Recent Blog Posts in September 2009

With the economic downturn that seems to be affecting everyone, drivers need to be even more actively protecting themselves and their families from dangerous uninsured drivers. Recent national articles support the notion that with the ever-worsening economy more and more drivers are expected to forgo auto insurance coverage.

A) Why Coloradans Need Uninsured Motorist Coverage:

A number of states have what is called a no-fault system as part of their automobile insurance laws. A no-fault system is a system where your insurance company has certain obligations to provide medical care reimbursement, temporary wage loss reimbursement, and other such automatic benefits for their insured drivers and occupants involved in an auto accident.  In those states, as long as you have basic auto insurance, the chances of an uninsured driver causing you or your family to find yourself without recourse is remote. 

In Colorado, however, the situation is much different.  Colorado switched from a no-fault system to a tort system in 2003. Basically, this means that in a motor vehicle collision, your own insurance pays nothing.  It is the at-fault driver's insurance that must pay for the harms and losses caused to the accident victims.  This system works fine as long as everyone is insured. However, more than 15% of Colorado drivers are uninsured.  Further, every economic indicator suggests that this figure is bound to increase as the economy continues to tank.

Uninsured motorist coverage makes sense wherever you live. However, given Colorado's tort system, and the increasingly poor economy,  I recommend that every Colorado driver call their insurance agent and insist on purchasing as much UM coverage as they will sell you.

B) Uninsured Motorist Coverage Actually Provides YOU A lot More than Protection Against Uninsured Drivers:

This is perhaps the hardest concept for our new clients to understand. Clients call us up and explain that the insurance company for the at-fault party has done this or failed to do that, but shortly thereafter, we start asking them about THEIR uninsured motorist coverage.

At this point, I can often hear a change in the client's voice. It is like the client is not sure if we are paying attention to their story. But actually, we are paying attention and inquiring into their uninsured coverage is imperative.

Under Colorado law, every uninsured motorist policy is also an under-insured motorist policy.  C.R.S. §10-4-609

This means that on every occasion that a driver causes an accident that causes injury to a victim where the value of the injuries, harms, and losses exceeds the limits of coverage that the at-fault driver had with his insurance company, then our client's own uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage comes into play. In fact, since January of 2008, we can stack our client's coverage for UM/UIM benefits right on top of the at-fault driver's policy limits.  Uninsured Motorist coverage not only protects you against uninsured drivers but also serves as a safety net for when an insured is an accident with an at-fault driver who has deficient insurance coverage.

C) How Much Uninsured Coverage is Enough?

Uninsured Motorist Coverage is some of the best and cheapest coverage available. You will be surprised how little your insurance bill changes even if you add substantial additional UM/UIM coverage to your auto insurance.

Next, consider that major accidents can sideline you from work for a year or more while you rest and receive expensive medical care.  My general rule is that if you have good  health insurance, you can probably get away with uninsured motorist coverage equal to 1-2 years of your current income. If, however, you do not have health insurance available, in the event of an accident, you would have to pay for your medical care out of pocket.  Under those circumstances I would purchase 3-5 years of current salary as your level of uninsured motorist coverage.

The sad fact is, I have seen families devastated financially when the breadwinner gets catastrophically injured and is not sufficiently insured. Uninsured Motorist coverage is reasonably priced, it can be added or increased simply by calling your insurance agent, and most people in Colorado do not  have sufficient UM coverage.

Call your insurance agent today and tell her you want to have a discussion about increasing your Uninsured/Under-insured Motorist coverage. Do it TODAY!  She will be happy you called, but most importantly, this simple step will better protect you and your family from the unknown future injuries and financial strain associated with serious injuries stemming from uninsured drivers.

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At Anderson, Hemmat, & Levine, we can ensure you fully utilize all available insurance coverage to best protect you and your family in the event of a serious auto accident.  As always, your initial consultation is free. 

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After a car accident, major questions that every person asks include: Who is going to pay for the medical treatment? If insurance pays, do I have to pay them back? And if there is health insurance and auto insurance, which coverage should I use to pay these bills?

These questions can become complicated depending on the particular circumstances of your case. However, there are some rules and general guidelines that we would like to highlight.

A. MedPay:

In Colorado, a mandatory coverage that your car insurance must sell you is MedPay. MedPay is a coverage that pays reasonable, necessary and related medical charges related to injuries arising from a motor vehicle accident.

Colorado requires that every insurance policy sold include the option to have a minimum of $5000.00 worth of this coverage. Depending on the insurance company, there may be optional additional MedPay sold. We have seen MedPay coverage as high as $25,000. So, if you  have $10,000 worth of  MedPay coverage as part of your insurance policy on any vehicle in your household, then you or any other occupant would be entitled to submit up to $10,000 worth of medical bills related to your motor vehicle accident to your insurance company for payment. They, in turn, would be obligated to pay those charges as long as those charges are reasonable, necessary and related to injuries incurred in the subject accident.

B. Stacking of Medpay:

If you own a vehicle with auto insurance that has MedPay coverage of $5000.00, but on the night of the auto accident you happen to be a passenger in a vehicle with a $25,000 MedPay policy (your car is not involved in the crash at all), the law would permit you to submit up to $25,000 worth of bills to the insurance company that covers the car in which you were a passenger.  But the great news is that you can also submit the additional $5,000 of medical charges to your own insurance for payment.

In other words, you as a passenger in a motor vehicle can STACK the MedPay coverage of the car you were occupying at the time of the crash; plus, you can stack your own purchased MedPay on your own auto insurance policy. You can stack policies of MedPay coverage for vehicles not involved in the accident at all!  Be careful-even lawyers regularly mess this up and forget to consider stacking MedPay.

C. But I have health insurance.  Why should I worry about MedPay?

This is a common question. The answer is that you paid for auto insurance that includes MedPay. You should get what you pay for.

Health insurance often requires the payment of a co-pay, a deductible, or it may have a total annual or lifetime cap on benefits.  Medpay of at least $5,000 (often much more) is generally found in every auto policy, requires no payment of deductible, and it can be used in conjunction with health insurance to repay your out-of-pocket deductibles or co-pays.  Additionally, it can often be stacked (if your lawyer is paying attention) with other MedPay policies.  In short, MedPay can save you from paying copays and deductibles, and it can possibly prevent you from reaching lifetime or annual caps on health insurance coverage.

D. If I use my health insurance, do I have to pay it back?

If the above reasons have not convinced you to have and use MedPay, consider this:

If health insurance pays your medical bills related to your motor vehicle accident, you will likely be required to PAY THEM BACK from any money you get from the at-fault driver's insurance company.  This is called the health insurance company's right of subrogation, and you will find enforceable language in nearly every health insurance contract.

However, under Colorado law, if auto insurance MedPay pays for your auto-related medical bills, THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO COLLECT THAT MONEY BACK FROM YOU if you settle with the insurance for the at-fault driver.  Note these laws changed recently and you will need a professional consultation to confirm that these rules apply to your particular case.

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Basically, MedPay is readily available money in nearly every Colorado motor vehicle accident.  If you know what to ask for and the extent of your rights to stack MedPay, you can pay for at least a majority of your medical expenses while incurring NO OBLIGATION TO PAY BACK  ANYONE.

Please note that no insurance company openly reminds their insured (in a clear enough fashion) of the availability of this already paid for benefit. It's a good bet that you have at least one, if not many, available MedPay policies that can be stacked.  Lawyers who fail to stop and listen to their clients and then ask proper follow up questions regularly miss out on getting their client's MedPay stacked and utilized properly.

If used correctly, MedPay can not only be a great payer source for medical bills but can overwhelmingly change the amount of a client's take-home money from an injury settlement.

Ask your lawyer to give you a complete MedPay analysis of your case. If they won't, or seem not to understand the question, consider calling us.

At Anderson, Hemmat & Levine, we understand this constantly changing area of the law and have utilized every advantage to help our clients recover to the fullest extent.  Call us for a free consultation to see if we can help you too.

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In my nineteen years of practice, the job that is often the most heart wrenching is representing children injured or killed in accidents.   Often the most difficult part for the families of these children is the realization that these accidents could have been easily prevented. 

There are certain preventable accidents and injuries involving children that we see over and over again.  Based on these cases, I would like to suggest 10 tips that if implemented in your home would dramatically reduce the likelihood of you ever experiencing the devastation of having your child seriously injured in a preventable accident.   These 10 tips will certainly make your children safer and less likely to ever need the representation of our firm.

1) No bike riding near streets.

Children, busy roads and motorists do not mix.  Always keep bikes and motorists separated.  This may mean that instead of allowing your child to ride their bike in your driveway you will have to go to a nearby park.  This inconvenience will not only keep your children safe, but is sure to create cherished memories for your children of the time they get to spend with you.

If you find this rule to be too impractical, I at least urge you to not let your children ride near traffic without the watchful eye of an extremely responsible adult.  Even then, motorists are often to blame for these tragic encounters.  So, again, simply mandating that children NEVER ride around cars is my rule at home.

2)  If there is a Helmet built for it - Wear It!

Biking, river rafting, skiing, skate boarding, snowboarding, rollerblading … the list of sports that have helmets as optional equipment is always growing.  The reason helmets are being introduced into more sports, is because people who don't wear helmets while doing these activities are getting brain injuries.  For the safety of your children, if there is a helmet made for the sport, purchase one and require your child to wear it.

3) No Go-Carts, Dirt Bikes, or Horses.

Go-Carts sit very low to the ground and drivers in normal sized cars cannot and do not expect to see them.  Children involved in accidents involving Go-Carts and Automobiles often do not survive, because Go-Carts offer no protection at all to your child even if they have a "roll-cage". Every year children are run over and killed in these dangerous vehicles which are only meant for use at a closed track. 

Dirt bikes should be called scar and bone breaking machines. They are awfully fun. But, so were lawn darts.  Don't expose your children to these injury machines.  There are plenty of other very fun and much safer hobbies for your child to become involved in.

Finally, horses. Yes, horses. Nearly every state in the union has passed laws called Equine legislation which acknowledges what everyone knows or should know:  Horses are wild and unpredictable animals. Anyone who has ever had one will tell you of their falls from them and getting kicked by them.  Though I am sure I'm offending someone right now, I'm not here to get your vote, I'm trying to save your child from a spinal cord injury.  If you love horses and visits to the hospital, then ride them yourself, but please keep your children off them.

4) Use the Car Seat and Booster Seat Longer.

Car seats with five-point restraints are much better than the three-point restraints car manufacturers furnish the rest of us. NASCAR drivers recognize this and also use a five-point restraint system.  Some of these seats can be safely used until your child is 10 or older. Use them as long as you can.  Once your child graduates from the car seat, consider a booster seat. The booster elevates the child to make the standard three point seat belt work correctly with the smaller frame of your shorter child.

I suggest you insist your child continue using these items as recommended.  Belting a small child in a normal seat belt can cause more internal damage than no belt at all. This is so important that you should be using these car seats and boosters well into the time period where it is causing daily embarrassment for your child. 

5) No Guns in the House.

Ask your 5 year old where in the house you hide your loaded Glock - He will show you.  Ask your 6 year old where the gun safe key is kept - He will show you.  

Kids shoot other kids and themselves by accident every year at home.  Look, I'm not calling into question your right to bear arms.  But I am calling into question your sanity if you keep these weapons around children in your home. Get rid of the guns and have one less way your child might not make it to 18.

6) No Trampolines.

If you could only get rid of either your guns or your trampoline, leave the loaded gun on the kitchen counter but get rid of the trampoline.  I'm kidding … sort of.  Get rid of both.  But, the only safe trampoline is a disassembled and carted off to the dump trampoline.  No net, cushion or devise will make this quadriplegic-maker safe.

7) Wear every Pad/Guard made for Skateboarding or Skating.

Skateboarding and skating are here to stay. Dangerous as all heck. But, nonetheless, here to stay. If you can't keep your child on the ground, arm them with every single pad, guard, brace, etc. that is made.  I'm hoping this will make them decide through sheer embarrassment not to ride these crazy dangerous items.

8) Investigate your Daycare Facility.

Every year I represent at least one child severely injured because an under-staffed day care facility let a 3 year old do what he wanted.  Even though Colorado Department of Social Services regulates these facilities, don't assume anything when it comes to these places.  

After you have the scheduled interview and carefully choreographed tour with the director, drop in unexpected and see how things really look. In fact, do that a couple of times. Run the facility name and the director/owner's name on Google and see what comes up about safety, and contact Colorado Department of Social Services BEFORE your child's first day.

9) Know the Driving History of Anyone you Permit to Drive your Children.

This is common sense.  My eight year old has been driven in his lifetime by 3 people other than his mother and me.  Anyone can obtain a driving history of anyone else.  This can be done for less than $10 dollars and can be obtained on line. Don't let your child drive with speeders, stop sign runners, or drunks.

10) Pools: Secure Them or Get Rid of Them.

Small children and pools are a recipe for disaster. There are electronic child proof covers that are affordable. There are alarms that children can wear which scream if a child makes contact with the water.  In any event, the message I'm here to share is that if you own a pool and you are not prepared to child proof that pool consistent with the recommendations of a safety consultant, then you should make arrangements to back fill that pool with dirt and make a garden where your pool used to be.  Your children, who now have a shot at making it to adulthood, will thank you for it.

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The more adamant and proactive you get when it comes to child safety, the better.  There are so many ways children get injured and die regardless of what we do as parents, that these ten items should only be the very tip of the iceberg.  I hope this gets you thinking of other unsafe things in your house or yard that you should get rid of.  Do it, children are a blessing and protecting them is your first and most important job.

At ANDERSON, HEMMAT & LEVINE, we want for your children to be as safe as possible.  We hope that you will never need our services for such a devastating accident.  But if you do, rest assured that we will work hard to help you through this very difficult time in your life.

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For nearly 20 years, I have represented people injured in motor vehicle accidents.  All too often, these accidents and the subsequent injuries were preventable.   I would like to share with you 10 important lessons that I have learned, in the hopes that it will help you avoid an accident, or at least a serious injury.  I do this in part because some of my clients have asked me to share their experiences with the public.  Hopefully, you will be able to avoid going through the needless pain and suffering that my clients endured by implementing these lessons in your driving habits.

1) Wear your Seatbelt/Restrain Children in Car Seats.

We hear it all the time.  But from 20 years of handling some of Colorado's most injured, there is no question that seatbelts and car seats save lives.  This is the number one way for you to avoid serious injury for a reason - Because It Works!

2) Riding a Motorcycle? - Wear a Helmet!

At the risk of offending certain riders, a motorcyclist riding without a helmet is a major brain injury waiting to happen.  Emergency responders often call un-helmeted motorcyclists "donor-cycles" for a reason.  In our field, we see it all the time. Motorcyclists who wear helmets may still incur significant injuries such as broken bones, scars, road rash, and more-but most importantly, they LIVE.  Un-helmeted motorcyclists overwhelmingly end up in the morgue or as long term residents at Craig Hospital.  It's really that simple - please wear a helmet for your health and for your family.

3) Keep Objects in Your Vehicle Secure.

In an accident, a hand held game, a cell phone or even a book becomes a missile. Put these items in your trunk or glove compartment.

4) Don't Let Your Passenger Lie Down while you are Driving.

Even though front seats recline, no one should ever fully recline their seat while the vehicle is moving.  Even back seat passengers should not strap on a seatbelt and then lay down in the back seat.  In a rear-end collision, a reclined front seat passenger can be propelled into the back seat. This is a cause of spinal cord injury to countless unsuspecting victims each year. Also, seatbelts can cause injuries to internal organs when they are restraining a passenger lying down in a back seat.  Seatbelts are not designed for this type of use, and this misuse can cause major injury.  Always remain upright when in a moving vehicle so that all of the safety features of your car can work properly and keep you safe.

5) Stay Off Cell Phones - No More Texting!

In our hectic and fast-paced society, this is probably the most difficult advice to follow.  But each year more and more of our practice involves representing people injured by cell phone or texting-related car crashes.  If you do it, you are going to crash (it's not a matter of "if" - it's only "when").  We know how to prove you were on your cell phone or texting when you are in an accident.  So if you do it, you're going to hurt someone and you're going to get caught.  Believe it or not, whoever is on the other line can wait for you to get where you are going before hearing back from you.

6) Parents - Don't let your Teens Drive with Teens.

Young drivers get too distracted.  It is a recipe for death.  Every year I represent families who lose loved ones in crashes involving multiple teenagers in a car.  These losses devastate families and communities for years.  Tell your children that your rules apply until they leave your house. Stay firm with them.  And if that doesn't work, have them call your lawyer (me) so I can explain how dangerous it is.  Teenagers simply don't have the experience necessary to be able to drive safely while transporting rambunctious teenage passengers.

7) Don't Let Drivers Through Traffic.

So you're in a traffic jam, and suddenly a man headed in the other direction gives you a signal that he wants you to let him turn left in front of you. You feel like a jerk if you don't let him, right? Actually, you pose a much greater danger to others if you allow him to cross in front of you.  After he crosses in front of you, he is also going to cross in front of the driver to your right (he too doesn't want to be a jerk). But then blinded from all of this is the third lane over which is clear because it's a right turn only lane.  Many times, a driver in that "right turn only" lane may proceed straight through the intersection anyway.  This driver may not see the driver you have allowed to cross in front of you until it's too late.  CRASH!! You just contributed to a huge collision. Just say no, it's safer for everyone.

8) Don't Eat While Driving.

I have seen many accidents caused by someone dropping their McMuffin® on their pants and then while trying to recover the fumble, they slam into the rear of an unsuspecting vehicle.  We all do it.  We all need to stop.  Dine in more; drive-thru less.

9) Don't Input your GPS Coordinates While Driving.

This is very dangerous, and every GPS manufacturer tells you not to drive while doing it.  Yet, inputting coordinates in a GPS unit while driving has increasingly become the cause of many crashes each year.

10)  Avoid Non-Verbal Gestures with Other Drivers

Road rage is deadly.  Every year road rage ends in accidents, injuries and death.  Put the finger away, don't wave your arms, keep both hands on the wheels, and smile knowing that you won't be another statistic.

In my experience, these ten simple tips would have prevented injuries to 75% of my clients.

At ANDERSON, HEMMAT & LEVINE, we want for you to be the safest driver possible.  We hope you will never be the cause of an accident.  But in the unfortunate event that you are injured by an unsafe driver, we will work hard to help you through this very difficult time in your life. 

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