Did you know that there are time limits for you being able to file your Kentucky accident case?  If you’ve been injured in a car accident, a bicycle accident or a loved one has died in a fatal truck accident there is a time limit called the Statute of Limitations.  This is the time-frame that you have to file your lawsuit in court or to settle your accident case with the insurance company. If it is not accomplished in the time set out you forever waive the right to bring a lawsuit and collect damages from the person who injured you. 

In Kentucky, the Statute of Limitations for injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident is two years from the date of the accident or two years from the date the last no-fault PIP payment for your medical bills is paid by your insurance company.  This time frame cannot exceed four years.

Statutes of Limitation are different in every state. They can even vary depending on the type of accident you were in or who you are bringing the lawsuit against. In Kentucky the Statute of Limitations is different for different types of claims. For many claims, such as auto defects or product liability claims, the Statute of Limitations is one year. There can also be a question as to when the statute begins to run. It is always best to consult an experienced personal injury attorney that concentrates in that area of law. If you guess you could be wrong.

I had to give this bad news to a young lady that called me last week. She had been in an accident when she was seventeen. I determined from speaking with her that the Statute of Limitations for this accident was one year. The accident happened in 2008. The time had run. I thought I might save it because she was a minor at the time the accident happened. Generally you have one year after you turn eighteen to bring most accident cases in Kentucky. Unfortunately it had been nineteen months since she turned 18. Even though she was severely injured there was nothing I could do. I felt bad giving her this news. If only she had called a personal injury attorney sooner.

The bottom line is if you’ve been in an accident, you need to be aware of these time-frames because if you do not act within that time, you will not be able to recover no matter how severe your injuries are.

            There is a call that no parent ever wants to receive.  Unfortunately, I did receive that call a couple weeks ago. 

I was in a deposition with a client on their Kentucky car accident case when my cell phone vibrated.  I recognized the number. It was my 16?year-old daughter who had just got her Kentucky driver’s license a month and a half before.  I let the call go to voice mail, but she immediately called me back.  This is our signal that it is an emergency and she HAS to speak with me immediately.  

I asked to take a break from the deposition so I could return my daughter’s call.  On the other side of the line I heard in half understandable words, “Dad I’ve just been in a wreck.”  I said, “Calm down.  Are you all right?”  She responded “The car, the car, the car.” I told her “I don’t care about the car.  Are you all right?” 

As I deciphered my daughter’s words in between the sobs I discovered that her neck was hurting from the automobile accident. She was driving to study for finals with three of her friends. She stopped at a light. Friend #1 stopped behind her. Friend #2 stopped behind Friend #1.  At that point in time Friend #2 was rear-ended by a blue minivan.  This set off a chain reaction that ended up with my daughter getting hit in the rear; the car in the middle was sandwiched and got the worst impact in this car accident. 

Then here’s what happened that made it all the worse.  The van took off.  It was a hit-and-run accident.  None of the girls thought quick enough to even try to get the license plate or a good description.  After all they are 16 and new to driving. The police responded to the scene and did an investigation but there was little they could do with no information. 

Luckily my daughter was okay and her friends appear to have no medical issues after a few weeks of treatment. You have to be extremely careful what you write about your Kentucky personal injury case, whether it is in a blog or on Facebook. That allows me to talk about it at this time and make my point. You should always be alert and try to keep your head after an accident.  Document as much as you can at the automobile accident scene. Take pictures of everything at the scene, including cars and skid marks. Give all information that you can to the police. 

Uninsured drivers are everywhere. If my daughter would have been seriously injured, we have Uninsured Motorist Coverage which would have paid for any pain and suffering.  Thankfully we also had PIP insurance which will pay for any and all medical bills. In fact was have Added Reparations Benefits which will pay medical bills up to $50,000.00. 

I hope none of you ever receive this call but if you do, the most important thing is to make sure that your child stays calm in this traumatic situation.  If anyone reading this would like a copy of the free brochure I offer, “What to do if You’re in an Automobile Accident”, please go to my website. You can download a copy there or if you send me an email I will be more than happy to mail you a copy free of charge.

Should Kentucky car accident victims use their personal health insurance to pay their medical bills for the treatment they receive for injuries they sustained in an automobile accident?  This is a question frequently asked by clients.

·         Do I Give my health insurance card to my doctors?

·         Why should my car insurance pay for my medical bills from an automobile accident that wasn’t my fault?

·         Isn’t it the at-fault cars’ insurance company that should have to pay?

In other words should they use their health insurance to pay for their treatment from a car accident?  The answer is no and yes. Why No? Your first and primary insurance in a car accident in Kentucky is your Personal Injury Protection or PIP benefits.  Your own car insurance will pay the first $10,000.00 of medical bills for treatment from a car accident under most circumstances. 

The “yes” comes after this $10,000.00 amount is fully paid or exhausted. You can then use your health insurance. Your health insurance will pay the medical bills from this point on.  The confusing part and what some consider the bad part about this is there’s something called subrogation. Ninety percent of all health insurance plans require you to reimburse the health insurance carrier for anything they pay toward the treatment of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Federal ERISA laws cover this area. It is a very specialized area of law and would require pages to fully explain. Your health insurance company generally entitled to reimbursement, and they can recover what was paid out under most circumstances.

If there is a requirement to pay your health insurance company why should use your health insurance to pay the bills from your car wreck case? The answer is twofold. One is to make sure that you get the treatment you need. The second is that they pay at a reduced rate, which ultimately saves you money. Realize that you will have to reimburse them out of the proceeds of your accident case, but only what is paid.

There are some good points for the Kentucky accident victim. When a health insurance company pays a bill they will pay the provider the agreed upon price for any treatment. In other words, they will pay only a portion of the charge. You only have to reimburse the health insurance company what they have paid, not the total amount of the bill. Usually this amount will be discounted even further at the time of payment by you.

You are also responsible to pay any co-pays or deductibles to the health care provider, unless you can work out other arrangements with your doctor. You will eventually be reimbursed but that may be several months or even years later when your accident case is settled.

The bottom line is you should use your health insurance to pay your medical bills once your PIP benefits have been exhausted. Your health insurance is secondary insurance. This allows you to get the treatment you need without being hassled by bill collectors for payment.

Kentucky car accident victims often have the question as to whether or not they’re going to be paid for the time they are unable to work as a result of the injuries they sustain in an automobile accident. That is whether or not they can collect their lost wages.  If the accident wasn’t their fault, the answer is yes, but that is a qualified yes. This would be the same answer even if the accident was their fault.

The first item I look at is what you can qualify for automatically. I will assume that you don’t have any disability benefits that you qualify for.  Under the Kentucky PIP law, you can collect 80 percent of your lost wages up to a maximum of $200.00 per week. This is what is called Basic Reparation Benefits.  I know $200.00 a week isn’t a lot of money.  It’s not going to pay for your mortgage.  It’s not going to pay for your car payment.  It’s not going to put groceries and food in your family’s mouths, but unfortunately that is what the law is in Kentucky if you have Basic Reparations Benefits. 

The remainder of your lost wages will be paid for at the end of the case by the at-fault insurance company. This is when your Kentucky car accident case is settled. Anything that is not paid by PIP will be paid or reimbursed at the end of the case. Unfortunately, this doesn’t do you a lot of good while you’re trying to pay your bills. 

The best advice that I can give you is if you have not been in an accident. This is preventative. There is nothing that can be done to change your insurance coverage after you have been in the accident to increase your benefits. Talk to your insurance agent and purchase what is called Added Reparations Benefits.  You may be able to raise that weekly lost-wage payment up to $1,000.00 a week with very little additional premium. 

You should also talk to your employer or an independent insurance agent about getting a disability policy that will pay for lost wages no matter how you’re injured; whether you’re in an automobile accident or injured falling at home. 

The Kentucky No-Fault Statute was not enacted as a disability policy for Kentucky automobile accident victims. It was only put in place to supplement your wage loss. The At-Fault party is responsible when the case is settled, but this can be years after the accident. Take matters into your own hands now so you are not wondering how you are going to pay your bills should you be injured in a car accident.

In Kentucky if you are a pedestrian or a bicyclist that has been hit by a car or a truck you may be wondering whether or not your medical treatment will be paid for and by whom.  This is a good questions for bicycle accident victims, as well as pedestrian accident victims. As a personal injury attorney, I can tell you that in almost every circumstance your treatment for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident will be paid for by an insurance company.  The question is what insurance company? Is it your health insurance? Is it your car insurance? Is it the car insurance for the car that hit you?

The first place that we look is to the car that hit you, the car that caused the bicycle accident or the pedestrian accident. If the car had auto insurance their PIP benefits will pay for your first $10,000.00 of medical treatment, no questions asked, as long as the treatment is related to the accident. 

If for some reason the car that caused the accident did not have insurance we then turn to your own personal car insurance company if you owned a car.  You might think this is the last place that you should look. After all you weren’t in your car at the time of this accident. Under almost all car insurance policies your car insurance is required to pay your medical treatment from injuries sustained in an accident between a car and you if you were a pedestrian or riding a bicycle. No matter how the accident occurred your car insurance will pay as long as it was a motor vehicle accident of some sort. 

Now if the other car did not have insurance and you do not own a car you will be eligible for benefits under what is called the Kentucky Assigned Claims Plan.  This is a state run program that requires insurance companies to, on rotation, pay for medical treatment for people that did not have insurance or no insurance available to them in a particular accident.

After the PIP benefits are exhausted you will then look to your personal health insurance, Medicare or Kentucky Passport. This insurance is secondary and is not used until the $10,000.00 in No-Fault Benefits are exhausted. Your health insurance will pay under the terms of your policy for any medical bills over the $10,000.00. Your health insurance company, Medicare or Passport may be entitled to repayment under federal law called ERISA or the terms of the policy from your personal injury recovery. You should check with an attorney to determine if subrogation is required.

After the PIP benefits are exhausted you will then look to your personal health insurance, Medicare or Kentucky Passport. This insurance is secondary and is not used until the $10,000.00 in No-Fault Benefits are exhausted. Your health insurance will pay under the terms of your policy for any medical bills over the $10,000.00. Your health insurance company, Medicare or Passport may be entitled to repayment under federal law called ERISA or the terms of the policy from your personal injury recovery. You should check with an attorney to determine if subrogation is required.

The bottom line is if you’ve been in a pedestrian accident or a bicycle accident where you’ve been hit by a car you are entitled to have your medical bills paid.  So don’t hold off on getting the treatment you need to recover from your injuries.  Get the doctor and find out what’s wrong with you and get better. This will enable you to achieve the best result possible in your bicycle accident or pedestrian accident case. 

         Bicycle accidents and pedestrian accidents that happen in Kentucky pose different questions and different answers for the accident victims. Bicycle accident victims and pedestrian accident victims come into my office after being hit by a car and have suffered serious injuries. They wonder if they have a case. They’ve been hurt and they want to recover for their injuries.

        What happens if the car that hit them did not have insurance? Can the bicyclist or pedestrian be compensated for injuries they suffered in the accident through no fault of their own? There can be a recovery even if that person didn’t have insurance or they don’t have assets sufficient to pay for the injuries that they caused by their negligent actions.

As a personal injury attorney, I will look at the insurance policy of the person on the bicycle or the pedestrian to see if they have what is called your uninsured motorist coverage (UIM). This is coverage on your own car. UIM will pay for your pain and suffering in a pedestrian or bicycle accident if for some reason the car that hit you did not have insurance. Most people have no idea that their own car insurance will give those benefits under this situation.

You need to make sure that you have this coverage on your own car insurance policy, make sure that if you are hurt in an accident like this that you will be covered!

Your PIP will also pay for the first $10,000.00 of your medical bills. This happens even though you were no where close to your car.

I had a client a few years ago that was on a moped and on her way to work. She was injured by a car that ran her off the road and then took off. We never found the car and have no idea who the person was that hit her. She had very serious injuries. Her leg was broke and required two surgeries, pins and rods were inserted. There was a year of recovery. We were able to get a recovery for her by looking to the UIM on her car. This was from her own car insurance company, even though she was not driving that car at the time and she was on a moped.

You need to look seriously toward your insurance company in these situations. Give your personal injury attorney something to work with. If you are not sure if you have this coverage call your insurance agent and ask. For more information on Uninsured Motorist Coverage follow this link to get a free copy of my book “What You Don’t Know About Buying Car Insurance Can Hurt You.”

Kentucky car accident victims always want to know how their medical bills are going to be paid.  They have been in an accident, they’re injured, and they’re not able to work.  Many people nowadays don’t have health insurance. The assumption that is made is “If I don’t have health insurance I will have to pay the medical bills for treatment from a car accident out of my own pocket”.

In Kentucky your own insurance company will pay those medical bills.  You have what is called PIP benefits. This is short for Personal Injury Protection. You may also hear these benefits referred to as No-Fault Benefits or Basic Reparations Benefits. It’s something you pay for under your automobile insurance policy. The first $10,000.00 of your medical treatment will be paid for by your insurance company.  You fill out a PIP application  that is sent to you by your insurance company. This triggers the payment to your doctor automatically from that point on until those $10,000.00 of benefits are exhausted. 

Once the PIP Benefits are exhausted you will send your medical bills to your health insurance company. Any additional treatment will be paid by your health insurance carrier. You are personally responsible for any co-pays or deductibles. Any money you pay out of your pocket should be reimbursed by the at-fault party’s insurance company at the time your personal injury case is settled. 

You might be concerned that hey, why should my car insurance company pay for this if the accident wasn’t my fault?  This is done so that you can immediately go to the doctor of your choice. Well at the end of the case they will get reimbursed by the at-fault party’s insurance company minus a $1,000.00 inner company deductible, so your insurance company will not be on the hook for those benefits.

Many Kentucky accident victims have suffered serious and life changing injuries from an automobile accidents, truck accidents or motorcycle accident. They come into my office looking for answers. They are concerned about the fact that they only have $10,000.00 in medical benefits available to them from their PIP Benefits (Personal Injury Protection) in their car insurance policy.  If you’ve been in an accident and have a serious injury and are in need of surgery this may not be enough to cover the medical bills for treatment you receive for injuries suffered in the accident. It’s a real concern if you don’t have health insurance. 

         After an accident your options are limited if you don’t have health insurance. Unfortunately you can’t go back in time. You are forced to go to a free clinic or find a doctor who will agree to treat you or perform surgery on a promise to pay later. This just doesn’t happen very often.

You really must take action right now before you are even in a serious automobile accident in Kentucky. You must do something long before you even think about contacting a car accident attorney. One thing that you must do is ask your insurance agent to increase your PIP benefits.  These additional benefits are called Added Reparations Benefits.  You can increase your benefits to $20,000.00 per accident, $40,000.00 per accident, $50,000.00 and even more with many insurance companies. 

You might think, well if I’m getting five times the benefits, I don’t want to pay five times the amount, but in many circumstances your premium will go up a relatively insignificant amount compared to the increased benefits you are getting.  One of the most important things you can do right now to protect yourself and your family is contact your insurance agent and request additional medical benefits on your auto insurance policy.  I would suggest that you call your insurance agent today to ask him how to go about this.  You’ll be amazed at how little it will really cost you and the peace of mind you will have knowing you have protected your family should you be in a serous car accident.

There is nothing worse then being injured in a Kentucky car accident. You are in pain. You look for a lawyer to guide you and help you deal with the insurance company. You want to get a fair settlement and the best legal advice. Your lawyer sends you to a doctor for treatment. They even arrange for you to fly to another state for surgery. You settle your case and get your settlement money, after your attorney and doctors are paid. This is the way it suppose to go, isn’t it? I would say yes unless you are Sharon Langford.         

We have all seen the billboards and the television commercials about the “aggressive attorneys” formally “Winters, Yonkers and Rousselle” now “Winters and Yonkers”.  Whether you are a fan of this type of legal advertising or not, you have to admit that it works because everyone in Louisville, Kentucky knows the name of this Florida based law firm.  The firm has recently been sued in Jefferson Circuit Court by a former client, Sharon Langford.

            Ms. Langford was injured in a car accident in June of 2008.  She alleges that she was not told that her personal health insurance would potentially pay for her medical bills after her PIP benefits were exhausted. PIP benefits are also known as No-Fault Benefits or Personal Injury Protection. She was referred to a medical care clinic called First Physicians Rehabilitation Inc. by the law firm according to the lawsuit. She was told they would take care of injuries suffered in a car accident.  It is reported that the medical facility did not accept health insurance only PIP car insurance. 

Later when Langford needed surgery the firm flew her to another clinic in Florida.  In the lawsuit Langford states that she discovered later that both clinics were owned by Gary Kompothecras, a chiropractor, who also owns the Hepley advertisement referral service 1?800?ASK?GARY.  Langford also alleges in her lawsuit that the relationship between the law firm and the clinic cost her money.  Her attorney, Sam Carl, states that medical bills paid after PIP totaled over $64,000.00.  Health insurance would have paid a portion of this leaving additional money to Langford after settlement of the lawsuit. You can read the courier journal article that I linked above with further details. 

The question that comes to mind is whether or not the referrals to and between the medical clinic and the law office should be disclosed to clients.  It is alleged that this is a requirement.  I would argue that a client should be referred to the best doctor available and not a doctor that is only referring business to the law firm.  I often refer clients to doctors. Those clients would otherwise have no idea where to go.  I give them the name of several doctors based on their needs.  Many family doctors do not want to handle lawsuits or auto accident suits nor do they understand how to bill car insurance for payment for their medical services. 

The question always comes down to what is best for the client.  Any relationship between a doctor and a lawyer should be disclosed to the client. I will watch with interest Sam Carl’s case to see what direction it does go.  It’s safe to say it should be educational for Kentucky auto accident victims and give them the knowledge they need to ask questions of their attorneys as to the relationship between the attorney and the doctor.

One of the worst things an accident victim can do is fake an injury or exaggerate the injuries they did receive.  Unfortunately this is a practice many do in hopes of getting a better settlement.  Because of these practices the insurance industry has long resorted to video surveillance to catch these culprits.  Some critics feel that these practices have gone too far when the insurance video tapes truly disabled people and using the videos against them. The sad part is these “scam artists” make the process a nightmare for those Kentucky accident victims that were truly injured in an auto accident.

I recently read about a case in point, Jack “Rocky” Whitten. Mr. Whitten suffers from several residual symptoms as a result of a broken neck from a fall.  He has vision problems, memory issues and is often in excruciating pain.  Mr. Whitten fortunately had purchased disability insurance ten years ago that would pay him 60 % of his salary if he ever became disabled. After his fall three doctors declared him permanently disabled and he began receiving benefits in 2003.

Last year a representative from Hartford Insurance Company visited Mr. Whitten and his wife and questioned his limitations. The claims adjuster then pulled out a video that showed Mr. Whitten getting out of a van, looking at a magazine, and eating chips and salsa.  Maybe you are reacting like I did and are saying “So what?” Shortly after this visit the Whitten’s received a letter from Hartford explaining that his benefits would be cut off based on the video and a report from a doctor hired by Hartford –who had never examined Mr. Whitten- that claimed he, was able to work based on the video. After a phone call from national television show Good Morning America Mr. Whitten’s benefits were restored. Hartford believes this claim has been handled fairly and strongly.

This process a doctor looking at records and not examining the patient is called a “Peer Review”. It is a common practice in cases and is frequently used in Kentucky car accident cases to review medical payments submitted under PIP. The medical care is often found to be unnecessary or unrelated to the car wreck by the peer review doctor. The insurance company will deny payment based on this “paper review’. This forces the accident victim to litigate their case against the car that caused the accident and their own insurance company. The process is very frustrating to those accident victims who have legitimate injuries. Many times those unrepresented by an attorney will stop treating which is detrimental to their claim and recovery.

Insurance companies have been using video surveillance tactics for years. I have seen this in Kentucky cases. I have watched videos of accident victims painting houses and dancing. In our new internet world insurance companies have also become cybersleuths. The internet has an abundance of information that is available to them by looking at Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, etc. Don’t give them  a reason to deny your claim. Be careful. As we can see from Mr. Whitten, even the most innocent action will be misinterpreted.