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Neighbor dumped local agent and got one of these companies because he "saved" money. Got into a fender bender on his 2 year old pickup truck. The Blow/Lizard insurance company stated he had to get used parts for the grill bumper and headlight and ordered him to go to one of their "authorized" body shops.
Ya, he saved money.
He’s lucky they did anything. I saw his company won two lawsuits on a particular day where Blow didn’t pay out what the customer paid for via insurance. Won one for $400k and other was $350k.
I've heard it said that it's better to use a third-party private atty. rather than your insurance co. to argue your case. Why's that? Seems to me that your ins. co. in representing you is in effect representing itself.
First, a disclaimer. I am a personal injury attorney.
Why would your insurance company want to collect any money for you at all? What is in it for them? The simple answer is nothing.
Your insurance company has no legal duty to anything for you when you are injured in an accident other than to perhaps pay some medical bills under a med pay or pip coverage.
A simple question: Do you think the thousands of attorneys out there who handle personal injury cases all survive by doing nothing for their clients? Of course they don't. The word would get out quickly if attorneys really added no value to a case. Insurance companies don't want you to hire a lawyer because they know that if you do they will be paying out more money for the same injury. Yes, lawyers typically charge 1/3 of what they recover in injury cases. The part is left out is that their presence in a case makes the overall payout much larger. In other words, they are easily worth the 1/3 fee that they collect. Insurance companies keep numbers on this sort of thing and those with attorneys collect 85% of the total money paid for personal injuries.
Finally, there is simply the question of peace of mind. Are you comfortable handling a matter like this yourself. If you had a medical problem requiring surgery, you wouldn't try to do that yourself, you'd hire a good doctor to do it. Legal problems are important too. They can have much significance for people down the road. It gives many people peace of mind to know that their case is being handled by someone who actually knows what they are doing.
In the end, some people will choose not to hire an attorney when they are injured in an accident. That is their business. However, I have met a fair number of these people over the years who regret that decision years later as they forced to live with the effects of a serious personal injury and received a totally inadequate settlement in compensation.
First, a disclaimer. I am a personal injury attorney.
Why would your insurance company want to collect any money for you at all? What is in it for them? The simple answer is nothing.
Your insurance company has no legal duty to anything for you when you are injured in an accident other than to perhaps pay some medical bills under a med pay or pip coverage.
A simple question: Do you think the thousands of attorneys out there who handle personal injury cases all survive by doing nothing for their clients? Of course they don't. The word would get out quickly if attorneys really added no value to a case. Insurance companies don't want you to hire a lawyer because they know that if you do they will be paying out more money for the same injury. Yes, lawyers typically charge 1/3 of what they recover in injury cases. The part is left out is that their presence in a case makes the overall payout much larger. In other words, they are easily worth the 1/3 fee that they collect. Insurance companies keep numbers on this sort of thing and those with attorneys collect 85% of the total money paid for personal injuries.
Finally, there is simply the question of peace of mind. Are you comfortable handling a matter like this yourself. If you had a medical problem requiring surgery, you wouldn't try to do that yourself, you'd hire a good doctor to do it. Legal problems are important too. They can have much significance for people down the road. It gives many people peace of mind to know that their case is being handled by someone who actually knows what they are doing.
In the end, some people will choose not to hire an attorney when they are injured in an accident. That is their business. However, I have met a fair number of these people over the years who regret that decision years later as they forced to live with the effects of a serious personal injury and received a totally inadequate settlement in compensation.
If I were hit by someone while driving and sustained injuries and I hired a personal injury lawyer. Would my insurance company drop me after it was all done?
If I were hit by someone while driving and sustained injuries and I hired a personal injury lawyer. Would my insurance company drop me after it was all done?
No. That’s not how it works at all unless you went after your UIM coverage. There’s no reason for them to drop you.
You’d hire and attorney and they’d sue the other driver and collect under their policy. If it was a serious accident and you went after you UIM coverage, they might drop you because then you’d be pursuing your own insurance, but that starts to delve into bad faith issues and gets complicated.
I’m confused by the premise of this thread. If you’re at fault and get sued, Your insurance company hires panel counsel who has an obligation to get you released within your policy limits if it’s feasible. If you’re not at fault and have to sue somebody else, you hire a private attorney who pursues the other drivers policy and, it it’s serious, maybe you’re own UIM coverage.
Any attorneys representing your insurance company are doing just that. They are looking out for what is best for that company, which may or may not coincide with what is best for their customer. The customer needs its own representation to be assured that what is best for the customer is being presented, represented and protected.
Any attorneys representing your insurance company are doing just that. They are looking out for what is best for that company, which may or may not coincide with what is best for their customer. The customer needs its own representation to be assured that what is best for the customer is being presented, represented and protected.
No, nonsense and a good way to waste money. The carrier is either going to settle within the policy limits for a release or tender them in full for a release. You need an attorney when there is a reservation of rights or coverage issue involved, or if there is some sort of catastrophic injury involved that exceeds your limits by a hefty margin. In a run of the mill red car blue car this is nonsense.
If I were hit by someone while driving and sustained injuries and I hired a personal injury lawyer. Would my insurance company drop me after it was all done?
No if you were not at fault in causing the accident. Its that simple.
No, nonsense and a good way to waste money. The carrier is either going to settle within the policy limits for a release or tender them in full for a release. You need an attorney when there is a reservation of rights or coverage issue involved, or if there is some sort of catastrophic injury involved that exceeds your limits by a hefty margin. In a run of the mill red car blue car this is nonsense.
Wrong. If you hire an attorney he has a legal duty to represent you and do certain things that guarantee you a fair result. If you do not hire an attorney, the at-fault carrier has NO duties to you at all. They can choose to drag things out and refuse to offer a reasonable settlement. Their duties are to their insured, not to YOU.
Unless you are dealing with huge dollars it does not make sense to hire an outside lawyer.
If you are not dealing with a huge potential settlement, you may not even find a lawyer willing to take the case, particularly the "no fee unless we win" type.
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