I was injured in a car accident and the at-fault driver’s insurance company wants me to sign a medical authorization release. Should I sign this form?
Yes. In Virginia, not all health insurance plans are entitled to subrogation. This means that not all insurance plans get paid back if you recover from a third party. It is always best to use your health insurance when you can so your bills do not end up in collections. At the time of settlement your attorney will be able to recover your medical bills from the defendant’s insurance carrier. The last thing you want is to have medical bills piling up as a result of an accident that was not your fault. So the short answer is yes, if you have health insurance, use it.
Yes. You are better off using your health insurance whenever and wherever possible. It will generally help you and not benefit the at-fault driver who remains responsible for the bill whether you had insurance or not. In your accident claim, the auto insurer for the careless motorist remains responsible for the medical bill and does not get out of paying because of your health insurance.The normal rule in Virginia (VA) is that your health insurance company will not have to be paid back out of the settlement proceeds from a car accident. Under certain circumstances, federal law trumps the Virginia rule and says that you do have to pay back your employer’s health insurance plan if you make a recovery from an at-fault driver from an automobile accident. Even if that’s the case, you would still be better off by using your health insurance because the bills get paid in the short run and no one will be hassling you for payment. Also, the health insurance company may not have to be paid back dollar for dollar out of your claim. Instead, your personal injury lawyer can usually negotiate and get some reduction in the amount of payback. That extra money goes in your pocket at the end of the case. So, I definitely recommend that clients use whatever health insurance they have to pay their bills if they are hurt in a car crash.
About the editors: The motto at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp& Duffan law firm is simple -“All we do is injury law.” We hope you were able to find the answer to your injury query. If not, please review our Virginia Accident Lawyer FAQ Library for additional information. If you’d like to speak to an actual attorney about your potential injury claim for free, please contact our office at (833) 997-1774.
You will not have to pay your personal injury attorney anything upfront as retainer typically. Attorneys who regularly do personal injury or wrongful death cases work on a percentage basis called a contingency fee which means you don’t have to pay them anything up front in order to hire them. An attorney gets paid for his time as a percentage of what is collected from the insurance company for the at-fault driver. Injury lawyers are available to help anyone hurt in an accident regardless of their ability to pay in advance for services.The advantage for the client in a contingency fee arrangement is that the lawyer is taking a risk with the person who is injured in a car wreck. If you don’t make any recovery, the lawyer will not be paid for his time. There is the separate category of expenses which the client may ultimately be responsible for. The expenses are monies paid to get certain things done on the case separate from the attorney’s time which is called fee. Law firms that regularly handle injury cases on a percentage basis usually will advance on the client’s behalf the expenses necessary to pursue the claim and to get those back from the client at the end of the case. The expenses are typically a relatively low amount until the case goes into suit. The potential client should ask the attorney what expenses they expect to incur during the course of the case. At our law firm we only make the decision to go to suit together with the client when it’s in the client’s best interests and they give us the green light to go ahead. At that time there will typically be a more detailed discussion about what the expenses are in pursuing the matter in court. In Virginia (VA), the vast majority of personal injury automobile cases do not require going into suit in order to get successfully resolved.
About the editors: The motto at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharplaw firm is simple -“All we do is injury law.” We hope you were able to find the answer to your injury query. If not, please review our Virginia Accident Lawyer FAQ Library for additional information. If you’d like to speak to an actual attorney about your potential injury claim for free, please contact our office at (833) 997-1774.
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