When you have private health insurance (i.e. Blue Cross Blue Shield, Harvard Pilgrim, Aetna, Cigna, United Health Care, etc) PIP will pay the first $2000 dollars in medical bills you incur as a result of the accident and then the remaining $6,000 dollars of the PIP will be paid out after the bills are first submitted to your health insurance for consideration under M.G.L. c. 90,§34A which provides for the coordination of benefits between health insurance carriers and motor vehicle insurers.   This coordination will be delineated and discussed further in future posts.

It is a requirement to complete and sign an application for Benefits-Personal Injury Protection packet so that your motor vehicle insurer will pay your medical bills and lost wages. This application is critical for processing payment of your medical bills and lost wages, and an eye for detail is key in making sure it is filled out in the most accurate way possible.

If you need help with a PIP application for a car accident, or any other personal injury issues, please call the car accident attorneys at Brabant & Huynh LLPat 617-934-0913 for your personal injury where we are located in Quincy and Dorchester and we will be glad to help you evaluate your case and ease the burden of going through the process.

It is key to remember that adjusters work on hundreds of cases at a time and are not humanly capable of wholly sympathizing with each and every accident victim.  This is why it is critical to have an attorney, who will gather as much information as possible about your experience, help you to chronicle it accordingly, and present it in the most effective way to the insurance company, so the adjuster can determine what a case is really worth.

Of course there are standards, but each adjuster has his or her own methods of applying those standards to arrive at a valuation for your claim and each will scrutinize or weigh certain details of the case with more attention based on their experience, training and background. This is why understanding the intangible qualities and making them as clear and concrete as possible are critical to the accurate appraisal of your claim.

If you need help with a car accident, or any other personal injury issues, please call the car accident attorneys at Brabant & Huynh LLPat 617-934-0913 for your personal injury where we are located in Quincy and Dorchester and we will be glad to help you evaluate your case and ease the burden of going through the process.

Mass Health is entitled to repayment for medical bills paid out for the injury victim which are related to the accident.  It is important that you pay close attention to the words “related to the accident”, because many times Mass Health will put a lien on the settlement for treatment that may not have been related to the accident:  This is because they do not have all of your medical records, which is why it is key to have an attorney who can help you make sure any lien imposed by Mass Health is only for accident related treatment.

Even if the lien is for treatment related to the accident, Mass Health may still decrease their lien if negotiated properly.  When settling a personal injury case in Massachusetts a Mass Health check is unavoidable.

The insurance company offering the settlement will run a Department of Revenue or (DOR) check to verify whether or not Mass Health has a lien.  It will also look to see if you owe any child support or back taxes to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If a Mass Health lien (or any of the other liens) come up, the insurance companies call this a ‘hit’, and they will either name Mass Health on the settlement check, or cut a separate check for the amount owed to Mass Health and send it to Mass Health with the balance going to you and your attorney.

If you need help with a car accident, or any other personal injury issues please call the car accident attorneys at Brabant & Huynh LLPat 617-934-0913 for your personal injury where we are located in Quincy and Dorchester and we will be glad to help you evaluate your case and ease the burden of going through the process.

You have three years from the date of a negligently-caused automobile accident in which to sue the responsible driver(s) for your personal injuries. See MGL c. 260, sec. 2A. If you are contemplating suit against your own uninsured or underinsured motorist carrier, the six-year limitations period for written contracts applies. See Royal Globe Ins. Co. v. Craven, 411 Mass. 629, 636-39.
When and why your limitations period runs depends on the facts. You’ve probably heard it before; seek professional help.If you need help with this or any other accident related issues please call the car accident attorneys at Brabant & Huynh LLPat 617-934-0913 for your personal injury where we are located at Quincy and Dorchester and we will be glad to help you evaluate your case and ease the burden of going through the process.

• Take pictures of the scene and the property damage of the vehicles if it can be safely accomplished
• Have your insurance ID card, vehicle registration and list of emergency contacts in the car
• Have a Flashlight, Flares and Jumper cables

1. Be Careful and Cautious

• If drivable, put your car in a safe location, but don’t leave the scene.
• Ascertain whether anyone is injured. Call 911 for medical assistance.
• Contact police.

2. Remain Focused and Calm

• Don’t be troubled and afraid – remain calm and focused
• Do not admit fault
• Speak with the police making sure you convey your side of the story to them.

3. Exchange information

• Collect contact information for all who were there, including other drivers, witnesses, and the tow company if your car is towed.
• Obtain police report information
• Collect information about all vehicles involved:
  • Year, make, and model
  • License plate number
  • Insurance carrier
  • Insurance policy number

4. Report the accident

Call your insurance company to report the accident and any injuries that occurred as a result.

Car accidents can be scary situations but it is important to remain calm and do the above steps.  After these steps are accomplished it will also help to contact an attorney who can greatly ease the stress of dealing with such personal injury issues and increase your chances of obtaining a settlement for your accident.  If you need help with this or any other accident related issues please call the car accident attorneys at Brabant & Huynh LLPat 617-934-0913 for your personal injury where we are located at Quincy and Dorchester and we will be glad to help you evaluate your case and ease the burden of going through the process.

WHAT IF THE OTHER DRIVER DOES NOT HAVE INSURANCE?

For example, where someone is involved in a hit and run and can’t catch the plate of the other driver, or where the other driver is operating without the permission of the owner and the insurance denies your claim for non consensual use: these are all situations where it is critical that you are aware of how much uninsured motorist coverage you have available to you, because there may be no Bodily Insurance (BI) insurance available to you or as I like to call it “at fault insurance” where the at fault party’s insurance company pays for medical bills and pain and suffering.

The mandatory minimum limits for UIM coverage in Massachusetts are $20,000 per person $40,000 per accident pursuant to G.L. c. 175, §113C; G.L. c. 175, §113L. It is important to note that this is the same as the mandatory minimum of Bodily Injury (“BI”) in Massachusetts. BI insurance is the part of the policy of the at fault party, which pays for non at fault person’s injuries.  This is to say that if you are injured through someone else’s fault, and for one of the previous reasons, or other reasons, there is no Bodily Injury coverage available to you through that person’s policy, then you will turn to your Uninsured Motorist coverage.

HOW TO MAKE AN UNINSURED-UNDERINSURED CLAIM

To successfully recover on an uninsured-underinsured motorist claim, you must prove 1) you are an insured, 2) that the at fault driver is an uninsured-underinsured motorist, and 3) that the uninsured-underinsured was negligent, insomuch that the you are legally entitled to recover from him or her.

WHAT IF THERE IS BODILY INJURY COVERAGE BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH

And if you are injured through someone else’s fault and they do have $20,000 in BI but that is not enough to cover your medical bills and pain and suffering that is where Under Insurance comes into play.  Every dollar you have over their BI limit can be added to cover you but it cannot be stacked.

CAN I ADD OR ‘STACK’ MY UNDER INSURANCE ON TOP OF THE BODILY INJURY MONEY

There is no adding or ‘stacking’ of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage under any Massachusetts automobile insurance policy issued on or after January 1, 1989. G.L. c. 175, §113L(5); Arbella Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hughes, 36 Mass.App.Ct. 926 (1994). This means an injured party may only recover up to a maximum of one uninsured-underinsured policy limit.

For example, if you only have the minimum of $20,000 in Under Insurance and the at fault party only has the BI minimum of $20,000, you cannot add or stack your $20,000 of Under Insurance on top of the $20,000 of BI.  In fact, you will get nothing extra over the $20,000 from the at fault party’s policy.

But if you had $50,000 in Under Insured benefits you would add $30,000 to the $20,000 from the BI policy to obtain a total of $50,000.

WHAT IF THE AMOUNT FOR UIM IS DISPUTED?

Disputed claims for uninsurance and underinsurance benefits are brought against the insurer in arbitration. The arbiter decides the questions of liability and damages. Lawsuits regarding to uninsured-underinsured claims are only lodged against the insurer to resolve a coverage question and to enforce arbitration of the claim pursuant to the insurance policy.

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO SUE ON A UNINSURED-UNDERINSURED CLAIM?

Uninsured-underinsured claims are subject to a six-year statute of limitations. Goodman v. American Cas. Co., 419 Mass. 138 (1994). The statute of limitations period starts when the insurer either refuses to submit to arbitration or denies the claim. Peerless Ins. Co. v. Boyle, 422 Mass. 1011 (1996); Berkshire Mut. Ins. Co. v. Burbank, 422 Mass. 659 (1996).

As we can see, these situations are not simple and the help of an attorney can greatly ease the stress of dealing with such personal injury issues and increase your chances of obtaining a higher recovery amount for your accident.  If you need help with this or any other accident related issues please call Brabant & Huynh LLPat 617-934-0913 your personal injury attorneys and we will be glad to help you evaluate your case and ease the burden of going through the process.

Another benefit of Med Pay comes to us as from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision of Metropolitan Property and Casualty Ins. Co. v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mass., Inc. where they upheld that Medpay has to be exhausted before the health insurer is required to pay.  Which is especially useful if you have private health insurance like Blue Cross, Harvard Pilgrim, Aetna, Cigna Etc. because then PIP will only pay $2,000 dollars and Med Pay will cover the rest up to its limit which means your health insurance won’t have to pay for your medical bills if they are less than your Medpay limit.

You might say, PIP, Med Pay, Health Insurance, what’s the difference if my bills get paid?  Well, Med Pay in “non-subrogatable” which is a legal word that means your insurance company cannot recover that Med Pay money they used to pay your medical bills from the at fault party’s insurance company when it comes time to settle. This ultimately means you will get a bigger settlement. This is because when someone receives a settlement for injuries the offer is always minus what PIP and the health insurance paid out, but not Med Pay.

For example, if your settlement or judgment was $16,000 and your PIP paid $8,000 in medical bills, you would only net $8,000.  But if you had Med Pay and health insurance, PIP would only pay out $2,000 and Med Pay would cover the rest if you bought $6,000 dollars of Med Pay.   So if you received a settlement or judgment of $16,000 like the example above, but had Med Pay with health insurance, you would obtain a net of $14,000 dollars: a difference of $6,000.

This is because PIP could only recover or “subrogate” the $2,000.00 from the at fault insurance when you settle or get a judgment.  Med Pay could not do this which is why you would net a larger amount from your settlement or judgment.

As we can see, these situations are not simple and the help of an attorney can greatly ease the stress of dealing with such issues and increase your chances of obtaining a higher recovery amount for your accident.  If you need help with this or any other accident related issues please call your car accident attorneys Brabant & Huynh LLP at 617-934-0913 in Quincy and Dorchester and we will be glad to help you evaluate your case and ease the burden of going through the process.