Now I can understand if you are in an accident that causes damage to your body, your vehicle and perhaps your livelihood.  You should be fairly compensated for your losses. What makes the situation even more aggravating is if the person who has committed the crime is uninsured. What do you do then? You are more or less screwed right?

Well lets now reverse the table here and say the person at fault is insured, and the person who was injured is not because they are here illegally. Are the then entitled to less friendly accident injury compensation? In California it is headed that way. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to make a political statement. What I am saying is that everyone is entitled to compensation based on the injury hey suffered at the hand of another.

The reason I tell my client accident injury victims California is not their friend is because of the precedent set by all the thousands of cases that California can no longer afford to deal with economically. So if you have been injured in an accident in California you need to get in touch with an accident claim lawyer immediately.  Don’t be turned off by the so called ambulance chasers. Think about it…this is what they do all day every day. Don’t you think they would be the most qualified to address your concerns and get you the compensation you need?

Lets start there with the later. We get questions all the time about the difference between a workers comp settlement, which has injured you personally and a personal injury settlement. So first of all workers compensation is an insurance claim that your employer has paid a premium for. When you get hurt at work the insurance prevents your employer from being held liable and the workers comp insurance pays your settlement.

A personal injury settlement is usually awarded in Reno or any other state for that matter based on the findings of a lawsuit where a claimant is suing a defendant for damages caused during some sort of accident. The accident can be anything from a car accident settlement, to property damage to unlawful death settlements.  Usually the merits of a settlement are based on the damages caused by the incident.

A simple car accident that does not result in any personal or long term damage or damages that do not exceed the limits on their personal insurance will not qualify for a settlement. Meaning if the lawsuit is frivolous, it will usually get tossed. However, if the damages to the injured victim will affect how they live their daily life and adds additional costs to their way of life to simply recreate their previously normal life, then you have a lawsuit.

The steps you need to take to insure you maximize your settlement. First among them is to gather all the costs and itemize the expenses you have incurred as a result of the accident. You then need to have legitimate medical claims from doctors who could potentially be called as a witness should your lawsuit go to a trial. These could include both physicians as well as psychiatrists. The point I am making here is that it can be SUPER difficult to gather and manage all the necessary info. This is why we recommend you get in touch with a Reno personal injury settlement lawyer if you live in Reno, or an SLC accident lawyer if you live in SLC. Get a lawyer that specializes in the claim you want to make.

First, find a lawyer who will take a look at your case for free.

Second, make sure you have all of the documentation pertaining to your accident.

Third, include documentation of any travel and medical expenses that you incurred as a result of the accident.

Is it necessary to file an accident report immediately after the fall? To answer this question, you need to put yourself in the insurance company’s shoes. An insurance company is in business to make money. This means bringing in more money in premiums than they have to pay out in settlements. In other words, while they want to help their customers, they don’t want to have to pay a slip and fall settlement if they can avoid it. It’s going to look pretty suspicious if you wait days or weeks to file an accident report after the event has taken place. Some may even suspect that you’re simply trying to make a quick buck. When you file your report immediately and then hire an attorney to help you, it’s clear to all concerned that you are serious about receiving just compensation. There’s really no risk to you if you hire an attorney who specializes in slip and fall cases because they usually take such cases on a contingency basis. This means that they only get paid if they win the case. You may even be able to receive more money if the slip and fall case can be included in a workers compensation claim.

What kind of compensation can I expect to receive? You may be able to receive money for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, as well as medical expenses that you may incur in the future if the slip and fall resulted in injuries that were serious enough to keep you from working now and/or in the future and resulted in medical expenses. The bottom line is that you simply want to receive just compensation for what you lost because of the accident. An attorney who specializes in these kinds of claims has the kind of experience and expertise that you need.

What kind of information will the insurance adjuster want me to provide? You will need to provide as much information in writing about your accident as possible, including whether or not you were at fault or if your employer was negligent in some way. You’ll also need to be examined by a medical professional so that you can provide detailed documentation of the kind and seriousness of injuries you sustained. You also need to provide documentation that explains to the best of your ability the cause of the accident. It could be that you weren’t paying attention, or you could be taking medication that impaired you in some way, or you may have been unable to work for some reason. Be sure that you speak with an attorney BEFORE you talk to the insurance company’s claims adjuster because he or she will be able to inform you of your rights and responsibilities in the matter.

The settlement is scheduled to come at regular intervals over time and is meant to provide you with a steady stream of income.  The income amount is predetermined in the settlement and is based off the lawsuit case or lottery winnings.  Essentially the amount is set by a judge ruling on the matter.  Everyone circumstances change and a lot of people find themselves in need of lump sum payments.  Many people do not require the additional income but would benefit from a down payment being put on a home for example.

Many of the settlement companies will argue that selling your stream of payments to companies that purchase structured settlements can really benefit the seller.  Selling a structured settlement as opposed to getting structures settlement loans from a bank merely reallocates and asset as opposed to creating a debt.  Additionally you are not required to be pre-approved or to pass any kind of credit check.  In order to make sure the consumer is getting a fair deal many states have enacted laws that require any settlement to be reviewed by a judge to make sure it is fair.

First – Shop around. The more people you have competing for your settlement the better off you will be.  Just like how banks compete for mortgages, settlement funding firms should be competing to give you the best rate possible.

Second – Acquire Information Up-Front.  You need to collect all the terms and disclosures from each company who gives you a quote.  These agreements will vary some depending on the state the company does business in.  Get commitments on timing, fees and guaranteed payout dollar amounts.

Third – Know the company.  Some companies may have a fancy website and smooth talking sales people but what you need to make sure they can do is actually fund your lump sum payment.  Check the BBB and the FCC for any complaints.

Fourth – Consult a professional.  If you really want to get the most from your settlement make sure you speak with a financial planner and an attorney to make sure all the documentation makes sense to you.

Here is the catch though when it comes to structured settlement loan rates; they compound monthly.  This means that the rate you owe is adding to previous months outstanding balances.  This is great if you are saving monthly, because the interest then goes back into your initial investment so that the following month has more capital to earn interest on.  Well the opposite is true with a structured settlement loan rate, each month more and more is added to the pot you are paying interest on.

Settlement firms will do this because they know the term of the loan is relatively short compared to normal car or home loans.  In this case the loan, at most, will end up being 6 months.  The firm is going to put time and effort into your settlement loan and will want to receive compensation so they do everything they can in that time to get the most they can from fees.

A normal credit card will charge around 10% interest over the whole year.  So the 10% is divided out over 12 and each month’s interest is a little over 1%.  In the case of a settlement loan you are going to be charged 2% or more if you have great credit so depending on the value of the settlement you could be losing several hundred dollars each month.  I realize it seems like small potatoes in the short term but that settlement money is designed to last you a life time.

The most important thing you need to remember about these lenders is that they are not insured by the FDIC because they are considered alternative lenders.  They are not required to meet FCC or FDIC standard practices which on the back end means if you have an issue with them it becomes a ‘buyer beware’ situation.  Traditional banks won’t consider future payments as a collateral source so these alternative lenders are your only option.

LawCapital is a firm that provides and is a leader in doing it, of lawsuit settlement loans and structured settlement loans.  They give an advance if you have already been awarded a settlement for your discretionary use until you actually receive the payments.  They can become a helpful resource if you really do need the money now because the legal process can take a long time to process.  It can take anywhere between 6 weeks and 6 months to fully process a settlement.  So if your bills are mounting and you are not able to work at all it would be better to lose the interest on a structured settlement loan than to take the hit on your credit.

The actual process you go through is pretty easy because the firm loaning the money is anxious to get you signed.  If you get approved you are advanced a portion of the payments or a portion in a lump sum of what you are entitled to in the settlement.  They then institute a lien on your settlement that they can make claim for once the settlement is paid out or begins to be paid out.  The difference here is that you are not actually selling your settlement but more using it as an asset in collateral.

There is an option many companies give called non-recourse  lawsuit funding and this is where you are not held liable if you are advanced the money and in the end do not end up getting the settlement.  As an example, say you are in need of structured settlement loans and you take money before the settlement is finalized.  Then the settlement is reversed or the company goes out of business.  If you used non-recourse funding the company giving you the advance is not allowed to seek repayment from you.  But it is important you know that this is MUCH DIFFERENT than a lawsuit settlement loan.

Some companies who claim to buy structured settlements do not offer anything in the way of loans beforehand.  JG Wentworth for example will not offer you a settlement loan because they are the ones who want to purchase the settlement as a whole.  There are a lot of predatory lenders in the arena and you need to be careful as you protect your interest and at the same time try to maximize your income.

Let us identify a few key points in the whole settlement process so that you are aware of what is in your best interest long term.  A settlement is usually made simply to make restitution for a wrong doing or someone who was considered at fault and caused harm to another person.  The settlement is designed to replace what was taken and supply you with an income over time.  In most cases it is meant to replace the income you already had not necessarily set you up as a millionaire for life.

The reason this becomes important is because structured settlement loans are basically advances on future payments where they will then be taking money out of to repay the loan.  So you are awarded $100 and instead of waiting you want money now so a loan is extended with the pending settlement held as collateral.  Not only do you have to pay back the loan amount but you are always going to charged interest on the money you were loaned.

So when it comes down to it you are losing money simply because you want to meet your financial wants in the moment.  It is not in your best interest to take the money because you lose some of it for almost no real gain other than an earlier payday.

Is it possible to get the compensation and still be allowed future medical payments?

Legally yes that is possible but it is really rare as the insurance companies make you pick one or the other.  The whole point of the Compromise is to get you off their books and out of their hair.  There is a labor cost in addition to the settlement cost to keeping your settlement active so they would much rather just get you on your way.  It helps to clear their books and ease the work load if they are done with you sooner rather than later.  So in the end they force you to choose one or the other, either keep the expenses open and receive money over time, or get it all at once and be done.

So what happens if the insurance company doesn’t make a reasonable offer in the workers compensation settlements?

As it does take 2 to tango and settle the case.  This is ultimately the reason we have judges and make decision in the legal system so that the final outcome is as fair as possible.  If the insurance company feels they do not agree with your settlement amount they simply won’t settle the case, so your lawyer can argue for all he wants, in the end it won’t matter too much.  If this happens and you think the settlement is worth more than they do the only real alternative is to take the matter to a trial.

So if the case is settled then what happens?

The attorneys complete the necessary paper work for either settlement type.  Those will be presented to the judge who will review the documents and the amounts claimed for medical expenses to make sure it is adequate.  The judge then confirms and either agrees signing the orders approving the structured settlements.  If the judge does this it is equivalent to the court order being executed.

Based on the circumstances a compromise and release in a workers compensation settlements case may not be feasible.  If you plan to continue working for the same employer and they continue to carry the same disability insurance that insurance company may not allow you to compromise.  This is due primarily because they are prohibited from buying the end of the case.  If you continue working there and are injured again they will have to pay out more medical expenses to you in a separate claim.

Does your settlement affect vocational rehab?

The law was changed and there is no longer such a thing as vocational rehabilitation.

If you had been awarded vocational rehab prior to 2004 your compromise and release will not affect the vocational rehab.  You are still eligible to receive both award types as long as you were awarded them under accurate representation.  There is though, one thing you need to keep in mind.  For so long as the case is considered open, meaning not fully settled or a stipulated award where you are still receiving payments, any injury that happens during vocational rehab will be eligible to compensational consequence for the injury at work.  What this means is that if you are participating in vocational rehab and something happens to you it is lumped in with the compensation awarded to you for the new accident settlement amount and both are considered to have happened ‘at work.’  Most companies, because this has happened a lot will require you to release them from such obligations before they agree to settle your case.