themselves working at cross-purposes.
....

Click here for full story.

No question about it. My injury required a lot of medical treatment. They were taking forever to pay the bills. I did not start to get the lost wage and replacement services I needed until I had my attorney sue MY INSURANCE COMPANY. Payments are still slow but I ave a good lawyer fighting for my legal rights.

I had an adjuster for the negligent driver tell me that an attorney would just cost me money on the contingency fee. He told me that he would take care of me and my family.

When he gave as a low ball offer, I knew it was time to get legal help. My lawyer got me ten times the amount of money in settlement than the insurance adjuster offered. Don't trust insurance adjusters for the negligent driver! Their 'good hands' are reaching into your wallet!

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