QuestionWhat forms do i need to fill out to extend my insurance claim time? Car insurance plae tells me they wont pay anything for med cost untill all my med work is complete. I have been unable to get cleared by docs to work have no $$$ left to continue med treatment to recover to get back to work either. I've been trying to get disability so i can pa for treatment with it then get off once im recovered and back to work but they say i dont have enough documenation to qualify yet jobs wont hire me due to not being able toget cleared. A huge catch 22 it seems and my one year statute ends in like 38 days. thank-you for your time. I as going 45-50 on my motor cycle head on and thrown over 60feet.It was ruled the other drivers fault from multiple witnesses on official police report
AnswerHi Vince,
This sounds like an EMERGENCY situation, and you were very smart to write to me now, instead of waiting for later. First thing is to read up on the statute of limitations. Here is some good general information.
Directory of Legal Information on Statute of Limitations Information for Personal Injury Insurance Claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0452.htm Motor Vehicle Accidents, Dog Bites, Premises Liability, and Claims Against Governmental Entities.
How about verifying that your statute is only one year since only the reddest of the RED STATES have a one year statute—the reason is that in red states the legislature is much more likely to be in bed with the insurance industry, so the big insurers have their way. There are only three of those red states that retain the one year statute, so unless you live in one of them, you might have another year or two. You can always ask your insurance commissioner http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php
I am sorry to hear of your accident, Vince, and I can only imagine the huge extent of injuries you must have sustained. The fact that you cannot get back to work is proof of how seriously you were injured. This is NOT a case to try to handle on your own.
Insurance injury claims Dr. Settlement teaches and helps pro se victims. And personal injury settlements www.SettlementCentral.Com for insurance injury claims are what we teach our members at our website. But I do NOT want you to go and join our website, thinking you can do this yourself, Vince. In bigger and complex cases like you have, we recommend not to buy our membership, but to hire an attorney. When there is a lot of money at stake, as there is here, a small error or omission can cost the victim a lot of money left on the table. Does that make sense?
Insofar as the statute of limitations is concerned, there is NO FORM to extend it, at least as regards the tortfeasor' personal liability. I have—and your attorney can—sign an extension with the insurance company, but that does NOT bind the tortfeasor, since he was not a party to the agreement. All that does is to reserve the action against the insurance company (instead of the tortfeasor), and for ONLY the policy limits, maximum.
But there is no need to fish around for such an agreement; the insurer probably would not be interested anyway. It is much easier to just file and serve the lawsuit. But you MUST have an attorney for that.
Here is the problem: this is not like going to a fast food joint and getting a quick order of burger and fries. Attorneys face a minefield of malpractice traps when trying to rush at the last minute. Hence, get to an attorney ASAP.
Since you were smart enough to write and ask about it, I am sure you know that if you let the statute day pass, you will lose everything—all claims for special damages (medical, lost wages, and transportation), as well as your general damages (pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life).
As pointed out on the statute of limitations page I gave you to read, this is NOT something one can just walk in and expect to get done since there are two factors that limit the access to attorney help at such late stages near to the statute running.
FIRST, this is NOT fast food service. The attorney has to make time for you along with her trial work, depositions, etc. This is NOT something her staff can do. She has to interview you.
It is not just the question of fitting you in, there is also the specter of sanctions versus the attorney personally for signing pleadings that are not fully investigated for facts being sufficient to support a claim. This is a RULE 11 sanction: all pleadings she signs carry with them her assurances, as specified in the rule.
SECOND is the ever-present fear of malpractice. The last minute "beat the clock" efforts are the source of tons of malpractice claims. Service of process on the defendant is the problem. Do you have any idea where he is now, one year later?
If your process server cannot find the defendant, then he will make a record that your attorney can use for what is called “substituted service”. This requires the process server/investigator to make an affidavit of "not found" and to state all the ways in which he tried to find the defendant.
There are a number of procedural steps to substituted service, which together take at least 6 to 8 weeks (although service does not have to be completed until some statutory number of days after filing the lawsuit is filed—usually 90 days—hence, you could file the lawsuit in mid-August and still have 90 days to serve).
The area is ripe for malpractice at every step--hence, NO ATTORNEY is ever going to get involved just for a small cash fee. You might find a beginning attorney who could use $400 or so. The court filing fee and your process service fees are in addition.
The idea there is that you hire the attorney to draft and file and serve the lawsuit, and he charges $400 to $600 cash, but DOES NOT represent you. That still leaves you trying to settle a claim wherein you are likely to leave a lot of money on the table, just because an attorney is more experienced on handling such claims.
Bottom line, Vince: find a good attorney quickly and let her handle the claim for you. She will more than earn her fees in taking care of everything, and what she will bring in for a settlement, even minus her fees, will be A LOT MORE than what you might get on your own. One last piece of information: look for a member of your state trial lawyers association. I will give you some tips on this because just looking online or in the phone book will NOT give any assurance of getting a quality attorney. And with a case THIS BIG you need someone who knows what they are doing.
1. Each state has an association of plaintiff-side trial attorneys. This is NOT the same as the state bar association. The trial lawyers group is dedicated to helping victims of torts: aka the plaintiff in a legal action. It is best to select an attorney who is a member of such an organization because those attorneys are among the best informed on all existing and new law, and they share winning techniques. They have frequent formal seminars, informal local meetings, and a wealth of materials in a brief bank that is available only to members. These associations also offer members the opportunity to consult with other members to get a second opinion on how to handle a case.
2. How to FIND YOUR ASSOCIATION:
Go to http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php and look for your state trial lawyers via the link 5th from the top of the page.
3. Try to get three names of members in your area—OR, better yet, have the staff contact three attorneys and ask them to contact you. You can try calling them to see if they will give you the names of three members in your area. If so, you are done—contact them and go from there.
Usually, the staff will not release their membership list. But why not try this first: just ask for three names—OR BETTER YET—ask the staff there to just have three of their members in your area contact YOU. Go ahead and give the staff all the details of your claim that they ask for—plus extra—in order to create some interest on the part of the attorneys to contact you.
4. If the staff will not cooperate in either of the above ways, then try to contact three of the officers. Find the officers and their contact information via the association's website or via asking the staff. They WILL always give out the name and contact for the president.
5. Write a BRIEF note to send to the three officers, giving a BRIEF summary of the following:
A. Why you need an attorney (note: this had best be for REPRESENTATION ONLY, not for consultation—see http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0038.htm to learn the difference).
B. The accident facts in one or (max) two sentences.
C. Your injuries in two (max) sentences.
D. The status of your claim in one or (max) two sentences
E. Your contact information and a request for either three names in your area or for the officer to ask three attorneys in your area to contact you.
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I trust that my time here has produced some information that has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you take the time to locate the FEEDBACK FORM on this site and leave some feedback for me.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
http://www.SettlementCentral.Com
