Just because there has been an accident and it wasn’t your fault, that doesn’t mean that there must be some insurance company that will pay for your bills, lost wages and injuries. It doesn’t work that way.

Just because your child got hurt in a store, or on someone else’s property doesn’t mean that someone owes you money.

In order to be entitled to compensation the following must be true.

1. Someone or some company must have been negligent (careless)

2. Their carelessness must be a direct cause of the injury.

3. In Virginia, you must not have caused your injury in any way.

4. You must not have assumed the risk of your injury (i.e. gotten into a car with a drunk driver, for example.)

This is no lottery. These cases are not windfalls. An experienced Virginia personal injury attorney can help you sort through your own, individual, situation.

One of the big questions we get in the office about personal injury cases is whether the defendant’s insurance company will pay medical bills as they are incurred by the victim.

This can be particularly important when the victim has no health insurance (or one of those stupid policies that won’t “cover” medical care for injuries received as a result of the fault of someone else.)

While the defendant’s insurance company may ultimately be responsible for your medical care (and more, including pain and suffering, lost wages, the dimunition in wage earning ability) they don’t have to pay it piecemeal and most won’t.

Now, a smart insurance company would try to get in offer to make an advance, in the hopes that you don’t go see a lawyer. We see this sometimes. Most won’t however. Some are just hoping that they can force you into a lower settlement because they are putting the squeeze on your financial condition.

Some folks tell me that before they come in to meet with a personal injury attorney, they’d like to ‘get to know them a little better.” To some extent, the Internet has made that more possible than it ever was before. After all, we even have video today.

Here’s an audio interview that you can listen to at your computer; download to a MP3 device or burn to a CD. This link will take you to the Ben Glass personal injury interview.

Have you seen that internet chain email about the “Stella Awards?” The “Stella” they are referring to is the lady who was badly burned by McDonald’s hot coffee all those years ago. Purportedly, the “Stella Awards” focus on ridiculous lawsuits that are supposedly happening someplace.

California personal injury attorney Jonathan Stein has a great post reminding us that this is pure fiction, drummed up probably by an insurance company executive trying their best to keep from paying a legitimate claim.

Here’s another great place to go whenever you get one of those “too hard to believe” emails.

When you have been in an accident, some folks believe that the defendant’s insurance company is responsible for your medical bills as they are incurred.

Not true, and this can really put people in a bind, especially if they don’t have health insurance!

The truth is that the defendant’s car insurance company may ultimately be responsible for paying your medical bills, but they aren’t likely to pay you a dime until the entire case is settled.

Now, here’s a trick I’ve seen. Some WILL offer to pay a portion of your medical bills now as long as you agree to not get a lawyer! That’s usually a bad choice though I can understand why some people would agree to that.

An experienced personal injury attorney will help you sort out all of the possible sources of funds to pay those medical bills. Sometimes the bill paying can be delayed and at other times loans (usually expensive loans, no doubt) can be written.

The point is to at least consult with an experienced personan injury lawyer in your area before signing away any of your rights with the insurance company.

Judging by your local Yellow Pages or TV commercials, you might think that all lawyers how advertise that the handle personal injury or accident cases have the same experience and background (or at least that someone has certified them as a ‘personal injury lawyer.’)

It’s a myth.

There are no rules regulate what types of cases a lawyer may advertise for. (A lawyer is ethically bound to handle the case appropriately, however.) In some cases, TV ads are running and calls are routed to lawyers who have purchased “territories.” All that takes is a wallet.

What this means is that it is YOUR responsibiltiy to investigate any lawyer you are thinking about hiring for your case. It’s your fault if, based on advertising, you hire someone who is not qualified (or certified) in a particular specialty.
Here’s tip #1 on that: Ask the lawyer for a package of written information before you schedule that “free consultation.” There’s rarely that much of a rush that you have to call today and “rush right in.”

That’s why I wrote The Truth About Lawyer Advertising.

The second myth of car accident claim is:

When you are in an accident and the insurance company calls you to ask for a recorded statement, you have to give them a recorded statement or they won’t settle with you.

The truth is that no law requires you to give a recorded statement. Now, as a practical matter, the insurance company may refuse to settle with you until you do give a recorded statement, but it is not a legal requirement.

Our view is that the adjusters are very experienced at taking statements and the flow of information is all one way. (Just try asking them for a recorded statement of their insured!)

While you may not need to hire an attorney it is probably a good idea to either read my book or get one of those “free consultations” with an attorney before getting on the phone for the recorded statement. Also, before the recording begins, get the insurance adjuster to agree to mail you the transcript of the statement. That way you will have a record what you said and can correct any mistakes you may, upon reflection, have made.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the Virginia car accident claim process. Sometimes people get frustrated because they have tried to “be fair” to the insurance company and then they feel that the insurance company has not been fair to them.

Some (usually smaller) cases can be settled without an attorney and without much knowledge on the claimant’s part. That happens everyday. Where I see people getting taken advantage of is in the enormous knowledge differential between the very experienced insurance claims adjuster and the claimant.

A claims adjuster is there to help the insurance company profit. Yes, they have a duty to “be fair” but what does that mean?

 Not every case needs a lawyer, but just “being reasonable” won’t necessarily get you a reasonable settlement either. Don’t make a fatal mistake in your claim by operating without information.

That’s why I wrote “Five Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Virginia Accident Case.”