California Personal Injury and Insurance Blog

Health Insurers latching on

Interesting story out of Minnesota. Tom Cary lost his wife to medical malpractice. His health insurance paid for her treatment. He filed a lawsuit against the negligent doctor. The health insurer, instead of pooling its resources with Tom to fight and recover the money, put a lien on his deceased wife's estate to recover the money it paid out. Yes, the premium that Tom paid for years didn't matter. The health insurer wanted to get paid.

And get paid they did. $60,000 out of an undisclosed settlement. And yes, this can and will happen to you if you have an ERISA plan.

In addition to all of the other reasons you have to contact an attorney, you need to see if you have an ERISA policy and if your health insurer may be entitled to reimbursement before you recover any money! 

Do you have a MIST case?

Do you even know what MIST means? Probably not. MIST cases are an acronym for:

Minimum
Impact
Soft
Tissue

The "minimum impact" part usually means there is less than $1,500 in damage to your car. This does vary by insurance company.

The "soft tissue" part means that you have what is commonly called whiplash. You have a neck and back injury. Simple enough.

MIST cases are different from other cases. Insurance companies take these cases very seriously. They spend a lot of money defending them, investigating them and paying "expert witnesses" for their opinions. Insurance companies hate paying out on these.

So, what do you do? Hire an attorney who handles these - a lot. Or better yet, hire someone who actually teaches other attorneys how to handle them.

I just released a new book for attorney on litigating MIST cases. If you have a MIST case, you should talk to someone who has experience like this.

FAQ: Can I get a second opinion?

Q: My attorney is telling me to settle my case. I don't want to. What can I do?

A: You should either pay for a consultation with another attorney or you should talk to your attorney about your case more.  However, if talking with your attorney does not satisfy you, then you should probably get a copy of your file and pay for a consultation with another attorney.

The Yellow Pages and Hiring an Attorney

A lot of people go to the yellow pages to hire an attorney. After all, where else can you find such a comprehensive list of attorneys looking for work? Okay, you may be able to find such a list on the internet, but with the yellow pages, you know they are all in your area, right?

Well, maybe. There are some attorneys who get a local phone number and even an executive suite in a town and don't maintain a presence. But, this is maybe 10% of the attorneys. So, most of the attorneys are probably still close.

But, the yellow pages is not a great way to find an attorney. Why? Because the size of the ad, the colors, the words means absolutely nothing when it comes to whether the attorney can represent you and whether the attorney has any idea what he or she is doing. A fancy yellow pages ad costs money.

So, you think someone who takes out an ad has lots of money to pay for it, right? Maybe. Maybe they are paying for it with credit. Maybe they are paying for it with their settlements, but not paying anything else. Maybe they aren't even paying for it!

Before you hire an attorney for a car crash or personal injury case, make sure you hire the right attorney. Email me for my free report on 10 ways to avoid the wrong personal injury attorney for your case.

Getting a second opinion

I am all in favor of a second opinion. If the doctor tells me I need surgery, I am going to get a second opinion before I do it. Second opinions can be useful.

But, sometimes people call me or email me and ask for a second opinion on their case. I have a few comments on this:

1. If you just want a second opinion and don't plan on hiring me, don't expect the opinion to be free. I don't mind giving a free consultation to a prospective client, but I am not going to give you a free second opinion when you have no interest in retaing me.

2. Don't expect to send me a two or three paragraph email and get a response. I can't give you a second opinion on that little information. If you really want a second opinion, call my office, set an appointment, and bring a copy of your file. (Get it from your attorney first.)

3. Don't hire an attorney based on a second opinion. I can recall a couple of former clients who got a second opinion and hired the attorney without talking to me again. They ended up with offers that were identical to what I had received for them. Question the attorney on the second opinion and make sure that it is based on solid facs.

A second opinion can be important. And these three guidelines will hel it go smoother.

Hiring an attorney: Why it is SO important

I could give you a million reasons why hiring an attorney is so important. From the respect he or she gets from the insurance company to his or her ability to talk to you so that you understand to the ability to resolve a case. There are a million reasons why hiring an attorney is so important.

But, today, I want to talk about a very important reason to hire the RIGHT attorney: trust. You must trust your attorney. And, I mean completely. Why? First, because you are going to be telling your attorney a lot of things. How you are feeling, what you missed as a result of the accident, and other personal issues. Heck, you may even need to talk to your attorney about a pending or imminent divorce.

But, more importantly, at some point in time, your attorney is going to give you a recommendation: settle the case, file a lawsuit, take the case to trial. Something along those lines. And, if you do not trust your attorney, you will not follow his or her advice. Now, sometimes you shouldn't follow his or her advice. But, 99% of the time, you need to follow his or her advice.

Make sure you trust your attorney BEFORE you hire him or her. And if you start to question your attorney, get in to his or her office as soon as possible to talk about the issue.

What is your case worth?

I recently received a few phone calls from people trying to settle their own cases. They go to the doctor. They get their medical records. They send them to the insurance company. And then they get a response from the insurance company that is substantially lower than what they think the case is worth. And, they get upset.

Why? Yes, that is a real question. I don't understand. Unless you have been in more than 5 or 6 accidents, and all of those accidents are similar, why do you think you know what your case is worth? Again, a real question.

Don't get me wrong. The insurance company is going to make you a low offer. In most cases, they do not make a fair and reasonable offer as is required by the Fair Claims Practices Act. But, in some cases they do make a fair and reasonable offer. How, as a lay person, do you know the difference?

When someone asks me why I think a case is worth a certain amount, I have a reason. That reason is based on experience (settling thousands upon thousands of claims) and the facts of each case. But, as a lay person, you don't have that experience. Therefore, when you tell the adjuster that your number is right and their number is wrong, they have no reason to agree with that.

As I have said before, there is no magic formula. If there was, the insurance companies would fire all of their adjusters and hire people at $8 an hour for data entry only. There would be no personal injury attorneys and no more lawsuits. So, consult with an attorney. Even if you do not hire you, you should at least talk to someone.

Oh, and if you can tell me why you know what your case is worth, I would love to hear it. I will give a prize to the first person who can rationally explain to me why they know exactly what their case is worth without talking to an attorney.

Is he really a lawyer?

What? Of course he is. Well, I am. But, how do you know if someone you are talking to is an attorney. Thanks to Terry Berger, an attorney in MD, you can go check out Is He Really A Lawyer?

Any state that has online lookup of an attorney is listed. Now you can check to make sure that an attorney is licensed. You can also check discipline records in some states.

This is a great resource for you.

Don't Hire An Attorney Until You Read This

If you have been injured in a car crash (formerly called a car accident) or if you believe you may have a personal injury case, do not hire anyone until you read this report.

I have put together a new, FREE report which walks you through choosing the right attorney for YOUR case. As an attorney, I can help you after an accident. But this free report should be read now. This report will tell you why prior results should not matter to you, why an attorney who teaches about insurance law can help your case, and why hiring an adjuster with a background as an adjuster can help your case!

You can get a copy of this report by emailing me.

Checking an attorney's experience

We had a comment about how you can check your attorney's experience. The obvious way to check is to ask your attorney. What else can you do?

In some counties, for instance Sacramento, you can search online. If you type your attorneys name in the "civil search," you will get a list of cases that he/she is involved in. That gives you some information.

You can also check Lexis, if you have a subscription. If you do not, a Google search works often. You would be surprised at what you find with a google search of your attorney. Other than that, you may want to call other attorneys in the area and ask!