Andrew Spainhower McMullin Injury Law

5 Dangers of Driving with Utah State-Minimum Insurance

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5 Dangers of Driving with Utah State-Minimum Insurance

Utah State Minimum Insurance

The State of Utah requires people to have at least some car insurance in order to drive legally on Utah roads. That is why you show proof of insurance when you get pulled over. The amount that is required is referred to as “state-minimums.”  They are not recommended amounts.  These are minimum amounts. They are not advised amounts.  They are minimum amounts to be legal.  Usually when people choose them, they do so because the amount of premium that they pay will be lower.  Just because you have barely enough to not be committing a crime does not mean you have enough to be safe and responsible and protect yourself and your loved ones. In reality,  the premium is not affected that much to increase the limits to a much safer, more responsible limit. Motorcycle drivers have even more incentive to be aware of their insurance limits.

Choosing the lowest limits can compare to the situation where if you have only one drink of alcohol you may still be below the blood alcohol level that would register you for a DUI, so its legal, however drinking alcohol and then getting behind the wheel of a car is not advised.  Even if you are below the legal limit.  Everyone knows that this is not recommended but some still try to beat the odds and do it anyway. Carrying low liability limits on your auto insurance is a similar risk in that although it is legal it is still not advised.  It is dangerous to carry low amounts of coverage on your car and this article will explain why.

Southern Utah Personal Injury Lawyer Discusses Car Insurance

The information below is written by a St George Ut Personal Injury Attorney. Auto Accident Attorneys in Southern Utah deal with auto insurance policies everyday, so at McMullin Injury Law, we know how these policies work. If you are looking to buy more insurance, don’t call us, we don’t sell it, we just help people deal with claims.

1. The Danger of carrying only 25/65 in bodily injury liability coverage. 

Bodily injury liability coverage is the type of insurance that protects it’s own insured when they injure someone else in a car accident.  That is why it is called liability coverage.  If you hurt someone and you are responsible for their bodily injury, they then have a lawsuit against you.  Because they have a valid  case against you, your liability policy on your automobile insurance then steps into your shoes and has the contractual duty to you to protect you from this personal injury claim.  Your insurance company will either need to settle it or resolve it or pay for legal defense to defend you against the suit.  Either way,  they indemnify you or protect you from having to pay for your own attorneys or having to pay out of your own pocket to settle the case.

When you have the state minimum requirements for liability coverage which are 25/65, that means that you have coverage for up to $25,000 per person and $65,000 per incident.  The incident could be that you seriously injure a family of seven in a huge van.  There is only $65,000 now to protect you against the claims from all seven of those injured claimants.  It’s very likely that that family is not going to be happy with that amount.  It is likely not even going to be enough money to cover their hospital and therapy bills let alone any general damages.  They will have no recourse but to file a lawsuit against you.  They would probably get a judgment against you for well above the amount of $65,000 and your insurance will only pay up to that limit.  Now you will be personally liable for the difference.  The court can order that your wages be garnished.  They can put liens on your property.  They can potentially take away your life savings and everything that you have worked to achieve for an accident that happened in a split second.  That is the danger of carrying low limits of liability on your car insurance.  You should always be insured up to an amount that is more than enough to protect you even in the case of very serious injuries that one day you might accidentally cause.  No one intends to hurt other people.  People will be upset when they get sued but the truth is, when you hurt someone and your insurance is terrible, you are really giving them no meaningful choice other than to sue you.  Otherwise they will be left bearing the brunt of the costs of all of their injuries that they did not cause and they did not choose to have. It is your fault.

2. The dangers of having only $15,000 in property liability coverage

This is another form of liability coverage.  It protects you from being sued when you damage someone else’s property while driving a car.  It is the limit that your insurance will pay to someone else should you damage their vehicle in an accident that is your fault.  Let’s say that you smash into a $40,00 SUV and you total it.  Now their vehicle needs to be replaced but you only have the state minimum requirement of $15,000 for property damage.  You are now responsible for the balance of $25,000.  They will have little to no recourse but to sue you for that difference.  $15,000 worth of damage can happen with a lot less of an impact in a crash than people think.  If you have an expensive vehicle, and your cause a significant amount of damage to it, you can hit that $15,000 limit pretty easily.  Especially if the damage bends the body frame and renders the vehicle non-drivable or affects the engine.

3. The dangers of having only the required $3,000 in PIP

PIP is the abbreviation for Personal Injury Protection.  PIP is Utah’s form of what is called med pay insurance.  Med pay insurance is no-fault insurance.  It exists on the policy to pay the initial medical bills for anyone that suffers an injury regardless of fault.  So this covers your own injuries on the insurance of the vehicle that you are in.  You might not be at fault for the accident but your PIP will come in and pay any of your medical bills.  In Utah it is required that you carry only $3,000. In many states they don’t require that you carry any coverage for med pay at all.

          *Motorcycle Accident –

If you drive a motorcycle, Utah law does not even require you to have PIP, but it should.

Unfortunately, it is dangerous to be carrying the state minimum requirement because $3,000 can be gone extremely quickly.  Let’s say that you were to get in an auto accident and hit your head and then you were having problems at the scene of the accident.  You were not feeling well enough to drive your car, so an ambulance takes you to the emergency room to make sure that you are going to be ok.  Head injuries can be extremely scary.  Now you will have a bill from the ambulance and a bill from the emergency room.  You were treated for a head injury so they probably ran a series of very expensive diagnostic tests to make sure you are ok.  You will probably already have exceeded your $3,000 in PIP coverage.  Now, if your were at fault for the crash, the balance of the medical bills falls to you to pay out of your own pocket.

This PIP coverage also applies to each person that you have in your own vehicle.  A separate $3,000 per person in coverage.  So if you are driving around four friends and you lose control of your vehicle in snow or ice and go off the road into an embankment, you are now responsible for their medical bills.  Each passenger would only have a total of $3,000 for medical costs and anything above that, you would need to pay for.  This type of thing can happen even to very good drivers.  That would be a terribly stressful and sad situation to have your friends injured and not have adequate coverage to pay for their medical expenses.

4. The danger of not having comprehensive and collision coverage for your own vehicle

The danger of not having comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy is that you would have no coverage on your own vehicle should it be damaged in an accident.  In Utah the only coverages that are required on your auto insurance are the liability limits of 25/65/15, meaning $25,000 per person, $65,000 per accident, $15,000 for property damage  and PIP coverage of $3,000. You are not required by law to have comprehensive and collision coverage for your own vehicle. I guess law makers don’t feel like they have to protect you from yourself. They just want to protect other people from you.

Collision coverage covers the damage to your own car in the event of an accident whether you are at-fault or not.  It is by contract so it doesn’t matter if you are at fault or not.

Comprehensive coverage is what is sounds like.  It is comprehensive coverage for your property damage.  It applies to damages caused by things other than collisions.  As in the Allstate commercials when mayhem strikes and something falls on your vehicle, like a tree branch, then comprehensive coverage is what will cover that damage.  Other acts of nature would also be covered such as hail storms or wind storms that blow things on top of your car.  Vandalism and fire are also situations that are covered by comprehensive coverage.

You don’t have to have either of those coverages unless you have a loan on your car.  If you do have a loan on your car, your lienholder, the lender, will require that you carry both comprehensive and collision coverage on your vehicle.  They will require that your insurance send them proof of that coverage.  If your insurance ever lapses, your insurance agency will notify your lender that is has lapsed.  If this happens, your lender can add their own insurance on to your loan amount and this is very expensive.  They are smart and they want to protect their asset.  They understand that if your car is wrecked, you are not going to want to pay for it.

People who do not have loans on their cars are not required to carry this insurance on their vehicles.  The danger of not having it is that in the event you are in accident and it is your fault, you will not have any coverage on that vehicle.  You will need to pay for the repairs or replacement yourself.  You will need to decide if you can afford to replace your vehicle yourself should something happen to it.

You could have a situation arise where your vehicle is damaged but it wasn’t your fault but no one else’s insurance will cover the damages either.  You could have your car parked at a mall and when you finish your shopping and return to it you could find the whole side dented in. Someone could hit your car and drive away.  Now you have significant damage to your car and though you are not at fault, it would be your collision coverage that would pay for it.

These coverages tend to be the expensive ones to carry on your policy.  This is because the premium for these coverages is based on the value of your automobile.  The newer and fancier your car, the higher the premium for these coverages will be.  Both of these coverages carry a deductible amount.  You can choose the deductible amount and the higher the deductible the lower the premium for the coverage.  A $250 deductible would be more expensive than a $500 deductible.  Were you to have a loss of $1,200, your deductible of $500 would be subtracted from the amount due to you for the repairs and you would receive $700 toward your expenses.

5. The dangers of not having any UM or UIM coverage

The last danger we will discuss is not having UM or UIM coverage on your policy.  Both of these are optional to your policy.  Um refers to uninsured motorist and UIM refers to underinsured motorist.  Underinsured motorist applies when you are hurt by another driver and they are not carrying insurance on their vehicle or it may be a hit and run situation and you don’t even know who hit you.  Underinsured motorist coverage applies when you are hurt to an extent where your case is worth in excess of the amount of liability coverage that the at-fault driver carries. The dangers of not having those forms of coverage is that you can be hurt by a hit and run or by one of the thousands of Utah drivers that carry inadequate insurance on their vehicles.  Think about it, the best person to protect your interests and your body is you. Don’t count on somebody else to do that.  The very people who are irresponsible enough to choose the lowest possible limits on their policy to save a few bucks are probably the very ones that will be driving irresponsibly on the roads and causing accidents.  You don’t want to rely on some bad driver out there that they will be wise enough to carry proper limits on their policy.

Attorneys see auto injury cases all the time where the injured person has sustained life-changing injuries and the at-fault driver has the lowest possible limits or liability or was driving illegally with no insurance.  This is where the UM/UIM coverage can make all the difference. This coverage is really very inexpensive and well worth the few dollars that it adds to your premium.

Take the time to discuss each of these coverages with your insurance agent and be sure that you have adequate insurance for your needs now and in the future. Don’r drive with Utah State minimum insurance.

McMullin Injury Law is in Southern Utah and we are here to help. Give us a call at 435-673-9990. Our primary focus is helping car accident victims in St. George and Cedar City, Utah.

This article and others on this site do not constitute a legal opinion or advice. Interactions on this website do not create an attorney-client relationship and do not serve as a replacement for consulting with an attorney. McMullin Injury Law expressly disclaims all liability relating to actions taken based on contents of this site. This article is for general education purposes, if you are seeking legal advice, contact an attorney. 

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Local Attorneys: 25 Frequently Asked Questions

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TOP 25 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: ST. GEORGE UTAH INJURY ATTORNEYS

Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions section of www.stgeorgeutahattorneys.com. At McMullin Injury Law, our attorneys do our best to provide helpful legal information to the Southern Utah community- for free. We get asked tons of questions. Some are completely unique, each case is different. But, oftentimes, these questions repeat themselves. Most questions have multiple answers. Below are our TOP 5 ANSWERS to each of our client’s TOP 25 MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS. Feel free to peruse the content below. As always, if you still have questions, please don’t hesitate to call us. We are happy to get you on the phone with one of our attorneys free of charge. 435-673-9990. Southern Utah has been good to us, and we want to be good to you.

  1. Top 5 Reasons to Hire a Personal Injury Attorney
  2.  Top 5 Ways to Mess Up Your Injury Case
  3. Top 5 Things to Consider Before Settling Your Injury Case
  4. Top 5 Mistakes Made After a Car Accident
  5. 6 Ways to Resolve Your Utah Personal Injury Case
  6. Top 5 Dangers of Driving with Utah State-Minimum Car Insurance
  7. 5 Things Every Driver Should Know About Car Insurance
  8. 6 Tricks to Get Medical Bills Paid After a Car Wreck
  9. Did the Car Accident Really Cause the Injury? 
  10. 4 Ways to Prove Liability in Utah 
  11. Top 5 Reasons People Hire Attorneys

st george personal injury attorneys

McMullin Injury Law is in Southern Utah and we are here to help. Give us a call at 435-673-9990. Our primary focus is helping car accident victims in St. George and Cedar City, Utah.

This article and others on this site do not constitute a legal opinion or advice. Interactions on this website do not create an attorney-client relationship and do not serve as a replacement for consulting with an attorney. McMullin Injury Law expressly disclaims all liability relating to actions taken based on contents of this site. This article is for general education purposes, if you are seeking legal advice, contact an attorney. 

5 common mistakes made after an accident

Top 5 Mistakes Made After a Car Accident

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Top 5 Mistakes made at the scene of an accident

Andrew Spainhower, attorney at McMullin Injury Law, offers 5 helpful tips on how to avoid making crucial mistakes at the scene of a car accident.

This article is  going to focus on possible mistakes that you could  make that can potentially mess up your ability to be compensated after an accident.  The purpose of this article is to help you avoid that as well as increasing your knowledge about basic steps to take after an auto accident.

Obviously, the very first things you do after an accident pertain primarily to safety.  Check on yourself, check on the other passengers in your vehicle, attend to anyone that needs medical attention, attend to the people in the other vehicle and any injuries they may have suffered, call 911 and get ambulances on the way if needed and get people out of harm’s way and into a safe situation.  Remember not to move someone who is unconscious or seems to have head or neck injuries unless there is imminent danger of further hazard to them.  They will need to be moved by a health care professional as soon as they arrive at the accident scene.   It is wise to leave the autos involved in the accident in the position they came to rest at impact until the police arrive.  If the automobiles involved are blocking traffic and are causing serious hazard and you can take pictures before moving them at the scene, you could move the cars to a safer place. However, it is best to leave them as they are if all possible.   Also, never leave the scene of an accident until everyone is attended to and information has been exchanged by the driver’s involved.  Leaving the scene of an accident where someone has been hurt or even worse killed, could result in serious criminal charges.

Those are obviously the emergency response actions that you are going to want to take immediately after an accident and they will take precedence over anything else.  Fortunately, in most auto accidents, the injuries are not very serious. People are often involved in car accidents that result in some pain and or injury, and property damage but fortunately, they are not life and death situations.  In these cases, after the emergency response actions have taken place, some of these secondary actions can become part of the process of handling the accident.  These actions are important because the failure to do them can certainly affect you and the outcome of your personal injury claim.

  1. Failing to Call the Police

So once you have verified the safety of the occupants in the vehicles and gotten your vehicles to a safe place if necessary, the first thing you are going to want to do is notify the police.  You always want a police report created after a car accident especially where there is significant property damage or any type of physical injury. Ask for a police report to be filled out.  An official report tends to lock people in to their story of what happened and people generally tell the truth during those initial statements.  It is advantageous for both parties to have a record of the incident.  The police report also contains pertinent information that you will need from all involved parties as you deal with the paperwork and claim process from the accident in the future.  Other information included in this report will be the responding officer’s name and badge number as well as the address of the location of the accident.  If an officer is not able to respond at the scene of the crash then make sure that you collect personal information such as names, addresses  and phone numbers from all driver’s as well as passengers involved. Remember to remain calm and polite when dealing with everyone at the scene for this will be helpful to everyone.  As you are exchanging driving and insurance information, be careful not to apologize as this could potentially be construed as admitting legal liability and it may not be clear as to who is at fault immediately after the accident.  It would be best to not admit fault unintentionally at this time when emotions are running high. There will be time to tell your full, true account of the accident to your insurance adjuster as well as your attorney.

  1. Speaking with the At-fault Insurance Company

If the first phone call that the other person made was to their own carrier and they want to put you on the phone with their insurance immediately, it’s probably not a good idea. They will have two important questions that they will ask you.  What happened? And is anyone in your car injured?  You need to be wary because you may be in pain, shock or still processing what even happened because it all happened so fast.  Also, they will likely mention that your conversation will be recorded. Insurance claims adjusters are trained in ways of advancing the interests of their company and getting you to say something that will help them and may come back to hurt your case  later. Their main job is to keep costs down and settle the case quickly.  They will be trying to find facts about how the accident occurred, your present injuries, as well as past injuries that can be used to reduce or deny your claim.  They will also be considering a percentage of liability.  It would be possible for  the adjuster to determine that an accident was not 100% their clients responsibility. For example,  a 70/30 liability settlement could be offered.  This would mean that one party is responsible for 70% of the expenses and the other party for 30%.

You are not required to make a statement to them without either speaking with an attorney or your own insurance company.   You can politely state that you will need to speak with your attorney or your own insurance carrier first and then give the other driver your insurance information.   Take the time to seek counsel before you make a recorded statement to the at-fault insurance company.  Many cases have been lost because of that initial statement recorded at the time of the accident.

  1. Failing to Take Photos

Fortunately, with the cell phones that we have today, it is very easy to effectively document a car accident. A photograph can provide crucial evidence for your personal injury case.  If you can safely take photos of the cars in their resting positions after the crash before anything has even moved, that would be ideal.  This will be helpful as far as proving exactly how the accident occurred and the contributing conditions and circumstances surrounding it. These pictures will be your proof as to who the at-fault driver was.  As you take them, consider what images will be necessary to provide a visual of what took place.  What will the adjusters need to see in order to determine which driver was at-fault?  Remember, you cannot take too many photos.

Besides taking pictures of the accident scene, you can use your camera or phone to take photographs of the insurance card of the other driver, as well as his license plate and his driver’s license.  You should definitely take pictures of damage to all cars or property involved in the crash as well as any injuries that are visible on you and the passengers involved in the auto accident.  Remember to take pictures of anything that might help to document the details of your accident such as skid marks, debris, weather conditions, traffic signs, etc. It may even be a possible to record a video of  you speaking with the other driver at the scene of the accident. This would be extremely valuable,  especially If they are admitting that they were at fault for the accident or they are acting incoherent or irrational by saying things that don’t make sense.  It would also be really helpful to record the testimony of any eye witnesses to your accident as well.

It should prove very helpful for your case to have those recordings later should you need them to prove your case.   If it becomes necessary to move your cars before you can take pictures of the impact, it is still important to take pictures of all the factors that you can.  These pictures may still be helpful for the adjusters to determine fault and help your attorney proceed on your case.

  1. Failing to Get Contact Information for Witnesses

With or without a police report, eye witness testimony is what matters most as far as the finder of fact eventually deciding what happened in your accident and who was at fault.  Even if the police decide to site you, if both of the eye-witnesses say something contrary and that the other driver was at fault, you are still likely to win the case.  The police are secondary opinions because they don’t actually watch the accident occur.  They draw some reasonable description based on events that were described to them by eye-witnesses that were there including yourself and the other driver. However, the testimony of yourself and the other driver is often called bias because both of you are describing the events and circumstances of the accident in a way that sounds good and helps yourself.  So a testimony from an eye witness, someone who is neutral and doesn’t know either one of you is the most powerful piece of evidence that you can have in an auto accident case.  So you want to reach out to people before they leave the scene even if they can’t wait to talk to the police.  Get their name and phone number so that you can contact them later and get them to just write down a short description of what occurred.   It may also be helpful to ask locals such as residents or store owners if they have witnessed other accidents in the same place.

  1. Failing to Call a Lawyer for some Free Advice

It’s shocking how many people will get into a car accident and even suffer injuries and then attempt to deal with their insurance problems themselves, only to get fleeced again and again.  If you are in an auto accident, you can seek legal advice about your case from a professional that will help you understand how to move forward in handling your claim in a proactive manner free of charge in most cases.  At our office, we will answer your call and put you on the phone with a licensed attorney in Utah that knows the answers to your questions and has worked on hundreds of auto accident cases and will talk to you for free.  Even if you are unable to come in and sit down in the office and you just need short, quick answers right away, we are willing to do that.

Minor auto accidents with relatively little property damage and no serious injuries can often be handled by the individuals involved and their adjusters in a fair manner.  However, There are several specific instances where hiring legal advice would be highly recommended.  One of those instances would be if you or a passenger in your vehicle was seriously injured.  You want to be sure that the insurance companies give you adequate compensation for your injuries, rehabilitation, missed work and emotional distress.  Another instance would be if there is more that one auto involved in the accident. Also, in multiple car collisions, it can sometimes be difficult to establish liability and an attorney can help you with this.  Speaking with a personal injury attorney would also be recommended is the at-fault insurance company has offered you a settlement amount that is not adequate or they have denied your claim.

The purpose of this article was to help you avoid five common mistakes that are made with auto accident claims.  Keeping these important steps in mind should help you manage your claim process with the best outcome possible.

McMullin Injury Law is in Southern Utah and we are here to help. Give us a call at 435-673-9990. Our primary focus is helping car accident victims in St. George and Cedar City, Utah.

This article and others on this site do not constitute a legal opinion or advice. Interactions on this website do not create an attorney-client relationship and do not serve as a replacement for consulting with an attorney. McMullin Injury Law expressly disclaims all liability relating to actions taken based on contents of this site. This article is for general education purposes, if you are seeking legal advice, contact an attorney. 

5 factors to consider before resolving your personal injury case

Top 5 Things to Consider Before Settling Your Injury Case

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Top 5 Things to Consider Before Settling Your Injury Case

Anthony McMullin of McMullin Injury Law explains the five most influential factors one should consider before resolving an injury case. If you live in Southern Utah and you have additional questions for our attorneys, give us a call, free of charge, at 435-673-9990.

Top 5 Things to Consider Before Settling Your Personal Injury Case

This article brings up 5 good questions to ask yourself before you take a settlement from an insurance company when you or a loved one has been injured in an accident.  These are questions that you may not have considered as you have made your way through the process of making a claim and dealing with the sometimes complicated process that goes with it.

#1 Have you consulted with an attorney?

It is the norm across the legal field that an initial consultation in a personal injury case is free of charge.  The first visit with an attorney who has been trained to handle accident and injury claims such as yours is not an expense to you.  A personal injury attorney’s job is to help people that were not expecting to be hurt.  They have been injured by no fault of their own.  Because of this,  a personal injury attorney is paid on contingency.  The contingency is that he will be paid if he wins the case.  The risk and potential reward of your case is passed along to your attorney.  In order to assess your case and determine if they can take your case and effectively and realistically help  you, an initial consultation will need to take place.  The attorney will meet with you to help you fully understand your options and also to decide if your case is one that he thinks he can win and help you recover the damages to you, your property and your family.  If the case is frivolous or doesn’t have any merit, the attorney will tell you that.  In order to have a case decided in your favor you will need to have evidence such as medical bills, photographs, statements from witnesses, and expert testimony.  If you don’t have these things and insurance company will not settle with you and a jury will be unlikely to find in your favor.

Also, in most personal injury cases the claimant is limited to compensation for their injuries, loss of income and other considerations by the limits of the policy which is covering the claim.  The insurance is intended to compensate you as close as possible to your pre-accident state, not to allow you to make money to which you are not entitled from the accident. There are generally laws that limit the amount of compensation one can receive.

A meeting with an attorney will provide you with an opportunity to ask questions and make sure that you have covered all the bases and considered all the repercussions of your accident.  This will help you understand fully the process in front of you and what your possible options are.  Why wouldn’t someone take advantage of this free service?

#2 Do you feel like you have been heard?

Ask yourself if you feel that you have been heard.  In your conversations with the insurance adjuster, have you felt like your full story was heard?  Was the impact of your injuries on your life discussed at length with all of the aspects of your life being considered such as the emotional, physical, mental and financial aspects.   Or at the opposite end of that spectrum, do you feel like you are just a claim number and that you are not being valued as a human being.  Ask yourself were you taken seriously and dealt with fairly?

Are you aware that claimants involved in accidents may be eligible for compensation of other expenses beyond their medical treatment expenses?  Reimbursement of lost wages and compensation for pain and suffering are also possibilities depending on the state you reside in and the type of insurance you hold.  Your specific claim would need to be evaluated by someone that understands the law and how it pertains to your case to determine what benefits apply to you.

It is standard practice for insurance companies to make a low offer at the beginning of the negotiation process.  They may even deny any liability right up front.  They begin this way for two reasons.  They are trying to determine how much you understand about your case and your rights and also how impatient you are to settle the case and get the payment owed you.  This is the time for you to do your homework and prepare yourself by understanding the law and how it pertains to your loss.

If you don’t feel like you are being heard or had the opportunity to tell your story, it is probably not time to settle your case.  A lawyer can listen to  your case, evaluate your damages and help you assess what it will take to make you whole and restore what was lost.

#3 Are all of your medical bills being paid?

Have all of the medical bills related to the injury been paid?  Insurance companies are looking for ways to cut cost.  One common practice that we see is insurance companies reducing their expenses by denying payment for medical treatment that they deem as unnecessary or excessive.  They may tell you that your doctor overcharged for a treatment and they will only pay for part of the charge.  The problem with that logic is that it  leaves you responsible for the remainder of the bill when you didn’t even want to have to go to the doctor to begin with. These medical bills are accumulating through no fault of your own.  Because your medical bills were directly and proximately caused by the negative action of another, that person and in turn their insurance should bear the full cost charged by any medical providers to provide you with the medical services that you need.

As soon as you make a claim, the adjuster that works for the insurance company involved begins to work on your case to determine what the lowest payout will be.  However, their ultimate goal is to make you an offer that will suffice and keep them out of court and a lawsuit. The adjuster works for the insurance company, not for you.  Their job is to keep costs down.  The adjuster will consider several factors in determining what their offer will be on your claim.  They will consider actual expenses such as medical bills and other costs pertaining to your injury.  They will also consider loss of wages from work and pain and suffering as well as emotional suffering.

#4 Do you know what your future looks  like?

It is impossible to value an injury, to put a price tag on human pain without fully understanding the complexities and the length of recovery for that injury.  Or in worst case scenario, maybe full recovery is not possible.  For example having your arm hurt for six months might be worth one amount, but living with pain in your arm and the inability to recreate or work or do activities that you normally would with that arm for the rest of your life is a completely different injury and it is worth a completely different amount under that law.    As you move forward with your life after the accident, do you feel that the settlement that you are receiving will be sufficient to compensate you or your loved one for the medical bills that have already accrued and also the medical services that you may still need in the future.

When insurance companies pay a settlement, they are hoping for a discount of an amount that they think you could get from them with a judge or a jury.  It makes sense to give them a discount in order to get the settlement earlier and get that money released and in your pocket so you can get on with your life.  It can be good business for both sides but, it has to start at a place where both parties are at least  looking at the same injury and considering the same lifestyle changes and  implications from the injury.  Accepting a settlement on an injury when you have no idea how long you are going to be hurt and what your future may look like would not be a smart idea.  Because the factors that pertain to each case are unique and individualized and the laws of each state and the limits of each policy differ, coming to a fair settlement amount can be complex.  Besides the nature and extent of the initial injury, additional considerations will need to be made as your claim payoff amount is reached.  How much time was missed at work because of doctor appointments or inability to work?  What emotional duress was caused? Were you disfigured or were familial relationships strained or damaged as a result of the accident?  An injury attorney will be able to help you understand what the implications of all of those factors may be as well as the future costs that may result from your injury.

#5 Do you understand all of the options available to you?

The fifth factor to consider before you settle with the insurance company on your claim is that you understand all of the options that are available to you.  Insurance companies are looking to settle your claim in order to avoid those alternatives.  A settlement is not the only option available to you to fairly settle your case.  If  you do not understand what the alternatives available to you are, then you are not in a good place to  negotiate your injury case. An injury case is not worth some definite amount. It’s worth an amount that you have the legal leverage for.  Understanding your options provides you with that leverage.

Options other than a settlement are a jury trial, a bench trial, arbitration, or mediation.  One could consider moving forward with a trial by jury.  This is where a jury of average people will be assembled to come in and hear both sides of the case and hear all of the evidence and then decide what your injury is worth.  Another option would be a bench trial with a judge.  The judge would hear the facts of the case, consider the evidence and  then make the decision regarding your case.  A third option would be arbitration.  You could file for a jury trial and then choose to agree to go to the binding arbitration.  Actually, in Utah, you can force an insurance company into binding arbitration so long as your case is worth less than $50,000.   Another option would be mediation.  Mediation can be done before filing a lawsuit or often times afterward.  Mediation can be a good opportunity to put both parties in the same room with their attorneys to discuss the likely outcomes of the case and have a full conversation to try to reach resolution.    Sometimes it can be very difficult for two sides that actually see something very differently, to get on the same page and understand one another without meeting face to face and taking the time to fully discuss the problem. These are all options that an experienced personal injury attorney understands and can determine which option would be the best one for you.  You can confer with him/her and decide which option is more likely to produce optimum results for you and your loved ones.

In summary, there are many possibilities that one should consider when dealing with a personal injury case and working with adjusters from insurance companies.  You may be wise to accept an offer from an insurance company but then on the other hand you may regret not getting some advice from an expert to help you make an informed decision on something as important as your future.   There are laws and regulations that pertain to your case that you may not be aware of  and a legal professional can help you understand those laws and consider what your life will be like after sustaining the injuries that you did in your accident.

McMullin Injury Law is in Southern Utah and we are here to help. Give us a call at 435-673-9990. Our primary focus is helping car accident victims in St. George and Cedar City, Utah.

This article and others on this site do not constitute a legal opinion or advice. Interactions on this website do not create an attorney-client relationship and do not serve as a replacement for consulting with an attorney. McMullin Injury Law expressly disclaims all liability relating to actions taken based on contents of this site. This article is for general education purposes, if you are seeking legal advice, contact an attorney. 

Duties After Car Crash

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Duties After Car Crash

Property Damage Only

A driver involved in an accident that results in damage to property or to another vehicle must stop immediately at the scene of the accident. Once the driver has stopped, he is responsible to provide his name, address, insurance information, and vehicle registration number. If the damage to property is estimated by the drivers to be greater than $1000, local law enforcement must be notified with both drivers present.

Accidents with Unattended Property

If a driver is involved in an accident with an unattended vehicle or object, it is the drivers responsibility to find and communicate with the owner about the accident. If this isn’t possible, it is permissible to leave a written notice on the vehicle or site, listing the drivers name, address, insurance information, and vehicle registration number.

Accidents Involving Injuries or Death

A driver involved in an accident that results in injuries or death must stop his vehicle immediately at the scene. The driver must provide his name, address, insurance information, and vehicle registration number to the injured party or to the attending police officer.

All accidents resulting in injury or death, or totaling property damage greater than $1000 must be reported to the Department of Transportation within ten days of the accident.

Emergency Vehicles

The following are emergency vehicles as described in the statute: ambulances, police vehicles, fire trucks, and other vehicles as designated by the Department of Public Safety.

Privileges

A driver of an emergency vehicle has the following privileges when responding to an emergency:

  • Park the vehicle where necessary regardless of the traffic code
  • Travel past a red stop light or stop sign after slowing down for safety through the intersection
  • Travel at speeds greater than the speed limit posted
  • Disregard rules regarding traffic moving or turning in a specified direction

Proper use of Visual Warning

The purpose of visual warning signals on emergency vehicles is to warn other drivers and the public in general, not to give the emergency vehicles legal immunity.  Therefore, adequate visible warning must be given and taken into account in the case of any accident with an emergency vehicle.

Duties of Emergency Vehicle Operators to Other Vehicles

Even while responding to an emergency situation, the driver of an emergency vehicle must use reasonable care for safety in the existing circumstances. The requirement for the regard for safety of the public is not satisfied by simply using visual and audible warning signals. In addition, a drivers right to drive at exceeding speed depends on the condition of the patient in the emergency.

Duties of Other Drivers to Emergency Vehicles

If an emergency vehicle is approaching while using audible or visible warning signals, other vehicles on the road must yield the right-of-way to the emergency vehicle immediately.  Drivers should move to the right-hand edge of the road until the emergency vehicle has passed.

Duty of Drivers with Respect to Tow Trucks

If a tow truck is approaching or stationary while using flashing amber lights, a driver must slow down and allow as much space as possible and practical to the tow truck.