Oklahoma Injury Lawyer Blog

Instead of trying to just explain the math behind an accident settlement, I've included an actual Settlement Sheet. See:

SETTLEMENT SHEET.pdf

This from a relatively minor car accident case I settled a few weeks ago. Obviously, I've taken out our client's name (I'll call her Client) and the defendant's name. The dates are also different than the actual case.

Here's a quick summary:
The property damage claim was settled shortly after the accident. Our firm didn't charge anything for the property damage settlement, so that check went directly to Client.

The personal injury claim settled for $12,500. All insurance companies require claimants to sign a settlement release before they'll write a check. The total settlement check was made out to Client, all the medical providers that had outstanding bills, and Medicare. Medicare had paid for some of Client's bills, so they wanted to be reimbursed ("right of subrogation").

As you can see, the attorney's contingency fee in this case was 25%. This amount is taken out of the total settlement. We spent $63.19 obtaining the medical records. This was what the various hospitals charged for them. Client have several outstanding medical bills that totaled $630 and Medicare wanted to be reimbursed $1,399.65. The payment to Client, after everything was paid off, was $7,282.16.

I met with a new client (let's call her Jane Smith) last week that mentioned the insurance adjuster on her claim told her that "she doesn't want to get an attorney involved because your claim will likely take longer and you'll have to pay the attorney out of your settlement."  That just means the insurance adjuster didn't want Jane to hire an attorney.  The insurance adjuster is looking to pay Jane as little as possible - settling early for cheap saves the insurance company money. 

I've seen several personal attorney websites state something along the lines of: "a national study showed that injured people represented by an attorney received 300% more than persons who settle without a lawyer."  None of the websites that have this actually provide a cite to the study.  So, I posted the quote on a national trial lawyer discussion group to see if anyone has actually seen the study. 

Hat-tip to Solomon Neuhardt, a Montana car accident attorney, for pointing out what appears to be the study.  At the very least, it's a study discussing represented and unrepresented claimants.  The "Allstate's 'customer service' charade" article was written by David Strickland and appeared in Trial Magazine in 1999. 

The article mentions a study by the Insurance Research Council:

The study found that payments for unrepresented
claimants with bodily injuries amounted to $3,262 on average. Payments
to represented claimants amounted to $11,939 on average.

That's 366%!  Assuming the attorney's fees in those claims were 33%, the clients still recovered $4737 more than what they would have recovered.

Here's one I haven't heard in awhile:

I was in a car accident last week.  The driver that hit me doesn't have insurance.  However, the guy he recently bought the car from still has the car insured!

Can I sue the previous owner to help get my medical bills paid?  His insurance company is denying my claim.  Can they do this?

I have uninsured motorist coverage, should I just turn it in to my insurance company and be done with it?

The previous owner doesn't have an "insurable interest" in the car.  Insurable insurance is usually mentioned if someone is trying to purchase life insurance on someone other than themself.  You generally can't do it (there's exceptions of course).  Back to the car accident: The previous owner isn't liable and his insurance company is correct.  Luckily this person has Uninsured Motorist (UM) Coverage. 

Medical providers will generally file a lien to protect their claim in a car accident (or other personal injury) case.  If a lien is filed, an insurance company paying a personal injury settlement must include any lienholders on the settlement check, or issue separate checks for the liens. 

How can you find out if you have a lien filed against you in Cleveland County?

Check out the Cleveland County Clerk's Index Search.  Click on "Index Search" on the left hand side of the page.  You'll need to click "Accept" after reading through the disclaimer.  Type in your name. 

We launched a new website today: Oklahoma City Car Accident Lawyer micro-site.  It's limited to car accidents and related issues.

I just received an email with the question, "can you receive double medical coverage if you're in an auto accident?"

Here's my email reply:

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by "double medical coverage," but I'm assuming your question is along the lines of:

I was injured in a car accident that was not my fault. My health insurance paid for all my medical bills, so can I keep the whole settlement I get from the other driver's insurance company?

Short answer: Probably not. You may be able to get double recovery if you have 'medical payments coverage' under your own car insurance company. If you are a named insured, medical payments coverage is not subject to subrogation. Otherwise, if you don't have medical payments coverage, then generally you cannot get 'double recovery,' unless the health insurance company does not have a subrogation provision. Insurances companies often have what's called "a right to subrogation." This simply means that they have a right to be reimbursed for what they pay (when someone else is at fault). Note that your insurance company only has a right to be reimbursed for the medical bills. So, they shouldn't "touch" any recovery you get for lost income or pain and suffering. Here are a few examples:

The Cars Blog on ConsumerReports.org has an excellent video and article on How to stop a runaway car: Don't pump the brakes.

The video, with Jake Fisher driving a Toyota Venza and a Volkswagen Jetta, simulates what happens when a car has sudden runaway acceleration. Mr. Fisher mentions some "do's and don'ts":

Don't:
1) Don't pump your brakes. This will cause your power brakes to go out.
2) Don't try to turn off your car. You risk locking up your steering wheel.

Do:
1) Put your foot on the brake hard, and continue pressing it.
2) Put your car in neutral
3) Once stopped, turn off your car.

Mr. Fisher also recommends first trying the braking procedure in an empty parking lot or other safe location. The Volkswagen Jetta is interesting because it can actually override the gas pedal.

Here's the video:

Today's Oklahoman has some startling statistics:

Nearly one in four (24 percent) Oklahoma motorists drove without insurance during the period of 2005 to 2007, the council's study estimated. Only three states had worse rates: New Mexico (29 percent), Mississippi (28 percent), and Alabama (26 percent).

The article mentions that our state's current percentage of uninsured drivers may be even higher.

So what can you do to protect yourself against a deadbeat driver? Make sure you have uninsured motorists on your car insurance policy.

"My back was killing me for over 3 months. Why isn't my case worth more?"

I had a client recently ask this. For simplicity's sake, I'll call him Bob. Bob was rear ended last year and was rushed to the hospital immediately after a car accident.

The seat he was in snapped back and Bob thought that he had been knocked out. His neck and back were both hurting quite a bit. The emergency room ran up a pretty good bill because they did a CT scan (Bob thought he had a concussion and was dazed; "So, they scanned my cat.").

Bob checked out of the ER with soft tissue injuries, some prescriptions for a muscle relaxer, and some pain medicine. He was also instructed to go to a follow up doctor if he was still having neck and back pain.

After missing work for a few days, Bob decided he could "tough it out," and went back to work. This is great, but his neck and back still gave him trouble. He was in a lot of pain at work and around the house. Two months later, Bob's back is still bothering him. He's tough though, so he doesn't bother to go to a doctor.

Bob called me about six months after the accident. His neck and back had finally healed and he was curious as to why the insurance company hadn't called him and offered to settle his personal injury claim.

The case has since settled for a reasonable amount. At the time though, Bob was a little frustrated because he wasn't able to get compensated for any pain and suffering for the 3 months that his back was bothering.

So, moral of the story: Go to a doctor if you are hurt. An insurance company, understandably looks at personal injury victim's medical records for proof of an injury.

Nearly all of the car accident cases we handle are on a "contingency fee" basis. This means that you, the client, do not owe any legal fees up front. We only get paid if we recover a settlement or damages at trial. Our attorney's fee is contingent on winning something.

The contingency fee is typically a percentage of the total amount awarded. Thus, the higher the settlement or trial verdict, the higher the attorney's fee.

Note that most of the time, all expenses associated with pursing your legal claim are fronted by our firm. If we can't get a settlement or trial verdict in your favor, you still owe us nothing. In that situation, we would have lost both time and the money spent on working the case.

According to 7News (Lawton, OK area), some auto accident insurance companies are now offering additional coverage for your pets:

Auto insurance is needed to protect you from injuries in a car accident, but now injury coverage is being offered for your pets. Not many companies offer the unique coverage, but for those that do, it is pretty inexpensive.

The article states that the additional cost is usually around $10/month and that coverage amounts can range from $500 to $1000 for injuries to the pet.  

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is reminding Oklahomans of our seat belt laws:

"Oklahoma Highway Patrol has a 'no tolerance' policy for seat belt and child restraint violations and we do not issue warnings. Every operator and front seat passenger along with anyone under the age of 13, is required to be in a safety seat belt system," said Captain Chris West, Department of Public Safety spokesperson.

It seems like several times a week I meet with someone that was just in a car accident that owes more on their car than it's worth.  Under Oklahoma law, the person that caused the accident does not have to pay what you owe on the car, but the fair market value of the car (assuming it was totaled).  How can you help protect against this scenario (and be stuck with car payments and no car!)?

Check out GAP Insurance.

Guaranteed Auto Protection (GAP) insurance pays the difference between the actual value of the car and the remaining balance on the loan.  Assuming the premium isn't too high, it's worth considering adding to your policy.

Last week's Oklahoman ran the story, "Against tough odds, Oklahoma seeks uninsured solution."  It details the account of an Oklahoma woman who was injured by an uninsured driver.  She still suffers from the medical bills and scars left from the car accident. The article also includes some startling statistics:

"A study released in January by the Insurance Research Council ranked Oklahoma as the fourth-worst state in the nation for uninsured motorists."

About one in four Oklahoma state drivers don't have insurance.

The article mentions that measures are being discussed to help solve the problem, and that Rep. Faught of Muskogee is introducing a bill to help address this issue.  The bill limits the awards given to uninsured motorists involved in traffic accidents.  The uninsured accident victims would be limited to property and medical loss reimbursements and excluded from pain and suffering damages. 

I doubt this would have any positive influence on uninsured drivers though. 


So what can you do if you are in a car accident with an uninsured motorist (who was at fault)?

Call the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety Financial Responsibility Division at 425-2098 and fill out the Oklahoma Motor Vehicle Collision Report.  The DPS can suspend the uninsured's driver's license. 

This is almost always a non-issue.  With I-35 running through our great state, accidents with out-of-staters do happen.

Example:  Someone from Texas rear-ends you here in Oklahoma City.  So, where can you bring a case against someone that doesn't reside in Oklahoma that caused the car accident?

In Oklahoma, "venue" in car accident cases is in the county where any defendant may be served or the accident (damages) occurred.  This means, that in our example, suit could be brought where the accident/injury occurred or where we can get service on the defendant.