Las Vegas Auto Accident - Med Pay Injury

Las Vegas Auto Accident - Med Pay Injury

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I'm often asked by people, "If I'm involved in a Las Vegas auto-accident, what are some of the first things that I should do?" Well, of course, the first thing you should do if you're involved in a motor-vehicle accident is make sure that your vehicles are safely off the roadway so that further accidents don't happen. Of course, if anybody's seriously injured and requires medical attention, it's never a problem to call 911 and seek emergency personal. Beyond that, it's important to obtain the identity of the driver you believe caused the accident, or who is responsible for the accident. You can do that in two ways: It's important to get the driver's name, address, and even a telephone number, but also cross-reference that with the driver's actual driver's license or some other form of I.D., just to insure the person's name that you're getting is actually the person involved in the accident. If you have a cell phone or any other type of apparatus that can take pictures, it's a good idea to take pictures of your vehicle as well as the vehicle involved in the accident with you. That's just to preserve evidence in the event something were to come up down the road, or there's some form of denial regarding the amount of damage to the vehicles involved.

Of course, you should summon the police unless it happens on private property. That's important because without some determination of fault it makes it more difficult to successfully deal with the insurance company for the at fault driver. In other words, when the police are summoned and a ticket is issued for the fault of the driver who caused the accident, you're more likely to have an easier time convincing that driver's insurance company that there is liability and that they should be compensating you for such things as the damage to your vehicle, a rental car, as well as a claim for injuries that you may be making in the event that you're injured. So those are just a few tips that I would recommend in the event that you're involved in an accident here in Las Vegas.

One of the questions that I'm asked all the time is, "How can I afford a Las Vegas injury attorney?". Personal injury attorneys work a little differently than most attorneys. We charge a contingency fee basis as opposed to an hourly rate. If you've ever been to an attorney before, most attorneys charge you $300 - $500 per hour and make you give them a retainer up front and then draw against that retainer. And then when the retainer runs out they ask you to write them another check, and as you can imagine, many people can't afford to do that. Personal injury attorneys work a little differently. We work on what is called a contingency fee basis, and that means that our fee is contingent on getting money for our clients. If I spend 1000 hours on a client's case, but don't get that client any money, the client doesn't owe me anything for my time. We have a strong incentive to get the most money for every client, and we do that anyway, but, obviously, the more money we get for our clients, the higher our fee goes. It's a good situation for most of our clients because they can't afford to write that check up front, and they're generally very pleased with the outcome.

One of the things that I tell all my clients to be aware of are the so-called, "discount firms" that charge a discounted contingency fee. In Las Vegas the standard contingency fee is one-third (33.3%), but there are some firms that advertise less. One of the things you need to watch out for is hidden fees (or hidden charges). Typically those lawyers will charge you for things that other lawyers won't. They'll charge you for a percentage of the property damage that's recovered. Most reputable firms here in Las Vegas don't charge for property damage. They'll also take a percentage of the medical payments coverage that was obtained, and that's money that you would have gotten anyway (even without an attorney). The other thing I always tell me clients is, "If you're dealing with a discounted fee, you're usually going to get discounted service too." So be careful because you get what you pay for.

If you've never heard of Las Vegas "Medical Payments Coverage", it's an extra coverage that you can get through your insurance company. A lot of people I talk to say, "Oh, I have full coverage, I have everything I need.", but they really don't have full coverage. To me, full coverage is every coverage available: rental car coverage, uninsured coverage, under-insured coverage, and medical benefits coverage (commonly known as "Med Pay"). Las Vegas Med Pay coverage is a no fault health insurance policy that you have if you're in your car when there's an accident, and it covers anybody in your car, and it's usually sold in 1, 2, 5, or 10 thousand dollar increments (I carry $5,000 in Med Pay coverage). What that does is it will pay all of your out-of-pocket expenses, all of your co-pays, and all of your deductibles caused by a car accident, regardless of whether or not your caused it. Even if you have health insurance, there are a lot of costs that don't get covered, and Med Pay can cover those things. The other benefit for that: the at fault driver's insurance company doesn't get the benefit of the Med Pay, so if Med Pay benefits have been expended, the other driver is still responsible for all the bills and all the costs incurred.

One of the other things I tell all my clients about Med Pay coverage is that if you go to the hospital, don't bring in your car insurance. The hospital wants to use your Med Pay because it's like cash to them. But, if you have health insurance, use your health insurance. Hospitals will suck up all of the Med Pay and then they'll still bill your health insurance for the balance. So don't tell them you have Med Pay, just tell them you have health insurance. They're required to take it if you have it. The other thing I tell me clients about Med Pay is if you use it, because there's no fault (it doesn't matter if it's your fault or not) your insurance company can't raise your rates or increase your premiums or drop you if you use it, so there's no reason not to use it if you do have it.

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If you are interested in learning more about: <a href="http://www.hennessandhaight.com/types-of-cases/automobile-accidents";>Las Vegas Auto Accident</a>, then visit the Henness and Haight Injury Attorneys' site and learn more about these <a href="http://www.hennessandhaight.com";>Las Vegas Injury Attorneys</a> now!



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