An experienced injury lawyer is essential to even a basic car accident case. FACT: Injury Victims represented by lawyers receive three times more than people who represent themselves.  According to the Insurance Research Institute, which is funded by auto insurance companies, victims of auto accidents with lawyers received on average 40% more (even after attorney after fee and costs) than those without lawyers. People with attorneys, less than half the total claims, received 79% of the total payouts.  Clearly, the vast majority of money paid by auto insurance companies is to victims represented by an attorney. 

Victims injured in car and truck collisions often have never dealt with anything like it before. You need an attorney that understands what you are going through,   helps you get treatment for your injuries, handles the financial issues of medical bills so you can concentrate on getting better, will explain the law and the insurance claims process, and knows how to get you fully compensated for the harms and losses suffered from bills, lost wages, permanent injury, and past and future pain and hardship.  Be aware! Insurance adjusters will take advantage of victims not represented by a lawyer specializing in car accident law.      

When there there are physical injuries many people need guidance for the proper medical treatment. We consider your financial situation, health insurance coverage, and degree of injury ; we can help you in that decision making process and get you to the right doctors, regardless of health insurance coverage.   

If you have full medical coverage I generally suggest that you see your family doctor and follow up with whatever care he or she suggests.  We also recommend certain medical specialists deepening on your injury.  If you do not carry medical insurance, then we have a network of medical doctors and chiropractic physicians who will treat your injuries on a lien basis.   This guarantees that you get the full medical attention you need and the bills will be paid once your case settles, so you do not need to worry about financial burden form medical treatment.  

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Common Questions We Can Answer Right Away:

We will help, do not let financial worry stop you from getting proper medical treatment: The most common mistake I see in car accident cases is that the injured victim passes on medical care or seeks minimal treatment and then just puts up with the pain or assumes it will pass with time. Oftentimes they do this because of financial reasons: no health insurance, treatment is expensive, cannot miss work, etc.  We cannot work out arrangements with various doctors to treat you and not get paid until your case settles, referred to as treating you on a "lien basis".  Additionally, we have doctors that may be able to treat you in the evenings or on weekends so you can miss as little work as possible.  Lastly, if missed work is making bills pile up, we have a network of case advance loan specialists that can help you through hard financial times.  

Also, there may be available Medical Payments Coverage (Med Pay): Auto insurance companies allow for med pay coverage which can be used towards your medical bills in the even of an injury regardless of fault.  Additionally, the med pay coverage does not affect the other driver's liability to you and they are still responsible to pay your medical bills in full and you do not have to reimburse the med pay coverage payments.  Moreover, if you have medial insurance, the medical insurance actually pays the bills, you recover the med payments and keep them, plus you recover from the at fault driver's liability coverage.       

Failure to get adequate medical treatment has a devastating effect not only on the value of your case but your health as well. Medical evidence of your injury through treatment of the symptoms is critical to a successful car accident claim or lawsuit. Injuries not diagnosed or fully treated may mean future pain and money left on the table. Moreover, even minor injuries suffered in a  car accident can result in permanent scar tissue formation in the muscles that will cause recurrent symptoms for years to come if not treated properly.  

If there is little to no medical treatment the auto insurance lawyers will argue that you were not hurt or the injury was very minor because a reasonable person would seek medical  treatment.  This will negate any claims that you care for your injuries on your own and that you may suffer from continued pain and other symptoms of the injury. 

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2. What about Auto Insurance & How do I get my Car Fixed? 

The at fault driver is often covered by auto insurance and sometime other policies of insurance such as umbrella coverage.   Additionally, other typos of insurance may be available to help cover your harms and loses.  Many car and truck accidents are the fault of an uninsured ("UM") or under-insured ("UIM") motorist.  You may carry coverage to protect yourself from these types of drivers who do not have adequate insurance to compensate you for your injuries. Additionally, medical payments ("Med Pay") coverage might also be available which is coverage that may be available immediately to reimburse you for ongoing medical bills.

You should report the car accident to your insurance even if it was not your fault. Oftentimes it is easier to work with your own insurance company in getting your car fixed and then they bill the other driver's insurance for the property damage. This avoids the delay of the other insurance company claiming they will not pay for your property damage or pay for your car to get fixed until they complete their investigation, which sometimes can take many weeks.   

Some people want to avoid reporting anything to their insurance company, if this is the case we will not contact your insurance, unless absolutely necessary and with your permission.       

All legal fees and costs associated with handling your property damage claim is FREE. Example: if your car has $10,000 worth of damage and we get you reimbursed for that, you owe us zero for that service and the entire $10,000 goes to the repair of your vehicle or to you.   

The at fault driver is responsible for the damage.  Whether it is though their auto insurance or personally, they are responsible and must pay for the damage. If the at fault driver does not have insurance, then it is best to process the damage through your own insurance and then they go after the other driver, also called subrogation. When they recover the money your insurance company will reimburse you for your deductible. 

If the other driver has no insurance and you only have liability coverage, meaning no comprehensive or collision coverage to pay for the damage to your car, then you will likely foot the bill for the car damage at first and we can help you recover from the at fault driver.  If we are handling your injury case, then we never charge a fee for helping you recover your property damage claim, those recovered funds go directly to you.    

Lost wages from missed work or the future inability to work is recoverable from the at fault driver. Proper evidence needs to be established to make your lost wages claim a strong one.  

Past lost wages are simply calculated based on how much work missed, even if you are a salaried employee and did not miss a paycheck, you are still entitled to damages for the lost time from work. Additionally, self employed individuals are also entitled to lost wages, but the claim is a little more complicated than an hourly worker.

Future lost wages is the amount you are entitled to for the future inability to work or decreased capacity to work.  This is established through medical doctor and diagnosis, and sometimes the use of economists and vocational experts.      

The area of lost wages gets complicated and we will discuss this potential claim with you in detail for free.  

"Pain and suffering" which I prefer to call "Harms and Losses" is everything you are entitled to outside of medical bills and lost wages. The harms and losses consist of the past and/or continued mental, physical, and emotional pain that you go through as a result of your injuries or the car accident.  These types of harms and losses can be a lot of things but are often the result of permanent physical disability, permanent pain, recurring pain, loss of sleep, nightmares, shame of not being bale to support yourself anymore, emotion pain from inability to support loved ones or play with your kids, harms and losses associated with not being able to participate in the activities you used to be able to, the harms and losses associated with the deterioration of your physical and mental well being, etc.  

Harms and losses are  a difficult area of damages to prove to a jury and get them to include in their verdict.  Large verdicts for harms and losses is one of the benchmarks to look for in a great personal injury lawyer. 

Uninsured Motorists (UM): Uninsured motorists mean just that, they have no insurance. This includes drivers with no insurance as well as unidentified or "phantom" vehicles, typical in hit and run cases.  Sometimes a driver is forced off the road or involved in an accident and the at fault driver flees the scene of the car or truck accident and identification information is not obtained by the victim or any witnesses.  This case falls under uninsured motorist coverage (UM).

If you have basic auto insurance coverage then by Missouri and Illinois law you also have uninsured motorist coverage, at least a minimum amount to match the State minimum or whichever liability amount you carry on your own vehicle.  Thus you make a claim against your insurance carrier against the UM coverage portion of the claim protecting yourself in the event you are injured by an uninsured motorist.   

Under-insured Motorist (UIM): (not enough insurance): The at fault driver that caused the car or truck accident carries insurance, however, it is not enough to cover the  amount of damages you are entitled  to based on your injuries, lost wages, and pain and suffering.  In this situation you have been injured by an under-insured motorist.

How can you protect yourself? UIM coverage is not mandated by State law in Missouri or Illinois.  Meaning you have to elect for it when purchasing a car insurance policy.  The amount will cover you for the difference between and the at fault driver's low coverage and the amount of UIM coverage you carry. 

Thus, if you are involved in a car or truck accident and the at fault driver has the Missouri state minimum under the financial responsibility laws of $25,000, then any damages you suffer over and above $25,000 will have to be recovered from the driver personally; this can be very difficult in most situations.  However, if their is UIM coverage on your policy then you can recover the difference or sometimes the full amount.    

Under the example above, the at fault driver has $25,000 liability coverage and the injury victim has a UIM policy of $100,000. What is the max the victim can recover?  The auto insurance company will argue that you are entitled to only $75,000 because the UIM coverage is "set-off" by the recovery of the $25,000 from the at fault driver.

"Set-off" provisions of insurance policies are very specific and some insurance policies word the "set-off" provisions properly and some do not.  The ones that do not are not entitled to "set-off".  See a case example of how Ben Sansone prevented the application of set-off to allow full recovery for our client.

"Set-off" can also apply to medical payments coverage if the med pay policy is also responsible under the same policy's under-insured (UIM) or uninsured (UM) coverage section.  As above, the "set-off" clauses must be attacked and shown to be ambiguous and thus unenforceable.

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We are experienced Missouri and Illinois Personal Injury Lawyers and have a track record of getting large awards fro our clients to fully reimburse them for all the past and future harms and losses suffered as a result of the collision and injury. 

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