Getting Compensation for Personal Injury Damages

Don’t Text while driving

Tue, 8 Feb 2011 20:56:53 -0700

Shout out to AT&T for putting together this powerful video teaching the dangers of texting while driving. Driving requires our complete attention. Let’s be smart and safe while we are behind the wheel.

Copyright (c) Ward B. Rasmussen, Esq. All rights reserved.

More on UM/UIM Insurance

Mon, 6 Sep 2010 14:44:50 -0700

In my last blog entry I discussed why you need uninsured motorist “UM” insurance coverage. I recently came across some insurance statistics that you might find insightful. According to the Insurance Research Council:

“Across the United States, if someone is injured in an auto accident, the chances are about one in seven that the at-fault driver is uninsured. According to a recent Insurance Research Council (IRC) study, the estimated percentage of uninsured motorists increased nationally from 12.7 percent in 1999 to 14.6 percent in 2004. However, the magnitude of the uninsured motorists problem varied widely from state to state.

The recently released study, Uninsured Motorists, 2006 Edition, examines trends from 1999 to 2004 in the percentage of uninsured drivers by state. In 2004, the five states with the highest uninsured driver estimates were Mississippi (26 percent), Alabama (25 percent), California (25 percent), New Mexico (24 percent), and Arizona (22 percent).”

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2006/06/28/69919.htm

Underinsured motorist “UIM” insurance coverage in Arizona is important to have for most of the same reasons as UM coverage. Arizona only requires a motorist to have liability coverage with limits equal to $15,000 per person, $30,000 per occurrence. If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident, it doesn’t take much for medical bills and lost earnings to exceed $15,000. Therefore, it just makes sense to insure yourself against someone not having sufficient limits to cover your damages.

Check with your insurance agent to make sure you have UM and UIM coverage.

Copyright (c) Ward B. Rasmussen, Esq. All rights reserved.

Why You Need “UM” Coverage

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 07:53:15 -0700

The State of Arizona requires that we buy automobile liability insurance to cover any motor vehicles that we own (ARS 28-4009). Unfortunately, not everyone complies with the law resulting in many uninsured motorists driving our streets. If an uninsured motorist crashes into you, the effects can be devastating.

ACTUAL CASE: Jane (not her real name) contacted me. She was driving her vehicle on Antelope Creek Road in Yavapai county. An uninsured motorist traveling in the opposite direction crossed over the center line colliding into her head on. Jane sustained serious injuries, including numerous fractures, and incurred significant medical expenses because of the collision. The investigating officer cited the uninsured motorist for failing to control his vehicle (ARS 28-701A) and for driving on the wrong side of the road (ARS 28-721A). The uninsured motorist was also cited for driving without insurance (ARS 28-4135A1).

Clearly the uninsured motorist was legally responsible for Jane’s injuries and damages he caused. I explained to Jane that she could file a lawsuit and obtain a judgment against the uninsured motorist. The problem is that he failed to insure himself. We hired an investigator to determine if this uninsured motorist had any assets that could be used to pay a judgment. Unfortunately, the uninsured motorist was “judgment proof.”

Jane must now deal with her injuries and medical expenses with no hope of financial compensation from the uninsured motorist.

MORAL: Jane, and every other vehicle owner in Arizona, can insure against this tragic result. All motor vehicle insurance companies in Arizona are required to offer Uninsured Motorist Coverage (ARS 20-259.01). The coverage is surprisingly affordable. The coverage typically extends to “the named insured” as well as any occupants in the “insured vehicle.” Talk to your insurance agent and make sure you have uninsured motorist coverage.

Copyright (c) Ward B. Rasmussen, Esq. All rights reserved.

That’s not what happened!

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 12:03:22 -0700

In Arizona, most motor vehicle accidents are investigated by the police agency having jurisdiction in the accident location. The investigating officer then prepares a written accident report. What do you do if the investigating officer gets it wrong?
My experience is that most investigating officers do a fairly good job in collecting the pertinent evidence and completing the accident report. However, when they “get it wrong” it creates a formidable obstacle in allowing a client to obtain compensation for accident injuries and damages. Insurance carriers typically rely on the accident report in determining fault. If the report concludes that its insured is not at fault for the accident, any liability damage claim will be denied.
Injured parties who find themselves in that predicament have to produce evidence to refute the accident report findings.
ACTUAL CASE: Client was returning home from dinner at a restaurant. He approached a T-intersection and started making a left hand turn onto the side street when he collided with another vehicle. The investigating officer concluded that the other vehicle was traveling in the opposite direction and that the client had failed to yield to oncoming traffic while executing a left hand turn. The client insisted that the other vehicle was not “oncoming” but rather had failed to yield at a stop sign entering the T-intersection from the side street and striking client’s vehicle.
The client sustained a compound fracture of his arm and incurred significant hospital and other medical expenses. His liability claim against the other driver was denied by the other driver’s insurance carrier based largely on the written accident report.
We retained an accident reconstructionist. He was able to scientifically determine from the physical evidence at the accident site and the damage to the vehicles that indeed the “other vehicle” had entered the intersection from the side street. The liability carrier hired its own accident reconstructionist who came to the same conclusion. Liability coverage was extended and we were able to settle the client’s significant injury claim.

Copyright (c) Ward B. Rasmussen, Esq. All rights reserved.