Here is a list of Myths (false beliefs) that many people have about automobile accidents and insurance claims. Take a look at the list and then scroll down for a discussion of each Myth.
Myth 1: If I am hurt, I deserve to be compensated.
Myth 2: If I am in an accident I should be compensated.
Myth 3: The responsible party will pay for my medical expenses, attorney fees and out of pocket expenses.
Myth 4: The responsible party and his or her insurer will pay for a rental car for me for as long as I need it.
Myth 5: I have to get my car repaired wherever it happens to be towed after the accident.
Myth 6: The responsible party or his or her insurer has to pay for my car in full no matter how much I owe, even if I am "upside down" on my car and owe more than it is worth.
Myth 7: If I am paperless or an undocumented alien alien, I should not make a police report, bring a claim, or go to the hospital because I may be deported.
Myth 8: I shouldn't go to the hospital if I am hurt in an accident because it is too expensive.
Myth 9: I don't have to go to work after an accident and the responsible party will pay for my lost wages.
Myth 10: The responsible party and his or her insurer will NEVER take this one to trial because they are afraid of the publicity.
Myth 11: The responsible party and his or her insurer will settle because they will not want to pay what it would cost to take this case to trial.
Myth 12: I should not tell the insurance company that I have a lawyer because they will pay me less money.
Myth 13: The jury will always see who is right and do justice/If we go to trial, we'll get more money from a jury of my peers.
Myth 14: I should be afraid to go to trial.
Myth 15: My doctor will make good notes of all of my complaints and everything we talk about.
Myth 16: I am entitled to punitive damages because the other driver caused the accident.
Read on for the facts about these misconceptions . . .
Myth 1: If I am hurt, I deserve to be compensated.
Fact: Many people believe that as long as they were hurt in an accident, they are entitled to be compensated. This is only the case if the accident was caused by the negligence of someone else, such as another driver, or the driver of a vehicle in which you are a passenger. Further, if you have no-fault coverage, such as PIP or Med-Pay, you may be entitled to be compensated for your reasonable medical charges and, in some cases, your lost wages related to the accident.
Myth 2: If I am in an accident I should be compensated.
Fact: This is the flip side of the last question. You are only entitled to compensation after an accident if you have been injured or suffered some sort of damage. If you are fortunate enough not be injured, or not to have suffered any property damage, then there is nothing for which you need to be compensated.
Myth 3: The responsible party will pay for my medical expenses, attorney fees and out of pocket expenses.
Fact: Unfortunately this is only true in a sense. If another party’s negligence caused your accident, and you were injured, we can assist you in making a claim for your damages, including medical bills, lost wages, property damage, towing, storage fees, and pain and suffering against the negligent party or their insurance company. However, the other party is not going to write a separate check to you for your attorney’s fees or for the amount of things like the gas you had to put in your car to come to your lawyer’s office. Any settlement from the other party for your injuries will be one lump sum amount from which we will have to pay your medical bills, and from which your lawyer will, in all likelihood, deduct his or her fees.
Myth 4: The responsible party and his or her insurer will pay for a rental car for me for as long as I need it.
Fact: This is a little complicated. First let’s talk about a totaled vehicle. A negligent party or his insurer is obligated to pay for the fair market value of your vehicle if it is totaled in an accident. They are not required to pay rental, sometimes called the “loss of use” of the vehicle. Some insurers will pay for your rental out of the goodness of their hearts during the period between the accident and the time they determine your care is totaled. Sometimes they will not. Now let’s talk about a car that is just damaged, but not totaled. In that case, the insurer is obligated to pay for loss of use. However, they will not usually allow for this until they accept that their insured was at fault in the accident, and then they will only pay, in most cases, up to the time that they provide an estimate of the damage to your vehicle.
Myth 5: I have to get my car repaired wherever it happens to be towed after the accident.
Fact: The law in the state of Texas is that you have the right to have your car repaired wherever you want to. Thus, you are not required to have the work performed at the place where your vehicle is towed after an accident, and an insurance company can not tell you where to get it fixed.
Myth 6: The responsible party or his or her insurer has to pay for my car in full no matter how much I owe, even if I am "upside down" on my car and owe more than it is worth.
Fact: Unfortunately, many clients learn the truth about this the hard way. The law requires the responsible party to pay no more than the fair market retail value of the vehicle immediately before the accident. That means that a fair settlement of your property damage claim may not be enough to pay off your car note. An experienced lawyer has the knowledge and resources to help you get every penny of value for your car, but usually not more than the fair market value. To prevent having this problem, it is important that when you buy your car, you do everything possible to research the fair market value and also, to seek out the lowest possible finance rate available to you. That is not often the rate that the dealer quotes you. There are many many different sources of auto financing available, including your bank, and online lenders. Do your homework before buying your car to avoid the difficult situation of being upside down, losing your car in an accident, and still owing thousands of dollars to a lender.
Myth 7: If I am an illegal alien, I should not make a police report, bring a claim, or go to the hospital because I may be detained or deported.
Fact: A person injured in an accident by a negligent party should seek compensation for their injuries and damages. There is absolutely no citizenship requirement for pursuing your claim. The only way to accomplish that is to wait for the officer to arrive at the scene and document the incident in a police report, and get all necessary medical attention. An insurance adjuster values your injury claims, in large part, based upon the amount of medical treatment that was made necessary by the accident. After that, unless you diligently pursue your rights, the other driver’s insurance company will not go out of is way to fairly compensate you. Remember, it is the insurance company’s job to pay you as little as possible to resolve your claim.
Myth 8: I shouldn't go to the hospital if I am hurt in an accident because it is too expensive.
Fact: In reality, the opposite is true. It will cost you money in terms of the value of your settlement if you do not go to the hospital emergency room when it was necessary to do so. That is, if you are hurt in an accident, or even if you think you may be hurt, go in the ambulance to the hospital to be checked out. This is important, first of all, for your health. Second, an insurance adjuster views the world only in this way: If a person is hurt in an accident, they go to the hospital. If they are not hurt, they do not go to the hospital. Since they did not go to the hospital, they must not have been hurt, and therefore, they are not entitled to be compensated by the insurance company. Unfair as it seems, that is the reality. If you are even just possibly hurt, go to the hospital.
Myth 9: I don't have to go to work after an accident and the responsible party will pay for my lost wages.
Fact: If you are physically capable of working, then go to work. If you are not physically capable of working, then you MUST have a doctor’s note excusing you from working. Otherwise, an insurance company will not agree to pay for your lost wages. What is not true at all is that you can sit at home indefinitely and expect to be paid by the insurance company for your lost wages.
Myth 10: The responsible party and his or her insurer will NEVER take this one to trial because they are afraid of the publicity.
Fact: If lawyers got paid a nickel for every client that used this line, they could retire early. Even in medical malpractice cases where the doctor or hospital’s reputation is at issue, most defendants dig in their heels and fight to clear their names long before they ever think of settling. Unfortunately, only the most spectacular cases get any press attention at all. More importantly, in those cases, the insurance adjuster for the negligent party is often working in another state and never hears anything about the accident. The percentage of cases in which a defendant is concerned about publicity is tiny.
Myth 11: The responsible party and his or her insurer will settle because they will not want to pay what it would cost to take this case to trial.
Fact: These days, many defense lawyers work on fixed or flat fees. That means the insurance company's costs for hiring a lawyer to defend their insured are already known and will not increase no matter how long the case takes or how much legal work is involved. Because of this, it is very rare that the cost of litigating the case has much to do with the insurer’s decision to settle or not settle.
Myth 12: I should not tell the insurance company that I have a lawyer because they will pay me less money.
Fact: Experience shows that a competent lawyer will almost always add value to a case. This is because (1) a competent, experienced lawyer will efficiently gather the information necessary to persuasively present your claim; (2) that lawyer will often have a professional relationship with the insurance adjuster, or at least have a good reputation with that insurer; and (3) the insurer will know that the lawyer will not hesitate to file a lawsuit on behalf of his client if the insurer is unreasonably withholding fair compensation. If there is no lawyer representing you, then an insurance adjuster will make every effort to give you an offer far below the actual value of your claim.
Myth 13: The jury will always see who is right and do justice/If we go to trial, we'll get more money from a jury of my peers.
Fact: These days, due to the influence of anti-consumer, pro-big business and pro-insurance special interest groups, many people who may one day sit on a jury in an accident case have been misled into thinking that anyone who brings an accident claim is trying to get something for nothing. Those potential jurors have been largely brainwashed into thinking, incorrectly, that they should withhold fair compensation to injured accident victims because of some vague notion of “frivolous lawsuits”. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the advice of a competent experienced attorney to help you determine whether to accept a settlement offer or push for filing a lawsuit and going to trial.
Myth 14: I should be afraid to go to trial.
Fact: This is the flip side of the last Myth. Again, an experienced, competent attorney will be able to properly advise you as to whether you will have a better chance at a greater recovery by taking your case to trial, or by accepting a settlement offer made by the responsible party or his or her insurer. Often, though, the most effective way to extract the highest settlement offer from the insurance company is to diligently and fully prepare to go to trial, and to make the responsible party, their insurer or their lawyer know that. Only when they responsible party’s insurer realizes that you are completely prepared for trial, in some cases, will they make their best offer.
Myth 15: My doctor will make good notes of all of my complaints and everything we talk about.
Fact: A responsible and competent lawyer will never tell you or your doctor how to care for your medical needs. Ethically, that is something that must be left to you and your doctor. It is important to point out, though, that insurance companies look for ways to reduce what they have to pay a person injured due to their insured’s negligence. One of the ways they do this is by looking for any inconsistency between what you say about your injuries and what your doctor has written in his or her notes. So, for example, if you tell the insurance adjuster that you hurt your right thumb in the accident, and for some reason, even though you told your doctor about it, he or she did not write this in his or her notes, the insurance adjuster will usually conclude that you are lying about your thumb injury. Unfair, but it is true. Thus, you must make sure that you emphasize what is bothering you to your doctor to make sure that it is included in your records. Do not make things up. Just make sure that if some part of your body hurts, feels uncomfortable, is swollen, or is not working exactly right after an accident, it is documented in the doctor’s notes.
Myth 16: I am entitled to punitive damages because the other driver caused the accident.
Fact: These are almost never recovered in an auto accident case unless the responsible party was drunk. Many good “negligence” cases are lost in front of juries because the lawyer made the mistake of turning the case into a shaky “gross negligence” case in an attempt to win punitive damages. Many jurors view demands for such damages as just greediness except in the proper case, such as a drunk driving case.
|