I just think this is disgusting...

[christineann]

allison443, you saved me a lot of typing! I work in insurance defense, and I am amazed at some of the cases we receive from the insurance companies.

Bump at a stoplight, not a scratch on either car...........sue for $50,000.

We fight the frivolous ones and do the settlement paperwork for those who are truly injured. We also refer people who are injured to good attorneys when asked.

A few years ago, we had a case involving a 25 year old who claimed that the accident he was involved in had left him with severe, permanent neck and back injuries. He offered to settle for about $250,000. We decided to see what he was up to and got video surveillance of him surfing, doing one handed pushups on the beach to impress some girls and playing racquetball for 2 straight hours...and that was just in one day! We did check him out a couple other days and got the same activity. He ran up over $40,000 with a "pain" doctor who prescribed him thousands of narcotic pills. We went to trial, and he got enough to cover his ER bill and a couple months of PT.

If I were injured in an accident, the LAST attorney I would go to is one who has a TV commercial or a full page ad in the phone book. In my experience on the insurance defense side, those attorneys work in quantity, not quality, and it's rare that they take on cases that involve a lot of their time.

 

[iwrbnd]

allison443, you saved me a lot of typing! I work in insurance defense, and I am amazed at some of the cases we receive from the insurance companies.

Bump at a stoplight, not a scratch on either car...........sue for $50,000.

We fight the frivolous ones and do the settlement paperwork for those who are truly injured. We also refer people who are injured to good attorneys when asked.

A few years ago, we had a case involving a 25 year old who claimed that the accident he was involved in had left him with severe, permanent neck and back injuries. He offered to settle for about $250,000. We decided to see what he was up to and got video surveillance of him surfing, doing one handed pushups on the beach to impress some girls and playing racquetball for 2 straight hours...and that was just in one day! We did check him out a couple other days and got the same activity. He ran up over $40,000 with a "pain" doctor who prescribed him thousands of narcotic pills. We went to trial, and he got enough to cover his ER bill and a couple months of PT.

If I were injured in an accident, the LAST attorney I would go to is one who has a TV commercial or a full page ad in the phone book. In my experience on the insurance defense side, those attorneys work in quantity, not quality, and it's rare that they take on cases that involve a lot of their time.

 

[iwrbnd]

He did, thank you.
Had the best check up $17,000 can buy!

The video won't play.

 

[Kurby]

minnie - your Canada--as told by Tom Brokaw video won't play

 

[golfgal]

Ambulance chasing like this is illegal in MN

 

[minnie56]

Aww--I guess it's toast. Sorry...

 

[tinkerfan1]

So many people are after the almighty dollar. I hate it when somebody can look you in the eye and tell you they would "never sue" and then turn around and do so. I know of an instance where somebody got money from workman's comp because the accident happened on company property. The company paid entirely for everything and thensome and he swore he'd never sue because he "just wasn't that way" and besides "it was an accident." Guess what he's doing now? It's hard to not take it personal especially when it effects your pocketbook. It's very sad.

 

[ksumn1]

I'll be honest. If I were in an accident and it was clearly the other drivers fault and I was injured, I WOULD sue. I would make sure that I could cover ER visit, dr bills, PT etc.

I wouldn't do it if I wasn't hurt but in a situation where there's an injury, you need to make sure that your medical issues will be taken care of. I wouldn't push for some multimillion dollar settlement though.

I was rear ended by someone around Christmas when I was 16. I was sitting still at a red light, the other driver came over the top of a hill waay too fast for the rainy conditions. He couldn't stop and had to choose between either hitting a telephone pole or rear ending me. I didn't go to the hospital becasue I felt fine. 2 days later my back started hurting, very sore and twinging. to this day, it still bothers me occasionally. in hindsight, I should have went to the ER.

OP, I'm sorry to hear you're getting all these calls and letters. must make a stressful situation even worse.

 

[PhotobearSam]

we live in Canada and suing is just not done here.


well it is but really only if it's major major like death and not nearly to the extend as the US


it's amazing that people slip and sue, crash and sue, break a nail and sue.

i know you guys have the right to sue over everything but surely there should be some kind of punishment for wasting the courts time if you bring a frivolous case to court that just gets thrown out.

not saying your son's accident is in that category but shouldn't that be your choice not having it shoved down your throat.

we see commercials all the time - hurt in a car call..... neighbour's music too loud call..... kids down the block egged your house call.....

I so agree. That whole my coffee was too hot so I want millions thing was almost too fuuny. I don't know anyone who has sued anyone. (execept for business things like broken contrats etc)



I think the frivolous lawsuits in the US make things like universal health care seem impossible.

 

[maraki527]

Its the truth....My sister used to work for a law firm. They go and get the records and send letters out.

 

[iwrbnd]

I so agree. That whole my coffee was too hot so I want millions thing was almost too fuuny. I don't know anyone who has sued anyone. (execept for business things like broken contrats etc)



I think the frivolous lawsuits in the US make things like universal health care seem impossible.

I agree! My DH is a family practice doc and you wouldn't believe the stories I could tell!

 

[EclecticWAHM]

I'll be honest. If I were in an accident and it was clearly the other drivers fault and I was injured, I WOULD sue. I would make sure that I could cover ER visit, dr bills, PT etc.

I wouldn't do it if I wasn't hurt but in a situation where there's an injury, you need to make sure that your medical issues will be taken care of. I wouldn't push for some multimillion dollar settlement though.

I was rear ended by someone around Christmas when I was 16. I was sitting still at a red light, the other driver came over the top of a hill waay too fast for the rainy conditions. He couldn't stop and had to choose between either hitting a telephone pole or rear ending me. I didn't go to the hospital becasue I felt fine. 2 days later my back started hurting, very sore and twinging. to this day, it still bothers me occasionally. in hindsight, I should have went to the ER.

OP, I'm sorry to hear you're getting all these calls and letters. must make a stressful situation even worse.

There's nothing wrong with using the legal system when you need it. Dh was rear ended and we had medical bills, PT and he was physically unable to work for almost six months. You bet we went after $$ for the bills and his lost wages and don't feel bad about it for a moment.

 

[SandrA9810]

I love that new country song that came out a few months ago...

towards the end of the song:
spill a cup a coffee, make a million dollars
...
that's us, that's right
gotta love this american ride

You hear it and think it's crazy, but it's just so true.

 

[golfgal]

I thought ambulance chasing is illegal? I believe you can turn each letter to their local bar, where they can get in trouble. I remember learning this YEARS ago in my paralegal classes.

In MN it is illegal for attorneys of ANY kind to solicit business, mainly because of the ambulance chasers.

Medical payments paid by the insurance company do not come out of your liability limits. If no one sues you, the liability portion of your policy ($100,000 or whatever you have) does not come into play. Even if the insurance company pays for medical costs, and in the future the passenger sues, the full liability limits are still available to pay any settlement or verdict to him. The liability limits haven't been used up by making medical payments, kwim?

Also, if you do get sued, your insurance company pays a law firm to defend you and pays any settlement or verdict up to the limits of your policy. In your case you said you have an umbrella policy which is great, so you are pretty well protected. You are doing everything right!

I have worked in the field for many many years. Most plaintiffs' attorneys really don't want a judgment against a defendant personally unless the defendant is Donald Trump or someone really wealthy. They are seeking money from the policy you had with the insurance company.

Also, frivolous suits are routinely thrown out of court, dismissed, or dropped by the plaintiff's lawyers when they realize the case isn't "worth" anything. Yeah, there's always a crazy case that winds up making news, where it is portrayed as someone unjustly getting tons of money, but usually there is either more to the story or it is a fluke. I think we all have dealt with insurance companies enough to know that they don't like to freely give away money. Many have taken a hard line with what they consider frivolous cases. Of course, they also take a hard line with some valid cases.

Well, that my be true in your state but in MN medical payments most certainly do come out of your liability limits. If you are in an accident and hurt someone and you have say 50/100/50 coverage, that means you have $50,000 in your insurance policy to pay for medical bills. If that is not enough, then the injured party's Uninsured/Underinsured liability coverage kicks in-say they have $100,000/300,000 for that-they have another $100,000 to pay for medical bills. If that is still not enough, THEN they can sue the party that injured them to cover the rest. If there is no money to collect, health insurance can kick in then. We are a PIP state and that keeps a lot of these cases OUT of the court system.

Now, if you hurt 4 people in an accident with the above numbers you have $50,000 per person up to $100,000 for ALL 4 people and the other $50,000 on the end of the number pays for any damage you caused-so if you totaled a new minivan at $35,000 and damaged a guardrail on the highway for $50,000, you get to pay the $35,000 out of your own pocket, lucky you. This is WHY you want high liability limits on your auto policy.

 

[Kurby]

that may also be a large part of the reason in Canada since we are all covered by some kind of health insurance ( its a bit different in each province)

a lot of the basic medical stuff is covered like hospital stays (though you would be in a quad room if you didn't have additional insurance through work or bought to upgrade to a double or single) most if not all emergency procedures (i;ve never had any emergency's so i wouldn't really know) the ambulance trip that took me to the hospital when i was in labour cost me $40 but better to give birth in an ambulance then in our car lol)

my brother had a heart attack a few years back and the only thing he paid for was the ambulance. the medical care, stint, 7 days in hospital was all covered by our OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan)

of course drugs are NOT covered nor would missing work

i suppose had he been in an accident and had the same stay in hospital he could sue for lose of work and maybe pain but no medical costs which bankrupt some or a lot of Americans if they don't have coverage.


when we were taking lamaze classes our midwife was telling us she had a couple a year or two before who were American but staying up here until a month before the baby and in addition to having to pay for the prenatal medical care (since they were only "visiting" and not residents) they had to pay thousands once they went back to have the baby for all the medical care down there. just the medical visits alone up here were 15k plus whatever they had to pay down there.

i was shocked to hear how much it costs just to have a baby with no insurance. for us it was all free. exams, midwife visits, ultrasounds, delivery, post care, everything. well except the ambulance ride

 

[golfgal]

that may also be a large part of the reason in Canada since we are all covered by some kind of health insurance ( its a bit different in each province)

a lot of the basic medical stuff is covered like hospital stays (though you would be in a quad room if you didn't have additional insurance through work or bought to upgrade to a double or single) most if not all emergency procedures (i;ve never had any emergency's so i wouldn't really know) the ambulance trip that took me to the hospital when i was in labour cost me $40 but better to give birth in an ambulance then in our car lol)

my brother had a heart attack a few years back and the only thing he paid for was the ambulance. the medical care, stint, 7 days in hospital was all covered by our OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan)

of course drugs are NOT covered nor would missing work

i suppose had he been in an accident and had the same stay in hospital he could sue for lose of work and maybe pain but no medical costs which bankrupt some or a lot of Americans if they don't have coverage.


when we were taking lamaze classes our midwife was telling us she had a couple a year or two before who were American but staying up here until a month before the baby and in addition to having to pay for the prenatal medical care (since they were only "visiting" and not residents) they had to pay thousands once they went back to have the baby for all the medical care down there. just the medical visits alone up here were 15k plus whatever they had to pay down there.

i was shocked to hear how much it costs just to have a baby with no insurance. for us it was all free. exams, midwife visits, ultrasounds, delivery, post care, everything. well except the ambulance ride

Well, our three kids cost us a total of $1200 out of pocket. That was for all the prenatal, labor, delivery, PRIVATE room, post-patrtum, well baby checks, etc. I had C-Sections and our twins were in NICU for a week. I don't think that is all that much, especially considering we pay 1/2 what you do in taxes for your "free" health care. Oh, and had I needed an ambulance, that would have been covered too.

Not having health insurance is irresponsible.

With the insurance we have now, a heart attack and hospital stay would cost us $75 and nothing for any medications. If we were in an accident, auto insurance would pay for lost wages.

 

[Kurby]

Well, our three kids cost us a total of $1200 out of pocket. That was for all the prenatal, labor, delivery, PRIVATE room, post-patrtum, well baby checks, etc. I had C-Sections and our twins were in NICU for a week. I don't think that is all that much, especially considering we pay 1/2 what you do in taxes for your "free" health care. Oh, and had I needed an ambulance, that would have been covered too.

Not having health insurance is irresponsible.

With the insurance we have now, a heart attack and hospital stay would cost us $75 and nothing for any medications. If we were in an accident, auto insurance would pay for lost wages.

this isn't a debate on how much taxes we pay for our health insurance or who's country is better then whos

i was saying that maybe since our health is covered it might by why we don't see as many lawsuites as down in the states. car insurance most likely covers the cost of missed work and our province covers medical. most likely all someone would sue for is pain and our settlements doen't come close to whats awarded for pain and suffering in the states.

 

[christineann]

We had another one involving a woman who was suing our insured while she was suing someone else for a previous accident. When we found out about her first accident (which she denied having and then said she "forgot"), we got her medical records, which indicated that she was claiming the same injuries from both accidents (both minimal accidents). She then said that she had fully recovered from the first accident when she had the second one, but the medical records indicated that she was on her way home from the chiropractor when she was involved in our accident. She had complained at that appointment that her pain was 8 out of 10 on the pain scale.

 

[golfgal]

this isn't a debate on how much taxes we pay for our health insurance or who's country is better then whos

i was saying that maybe since our health is covered it might by why we don't see as many lawsuites as down in the states. car insurance most likely covers the cost of missed work and our province covers medical. most likely all someone would sue for is pain and our settlements doen't come close to whats awarded for pain and suffering in the states.

We rarely see auto accident law suits in our state because of the kind of insurance required in our state. If all states went to PIP coverage, that would reduce lawsuits. It isn't like your health insurance won't cover you in an accident, it just isn't the primary insurance used.

 

[iwrbnd]

I think we need to get a handle on the pain and suffering lawsuits. That's where it really seems to get out of control!