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Who is Responsible For Paying My Medical Bills After a Car Crash?

If you've been in a car accident, and sustained injuries that have required medical treatment, one question you probably have is:  who is responsible for handling the payments for my medical bills, health insurance (medicare/medicaid) and car insurance?   Is the other driver responsible for paying? Will my I get a decent offer to settle?  Medical bills can become very confusing following a car accident because there are multiple ways that providers get paid and reimbursed for treatment rendered.  This is a basic overview to help explain who should pay for outstanding bills after a car crash that was not your fault.  A good personal injury lawyer will help you get answers for these questions, and will fight to ensure that you are prop[...]

Why Should I Let EMS Evaluate Me After A Car Crash?

Following a car accident, EMS (Emergency Medical Services) often arrive in an ambulance to assess if anyone is seriously injured, and needs to be transported to a hospital for evaluation or treatment. I often hear clients report that they ‘felt fine’ at the time of the accident and declined to be evaluated by EMS at the scene, since they weren’t experiencing any pain or symptoms, or their minor aches and pains were not concerning.   While this seems like a reasonable and logical course of action at the time, declining medical evaluation can cause problems down the line, if your injuries progress or develop, which they often do in car crashes. Immediately following a crash, our adrenaline is spiking, our fight-or-flight response ki[...]

How to settle your personal injury claim without getting taken advantage of.

As an Asheville personal injury lawyer, I deal with insurance companies all day, every day. I know which companies are reasonable and easy to deal with, and which ones are a nightmare and should be avoided at all costs. Insurance companies will assign an adjuster to your claim if you have been injured as a result of another person’s negligence. Insurance adjusters are not inherently bad people, but the fact remains that their employers are concerned about one thing: profit. So no, Nationwide is not “on your side”, and you are not “in good hands” with Allstate. As a result, your insurance adjuster cannot be trusted to look out for you, if you’ve been injured as a result of a car crash or accident. Here some ways to avoid getti[...]

Why Do Car Accident Insurance Claims Fail To Settle?

Car accident victims who have been injured due to someone else's negligence are often entitled to compensation from an insurance company.   The fact is that most cases settle outside of the courtroom, due to the time and expense involved for both sides in bringing a court to trial.   It is often in the best interest of both parties to settle on a reasonable amount of compensation to settle the claim without being dragged into court.  This being said, there are particular situations and circumstances that prohibit some cases from settling, and require the court to resolve.     So, what are the reasons that some cases fail to settle? The Insurance Company Denied The Claim If the insurance adjuster assigned to your claim believes that [...]

How NOT to handle your car accident claim

I'm often contacted by potential clients a few days after they've been involved in a car crash.  As an experienced personal injury attorney, once I get involved in a case, I talk with the insurance companies and advise my client on how best to proceed.  I always urge my clients not to discuss their case with anyone, especially insurance adjusters.  I explain what it means to have a "gap in treatment" and how that can affect your case and damage your claim.  Clients are always advised to follow up on prescribed medical treatments, follow doctors advice, and be clear and upfront with medical providers about their symptoms and issues, as these notes will end up in their medical records, and can be used to bolster a claim.   5 Common [...]

How to Investigate a Car Accident for Your Personal Injury Claim

If you’ve been involved in a car crash, it is important to perform your own investigation of what happened, regardless of whether or not the police perform their own investigation. If you do not, you can be at the mercy of an insurance company’s investigation that may find you at fault, even if you were not. If you’ve been injured, you have even more reason to investigate the accident, so you can recover personal injury damages from the at fault driver. Here’s how to perform a proper investigation: Take photographs Immediately after the crash, take photographs of all the vehicles involved (not just yours) and the area where the crash occurred. If you are too injured to take photos, have a friend or a witness take them. Your came[...]

How to Find a Good Personal Injury Lawyer

Searching for a good lawyer to handle your personal injury claim? Like any other profession, there are good lawyers, bad lawyers, and a few horrible and great ones as well. Personal injury lawyers come in all forms – from the stereotypical lawyer who wants to get some money quick – to the victim advocate who will fight hard for your right to be compensated from an injury that was not your fault.   Here’s how to tell the difference: Hire a local personal injury lawyer. Many, many lawyers will advertise that they can handle your personal injury claim and that they have offices all over the state, including your town. Do not accept this at face value. Check and see if that firm has an attorney in your town, or if its just an office [...]