Is Your Personal Injury Attorney Ripping You Off?

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An auto accident is an unfortunate and traumatic
event. Many people are unsure of what to do and
who to speak to when they have been in an auto
accident. Unfortunately, many gravitate to the
first name they see on an advertisement as a
first contact. This can be a very big mistake in
many cases for many reasons. First and
foremost, if you are injured seek care as soon
as possible after the accident. A delay in care
can be viewed as you not truly being injured by
the insurance company. More importantly,
undiagnosed injuries can be life threatening.
Your health comes first! Secondly, picking an
attorney name off the internet or from an
advertisement is hit or miss at best. Law offices
spend thousands if not millions of dollars on
advertising just to get your attention. The money
for this advertising comes from past clients like
you! Some attorneys will charge 40
of gross settlement. Some will drop your case if
a specific amount of property damage hasnt been
met. Do you know which attorneys do this? At
our auto injury treatment office we know which
attorneys are likely to drop clients for low
property damage, charge excessive fees, or not
return phone calls.
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Notice its mentioned above that some attorneys
take from Gross settlement. This is in contrast
to net settlement. Heres an example 10,000
settlement with 4,000 in medical bills Math
with GROSS settlementAttorney gets
4000Medical bills are 4000Client gets
2000 Compared to math with NET settlementMedica
l bills are 4000 that leaves a Net of
6000.Attorney who takes a net settlement will
get 2,400 andthe client will get
3600!! Notice with the example above the
difference between signing with an attorney who
takes Net vs Gross is the difference between the
client getting more money and the attorney
getting more money! Who was injured? Who should
get more money? But, wait! Theres more! In the
above case scenario the medical bills are being
paid out of the settlement. What if the client
has Medpay (Medical payments) on their auto
accident policy? Lets assume the client has
5,000 medpay coverage so all the medical bills
are paid for.
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With Medpay coverage settlement amount the math
is as follows10,000 settlement4,000 to
attorney6,000 to client It stays the same
whether the attorney takes their fees from the
gross or net settlement. That leads us to discuss
another attorney trick! When your medical
provider charges your medpay they do not bill for
filing the medpay with insurance. Some attorneys
will advise their clients to let them file the
medpay on the clients behalf. The attorney then
charges the client hundreds of dollars to file
for services provided by a doctor that would have
filed the same claim for FREE! In some cases, the
attorney will have the insurance company pay the
fees to them and count it toward the settlement
(monies collected)! In that scenario the math can
be present as 10,000 settlement with 400
medical bills4,000 medpay collectedTotal of
14,000 recovered x 40 5,600 to
attorneyleaving 4,400 to client (as medpay was
paid but attorney fee wasbased on recovered
funds). Tricky math but, it results in more money
to the attorney than if medpay had been billed
for and paid directly to the medical provider! In
addition, if the attorney charged 500 to bill
the medpay, the attorney would get 6100 and the
client would get 3900! Again, who was injured?
Who should get more money?
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So how does one go about negotiating the money
side of an auto injury case? Here is a summary
of items to help you Your health comes first.
Always seek medical care if you are injured
Have Medpay on your auto policy. Its illegal for
your premiums to be raised for using it. A good
amount to have is at least the cost of your
health insurance deductible. Medpay can only save
you money. Dont fall for the attorney
advertisements. Find a medical provider that
treats auto injuries and can refer you to an
attorney. Dont let you attorney charge you to
file your medpay! Dont let you attorney
dictate the type of care you need. You can be
pain free without pillsTM. Some attorneys like
to see prescription (opiate medications)
prescribed as it helps the value of your case.
This is often done with little or no regard to
the patients health or the potential for
addiction/dependence that comes with prescribing
such medications. Agree to attorneys taking
net settlements (getting paid after your
medical and other bills have been paid) rather
than gross settlements. Be cautious of big name
law firms with large advertising budgets. The
money for those advertisements came from other
peoples injuries. If your accident isnt
catastrophic your case can get lost in the big
machinery of a larger law firm Beware of law
firms where you speak only to paralegals or phone
calls dont get returned promptly.
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There is also the question of Do you really need
an attorney? Thats a difficult question to
answer. Many people will cite data that using an
attorney results in larger settlements. However,
when one takes into account the fees attorneys
take from the settlement, the math of using an
attorney may not be to the clients advantage in
a smaller case. If the medical bills are paid
for and the insurance company offers a fair
amount, why share 33-40 with an attorney?
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