Personal Injury Insurance Settlement
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A personal injury insurance settlement is available for those who have been injured by another's negligence. In most cases, individuals need home owners and auto insurance to cover liability issues that will arise at some point in all our lives. Businesses have large liability policies to cover most anticipated personal injury occurrences. In the case that an attorney advises just seeking a settlement and not pursuing a lawsuit, a personal injury insurance settlement is the most likely path to follow. There are important things to know about such a settlement.
In most cases, personal injury insurance settlement claims are paid for car accident victims. With as many as five million accidents occurring on the nation's highways each year and two million people injured, there are plenty of personal injury claims filed through the many indemnity companies in the United States. The personal injury insurance settlement may include such things as medical expenses, loss of wages and pain and suffering. But whether it is an auto accident or other type of mishap, getting a settlement from an insurance company begins with sending a letter to the person or the company in the form of a formal demand for payment. The letter is sent after the claimant has done some investigation into the circumstances of the accident and gathering as much evidence as possible. The letter must be well written and should include such things as the injuries incurred, why the other person is responsible, what the medical treatment was and the cost, and the demand for a lump sum payment to cover all these expenses. The demand letter should include the fact that there are police reports, eyewitness accounts and perhaps building code violations that are a part of the case.
Some experts suggest that one begins with a demand for settlement at twice what the actual amount one expects to receive. After all, the indemnity company is going to start whittling down the demand amount to one it can live with, and maybe even smaller than that. Attach copies of all documents and records that were mentioned in the formal demand letter. And be realistic about your ability to write well. This letter is extremely important and one written poorly with misspellings, grammar mistakes and unintelligible words or phrases can quickly show the indemnity company it is dealing with someone who may be able to be easily convinced to settle for less money. Get someone to help with writing a powerful formal demand letter in order to get one's personal injury insurance settlement case off to a good start. "In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God...trust in him at all times: ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us." (Psalm 62:7-8)
So a person is injured and gets a fair personal injury insurance settlement from the indemnity company. But soon, a letter arrives from one's own health care provider. The company has learned that you have received this settlement and is demanding that it be paid from the personal injury settlement received from the other insurance company. For a while, one may have believed that this settlement would be money you could keep, but a legal term called subrogation could burst that bubble real quickly. Subrogation, a legal term, means that a person should not be paid twice for the same injury. In other words, getting money for medical expenses in that insurance agreement should mean the money is used to pay back your health insurance company for its coverage. Like it's always been said, "there ain't no free lunches."
So there is another river that one may have to cross when getting a personal injury insurance settlement for injuries incurred in an accident of some sort. When money is received for property damage and medical bills, there may be a question about whether or not that money is taxable and that can be quickly dispelled with a resounding no. Oftentimes, there is additional money included for what is called pain and suffering. This is money that is paid to help a victim get back to a full life again and is also not taxable. But there are other damages that may be covered in a personal injury insurance settlement that are taxable and include what are called psychological injuries. Additionally, punitive damages, which are meant to punish monetarily a defendant and interest earned while money sits in an account and are also taxable. If there are any questions regarding this part of the insurance claim agreement, a tax expert should be sought out for counsel.
Chances are good that someone contacting an insurance company through the use of a formal demand letter will be contacted by a hardnosed negotiator or claims adjuster representing the indemnity company. This person's sole purpose will be to get the injured party to settle for as little as possible. If a person is not steely-eyed enough or doesn't have the skin of a rhinoceros, it might be advantageous to have an attorney or some other skilled negotiator step in to help. Knowing the language of insurance companies and the many legal terms that might be thrown around should be within the experience of the negotiator, so choosing your bully Uncle Mutt may not be the best choice. When all negotiations break down, it will be time to actually call in the help of an attorney to speed the process along.
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