MEDICAL CARE:
Management of your medical care in a reasonable manner is critical to the proper resolution of your claim.
In Arizona, the at-fault driver is not specifically responsible for the payment of your medical expenses. Their insurance, if they have it, is responsible to pay a one-time, lump sum to resolve the claim. Your incurred medical expenses will be paid out of these funds.
Because of this, it is very important for you to have all of your medical expenses paid by your health insurance. If you do not have health insurance, you need to let us know so we can assist you in locating providers that will help you on a lien basis.
MEDICAL LIENS:
These are documents, signed by you placing the cost of your medical care with a particular provider on hold until your case settles. Regardless of the outcome of your case, you are responsible to pay for the full amount of the cost of your medical care. Medical providers are not obligated to agree to a lien.
HEALTH INSURANCE & REIMBURSEMENT:
Some health insurance plans are allowed to recover an amount out of your settlement that is equal to the amount they pay for care on your behalf. For example, if you have a $1,000 hospital bill, your health insurance company may pay a portion, in this example we’ll say they paid $450. There is a contractual benefit to which the hospital has agreed and you will receive a reduction in that amount, for our example we’ll say $450. Then you may have a co-payment, co-insurance, or an amount that is your deductible, for this example we’ll use a 10% or $100.
When your case settles, we may, if the insurance company is entitled, have to reimburse them only the $450 they actually paid. We would also have to pay the hospital any outstanding balance, which in our example could be as high as $100. The total paid out of the settlement would be (for this example only) $550 even though the full amount incurred ($1,000) was used as the expense incurred for purposes of demand or litigation.
Using your health insurance is a great benefit to you. In our example the savings was 45% over what was incurred with that medical provider.
AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COVERAGES:
- LIABILITY COVERAGE: This type of coverage covers damage to person(s) involved in a motor vehicle collision when they are not at fault for causing the crash. In essence, this protects you when the other party is at fault.
- UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE: This type of coverage covers damage to person(s) involved in a motor vehicle collision when they are not at fault but the at-fault driver does not have liability insurance. In essence, you purchase this type of coverage to protect yourself against drivers without insurance coverage.
- UNDERINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE: This type of coverage covers damage to person(s) involved in a motor vehicle collision when the at-fault party has insufficient insurance coverage to handle the severity of the claim by the injured persons. In essence, you purchase this type of coverage to protect yourself against drivers with minimal or low insurance coverage limits.
- MEDICAL PAYMENTS COVERAGE: This is coverage you purchase to provide a maximum specified amount of money to pay for medical expenses related to an automobile crash for those persons contained within the insured vehicle at the time of the crash. This is an optional coverage and is not available to persons in other vehicles.
- PROPERTY DAMAGE: This coverage is purchased by the other driver to pay for damage sustained by your vehicle when they are at fault for a collision.
- COMPREHENSIVE: This coverage is purchased by you to cover the damage to your vehicle when it is damaged in some way by other than a collision. For example, if your vehicle is in your driveway and a tree limb breaks then falls on your vehicle and dents it. Homeowner’s would come first, then comprehensive coverage.
- COLLISION: This coverage is purchased by you to cover the damage to your vehicle when it’s involved in a collision and the other driver does not have insurance or has insufficient coverage to repair or replace your vehicle. Or, when you are at fault for the collision. There is generally a deductible for which you are responsible regardless of who is at fault.
There are several other types of coverage available depending on your insurance carrier and can include, but are not limited to: windshield replacement, rental reimbursement, gap coverage, etc.
Please do not hesitate to ask if you have questions regarding your coverage or if you would like an evaluation of your policy.