Car Insurance

What is a good auto accident settlement? It depends in what kind of accident you are talking about. If your accident only includes damages to your car, then auto accident settlement will not be fair until your car is repair to the exact condition prior the impact. I believe that you still assurances that the car will be covered if there are any related damages later on.

It is not unusual to have your vehicle back from a mechanic with no problems for a while, but then “new” damage starts to occur. What do you do then? Insurance companies and the body shops will tell you that they returned the car back to you completely repaired. They might as far as to claim that this is “new” damage and not related to the accident. This is why is critical for you to have your car re inspected as soon as you get out of the body shop. You can drive from one body shop into another and have them review the work. This will give you peace of mind, and you will learn that your car was fixed correctly. If the car was not fixed correctly, then you will be able to call your adjuster and make them aware of the situation. The insurance carrier cannot claim that this is new damage and would have to review the repairs, and pay for them if they are related to the wreck.

Insurance carriers cannot tell you what body shop you should go to. They can tell you that they will not pay for dealership prices, as they believe those are not reasonable or necessary. The option is completely up to you. The problem is if for whatever reason your car was not fixed correctly, the company will point out that you selected that shop. They will try to shift the responsibility to the shop and let you deal directly with them.

You can always ask an adjuster what are the body shops that are certified by that specific insurance company. They will give you a list and you can pick one. This will protect you in case the car was not fixed correctly. If you are in an “insurance approved” body shop, then you will be able to bring the company and have them deal with their own shop. You can always try to go back and “readjust” the auto accident settlement if you are not satisfied with the repairs. Auto damage settlements do no necessarily work as “bodily injury settlements.”

You can also ask for a letter of guarantee. Some insurance companies will give you this letter but only upon promptly request. The effect of the document is that if the labor or parts are not up to standard and the vehicle repairs give you problems later on, then you can get the company to make it right. Remember, an auto accident settlement is more than just getting your car fix right there and then. Try to seek future assurances that the repairs are guaranteed from more than just the body shop but also the insurance company.

If you have been in an auto accident then you will likely have to file an auto accident insurance claim. This can prove to be quite a task dealing with insurance adjusters and the things that come with it. When filing an auto accident insurance claim there are some things you should know that will prove to be essential to you.

Contact your insurance company very soon after the accident. This is the first one to call in case of injury also. Take time to read what pertains to your auto accident insurance claim when you first receive your insurance policy this will help clear up any misunderstandings before accidents happen and will give you an idea of what your auto accident insurance claim entitles you to instead of having to worry about it while your going through the trauma of an accident.

When you writing your statement include as much details of the auto accident as possible. You can reinforce your claim by taking pictures of the vehicle and any injuries that may have been sustained due to the auto accident. Take down names and numbers of any witnesses that may be able to help in proving your auto accident insurance claim when the time comes. Remember to take notes on any other persons or vehicles that were involved in this accident because this is very important to your claim.

Keep all records pertaining to your claim. Write down when you have a conversation with the insurance officer, agents or anyone else that is involved with this auto accident insurance claim. Remember to keep all the bills and receipts that you may incur during this time. It is important to be honest with your insurance company because if you are not you could be disqualified due to fraudulent reasons. An auto insurance claim has been turned down many times on these same bases.

Another important thing to remember is that you may make more than one auto accident insurance claim, so check any other policies you may be holding to verify this. Take time out to review all your policies. You may be entitled to file more that one auto insurance claim, so make sure you claim for all that you are able to claim for.

When making an auto accident insurance claim there are some things that you must remember to do. Make sure you do them all and keep records.

Buying auto insurance can seem like an overwhelming task. There are many things to consider that can potentially save or cost you a lot of money and stress over the years. Here are three car accident insurance tips that can make this task much easier.

Tip #1: Drive A Low Profile Vehicle

Some cars carry high insurance costs based upon the perceived risks associated with those cars. For example, if you drive a sports car, most insurance companies will presume there is a higher inherent risk and assign a higher rate on your insurance policy. For much lower rates, drive a low-profile vehicle that does not raise any red flags with your insurance carrier.

Tip #2: Keep Your Credit Report Clean

Your credit report is often used by the insurance carrier to determine the amount of risk they assume to offer you a policy. Though most insurance carriers won’t proactively tell you that your credit report is used to determine your car insurance rates, there is a strong correlation between a person’s credit rating and the risk an insurance carrier assumes in offering that person a policy. Pay your bills on time and review your credit reports annually to ensure they are clean of errors.

Tip #3: Install A Car Alarm Or Anti-Theft System

Often, you can save money on your car insurance rates if you install a anti-theft device. Your rates are largely a result of the perceived risk that a car insurance company assumes in carrying your policy. Installing a car alarm in your vehicle lowers this perceived risk. As a result, your rates may be lowered.

The car accident insurance buying tips you have discovered above should save you some time and money in the near future. One other thing you should always do is shop around. Try to get quotes from as many car insurance companies as you possibly can before you choose your insurance policy.

The laws that govern Michigan automobile accidents are long and complex. Often, the terms used by car accident insurance agents and lawyers are confusing. Two important terms you should know:

1. First-Party Benefits

2. Third-Party Benefits

Michigan is a No-Fault State. This means that your own Michigan car accident insurance company pays most of the economic losses you suffer in an automobile accident, regardless of who was at fault. These economic benefits are called First-Party Benefits.

Third-Party Benefits usually cover non-economic losses, including damages for pain and suffering. Both of these types of benefits are described in detail below.

Michigan First-Party Basics

The Michigan law defining First-Party Benefits states: First-party benefits are payable to anyone who suffers an injury arising out of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle.

The following analysis looks at:

* Who has to pay your Michigan No-Fault Benefits?

* What are the specific benefits you may be entitled to receive after a Michigan auto accident?

Michigan First-Party Order of Priority

Although your own insurance is first in line to pay in a Michigan automobile accident, there are times when an uninsured individual is an innocent passenger in a motor vehicle. In these circumstances, determining who is responsible to pay Michigan No-Fault Benefits can be complex.

Driver or Passenger Order of Priority

* 1st priority is your own insurance policy, if none then…

* 2nd priority is to the insurance company of a resident relative (i.e. spouse, parent, or sibling), if none then…

* 3rd priority is to the insurer of the owner of the vehicle occupied, if none then…

* 4th priority is to the insurer of the driver of the vehicle occupied, if none then…

* 5th priority is to the State of Michigan Assigned Claims Facility.

Pedestrian Order of Priority

* 1st priority is to your own insurance, if none then…

* 2nd priority is to the insurance company of a resident relative (i.e. spouse, parent, or sibling), if none then…

* 3rd priority is to the insurer of the owner of the motor vehicle involved in the accident, if none then…

* 4th priority is to the insurer of the driver of the motor vehicle involved in the accident, if none then…

* 5th priority is to the State of Michigan Assigned Claims Facility.

Motorcycle Order of Priority

A different order for receiving benefits exists if you were on a motorcycle when the accident happened, because motorcycles are not considered “motor vehicles” under Michigan law. In a motorcycle/auto collision, the priority would be as follows:

* 1st priority is to the insurer of the owner of the motor vehicle involved in the accident, if none then…

* 2nd priority is to the insurer of the operator of the motor vehicle involved in the accident, if none then…

* 3rd priority is to the motor vehicle insurer of the operator of the motorcycle involved in the accident, if none then…

* 4th priority is to the motor vehicle insurer of the owner of the motorcycle involved in the accident, if none then…

* 5th priority is to the State of Michigan Assigned Claims Facility.

The Michigan Assigned Claims Facility

The Michigan Assigned Claims Facility is a State Agency with the power to assign an auto accident insurance company to provide benefits, if an injured victim cannot obtain benefits from other sources. Remember that uninsured drivers, operating vehicle they own, do not qualify for Michigan Assigned Claim Facility assistance. To apply for Assigned Claims Benefits, call the Michigan Assigned Claim Facility directly at 517-322-1875.

Specific Michigan First-Party Benefits

The First-Party No-Fault Benefits that you claim from your own insurance company include:

Medical Bills for Life

Michigan motor vehicle accident law requires that medical coverage continue for life, or for as long as you need treatment for injuries suffered in the accident.

There are many complicated factors to getting your medical bills paid, if you are in a Michigan motor vehicle accident. We recommend that you contact our office about your rights.

To qualify for medical expense reimbursement, a bill must be reasonable (in cost and necessity) and the bill must be actually incurred. Michigan law does not provide for guaranteed pre-payment of bills due to a motor vehicle accident. Sometimes, an auto accident insurance company will try to escape its responsibility, by questioning the need to a medical test or procedure, which your physician ordered, or by disputing the amount of the medical bill.

Insurance companies in Michigan provide two types of medical coverage in the event of an automobile accident:

1. Uncoordinated benefits

2. Coordinated benefits

Your insurance policy states which type of benefits you should receive. An uncoordinated policy pays benefits, regardless of the presence of other health insurance. A coordinated policy requires your other health insurance to pay first, and your automobile insurance to pay amounts that your primary insurer does not cover.

It is common for a primary health insurance policy and a motor vehicle insurance policy to contain contradictory language about which one has the first obligation to pay medical bills. Meanwhile, the motor vehicle insurance company may escape its obligation to pay a bill, if it did not receive it within one year of the date that you got the medical treatment.

Wage Loss

Michigan No-Fault Law allows an injured individual to receive 85% of his or her lost wages, if a doctor found the victim disabled from work due to injuries suffered in a car accident. This benefit cannot exceed a period of 3 years. The wage loss benefit is set at 85%, rather than 100%, of lost earnings because the benefit is tax-free. The law also sets a monthly cap on the amount of lost wages that the insurance company must reimburse.

Attendant Care

Michigan auto accident law requires the no-fault insurance company to pay for attendant care (also known as nursing services) for an injured victim who needs supervision or assistance while recovering at home. Sometimes, a physician determines that a person with severe injury needs around-the-clock supervision. A caregiver who is a member of the victim’s family is entitled to attendant care reimbursement. Although the law does not set a specific hourly rate for the caregiver, the reimbursement should reflect the type and complexity of the services that the injured person receives. Frequently, insurance companies unreasonably and unlawfully refuse to pay for adequate attendant care.

Replacement Services

This term refers to reimbursement for services that you would have performed on your own, if you were not injured in an accident. If you paid or promised to pay for household services, chores, errands, etc., which you usually accomplished on your own, then you may be entitled to reimbursement for these expenses. A physician needs to provide a written statement that you are unable to do these tasks on your own. In addition, your insurance company may require documentation of who performed which services. Michigan law states that an auto accident insurance company is obligated to reimburse up to $20 per day for replacement services and that these benefits last for up to three years.

Mileage Reimbursement

Often, proper medical treatment, tests, and physical therapy require an injured person to travel long distances. Michigan No-Fault Law provides for the reimbursement for mileage traveled to and from this medical care.

Third-Party Auto No-Fault Law Basics

Under Michigan auto law, while First-Party Benefits cover most economic losses, Third-Party Benefits provide damages for pain and suffering, scarring or disfigurement, death, and wage loss in excess of 3 years. In Michigan, a Third-Party legal claim is filed against the at-fault driver in the motor vehicle accident. With the exception of excess wage loss, the damages sought in a Third-Party case are non-economic in nature. To prevail in a claim against a careless driver for non-economic damages in Michigan, the injured auto accident victim must show that he or she suffered a “threshold injury.” Michigan law defines this as:

* A serious impairment of an important body function, serious disfigurement or scarring, or death.

It is very common for insurance company adjusters to assert that an injury is not a “serious impairment of a body function.” However, if you have an objectively documented injury to an important part of your body, and this affects your life, then you should talk with an experienced Michigan auto accident lawyer dedicated to helping Michigan auto injury victims.

Many auto accident victims are experiencing difficulties in dealing with their insurance companies. This is very true especially when the accidents involve complicated matters that are still needed to be settled. These scenarios occur when the liability in doubtful, the insurance coverage is insufficient or if the claimants disagree with the insurance adjuster’s settlement offer. Because of these instances, the process of negotiation with the insurance companies takes more time.

The following are the standard procedures that have to be accomplished in pursuing a much complicated auto accident insurance claim:

Formal Investigation of the Claim
Normally, if an auto accident claim cannot be settled thru a simple means, the adjuster will have to perform an investigation to evaluate the scope of the insurance company’s liability. This may entail:
- verifying the claimant’s policy,
- interviewing accident witnesses,
- having a dialogue with the other parties involved in the accident,
- looking at the report furnished by the police authorities,
- taking some photos of the accident scene as well as the damages incurred, and
- inspecting the claimant’s medical records and expenses

Settlement Proposal
After concluding his investigation, the adjuster is now set to send his settlement offer to the claimant. This will tell the amount of compensation that the insurance company is offering and willing to pay based on the claimant’s demand. Usually, insurance companies begin with low offers - knowing that doing the other way will cost them huge expenses and lesser income. However, some adjusters devise tactics to speed up the resolution of the case. This is by allowing negotiation if ever the claimant does not agree with the offer.

Letter of Demand
If the claimant is confident enough with his own calculation regarding the compensation that he should receive, then he has the right to submit a demand letter to his insurance company. This may include his own analogy of fault; damages and the amount that he demands to resolve his case. This process may be done before or after the adjuster sent his settlement proposal.

Claims Negotiations
Once the adjuster has sent the opening offer to the claimant, it is now the time to negotiate, particularly if the said offer is not that reasonable. In this process, both parties propose and defend their offers with evidences and facts until they have finally agreed with the amount.

Denial of Claim
Not all auto accident claims reach in a negotiation procedure. The insurance companies for various reasons subsequently deny a great number of them. Hence, the claimants result in filing their cases in civil court wherein a judge is authorized by the law to sustain or reverse the decisions of the insurance companies.

Nevertheless, since almost all the insurance companies implement strategies to lessen their liabilities to the victims, it is therefore a wise option to consult an auto accident attorney from the very start of filing a claim. This will ensure the claimants that they will be properly compensated for the injuries, losses and expenses that the accident caused them.