PRESENTED BY BELL & POLLOCK

CHECKLIST FROM THE LIVE BELL & POLLOCK LEGAL SHOW (KHOW 630 On the AM Dial)

CAR ACCIDENTS 101 - PART 1 – PROTECT YOURSELF BEFORE AN ACCIDENT HAPPENS---INSURANCE (UIM-MED PAY-UM) WHAT ABOUT HEALTH INSURANCE?

1. Always Buy UIM/UM Coverage

2. Always Buy Med Pay Coverage

3. Never Waive UIM/UM Coverage

4. Never Waiver Med Pay Coverage

5. Different Companies Sell “Different Amounts” Of Med Pay Coverage – So Talk To Different Companies And Buy The Highest Limits You Can Afford…

6. Buy The Highest Limits Of UIM/UM You Can Afford

7. You Want To Buy Med Pay Coverage Even If You Have Medical Insurance

8. If You’re Injured In Car Crash And You Don’t Have Health Insurance – You CAN Receive Appropriate Medical Treatment – Talk To Us

Overall – Don’t let anyone talk you out of these!

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, CALL US AT (303)795-5900 – WE’LL HELP YOU!

If you need a car accident lawyer, need to know what to do after a car accident, or simply wondering: “how can an auto accident lawyer help me?” We can help YOU!

Car Accidents 101 Radio Show – Part 1

Injury Legal Hub: Car Accidents 101 Part 1

CAR ACCIDENTS 101 – Part 2 – WHAT TO DO AT THE SCENE OF A CAR CRASH

1. Take care of your self and others medically

2. Call 911 and report the accident.

3. Do the other items in this checklist ONLY if you can do so medically

4. Document the scene

• Take pictures
• Take pictures with the curbs and streets in the back ground
• Take pictures of the debris
• Take pictures of the cars and the damage to the cars
• When taking pictures of the cars be sure to get the Street names and the businesses in the background

5. Take pictures of the other Drive and passengers if you can

6. Exchange Insurance Information

7. Never let the other driver talk you out of calling the Police

8. Take a picture of the other Driver’s Insurance card ( front and back)

9. If you move the cars, take pictures of cars before they are moved ( include the debris on the ground) – so you can prove the location of the cars BEFORE they were moved

10. Find out who the Witnesses are – their names, addresses and contact information- ask them what they saw and what they said

11. Document ( by photos , a written document or otherwise who the Police were—1 officer? Or more? What are the names of the Police Officers and what does the Police Report say?

SNOW DAYS AND/OR THE POLICE DON’T SHOW UP

1. BE SURE TO DOCUMENT THE SCENE AND FOLLOW ALL STEPS OUTLINED ABOVE

2. DOCUMENT THE CARS AND LOCATIONS AS DIRECTED ABOVE

3. ABOVE ALL ELSE BE SURE TO FILE AN ACCIDENT REPORT ONLINE—COLORADO REQUIRES YOU TO FILE AN ONLINE REPORT—THIS IS COVERED BY STATUTE—SO AT THE RISK OF REPEATING—FILE AN ACCIDENT REPORT ONLINE

Car Accidents 101 Radio Show – Part 2

Injury Legal Hub: Car Accidents 101 Part 2

CAR ACCIDENTS 101 – Part 3 – WHAT TO DO IN THE FIRST 2 DAYS AFTER AN ACCIDENT

1. Make sure that if you are hurting, or are hurt, or have symptoms from the accident, that you seek Medical advice, Medical Care and attention right away – do not wait!

2. If you can’t get an appointment right away with your own Doctor/Health Care provider, the be sure that you get appropriate Medical Care from some place – like Urgent Care.

3. The Point is this – we have seen so many times where People are legitimately injured, need Medical Care but for some reason, they don’t seek appropriate Medical Care. Or they don’t timely seek Medical Care! Don’t let this happen to you!

4. Then what happens is that the Insurance Companies (once they get your “Proper” and “Authorized” Medical Records) later use all this against you.

5. How do they do that? They say that they reviewed your Medical Records and then they say: You didn’t go to the Doctor – you didn’t seek Medical Care but you say you are hurt – you “now” say that you were injured in the Accident but by looking at your Medical Records, you must not have been hurt or injured because the “Records” don’t show medical visits —and they don’t show that you were having any Medical Problems from the Accident. In other words your Medical Records don’t support your clear, legitimate Medical Problems from this Accident.

6. The Insurance Company then uses that against you and then takes the position that “since” you didn’t Treat and since you didn’t get Medical Care that they are not going to pay you, and certainly, not going to pay you much, if any.

7. They then ‘think’ they can beat any legal claim you may have for money damages since you don’t have the DOCUMENTED MEDICAL TREATMENT (“Treatment History”) to back your claims.

8. HOW TO SOLVE? NEVER JUST SAY: “I’LL GO TO THE DOCTOR LATER” – That’s what the Insurance Companies “want” you to say –so they can deny or try to beat your Claim

9. Never make up any symptoms – be complete, honest, thorough and:

10. Don’t ever leave our or forget any legitimate symptons — the Insurance Company will then say something like “You never reported those symptoms”—and they try to avoid paying you on those grounds

11. BOTTOM LINE BE TRUTHRUL, COMPLETE, THOROUGH AND REPORT ALL LEGITIMATE SYMPTONS FROM THE ACCIDENT- DO NOT LEAVE ANY OUT

Injury Legal Hub: Car Accidents 101 Part 3

CAR ACCIDENTS 101 – Part 4 – WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW AFTER AN ACCIDENT AND BEFORE YOU TALK TO THE INSURANCE ADJUSTOR FOR THE AT FAULT PARTY

1. Do not sign a release

2. Do not give a recorded statement until your mind is clear

3. Do not fill out or sign their “few forms” with questions

4. Do not give them names and contact information of all your doctors

5. Do not give them your date of birth or social security number

6. Do not give them your health information, medicare number or medicaid number

7. Do not answer their questions about seat belt, speed, injuries and other related areas

8. Do ask for their policy limits

9. Do ask them is their insured (at fault party) gave them a statement

10. Do ask them for a copy of the statement

11. Do ask them if they accept liability

12. See an attorney as soon as possible – but be sure to see an attorney who is going to give you a legal game plan

BELL & POLLOCK, P.C. (303)795-5900

Injury Legal Hub: Car Accidents 101 Part 4

CAR ACCIDENTS 101 – PART 5 – MEDICAL BILLS ARE IMPORTANT – WHY? – AND HOW THEY SHOULD BE HANDLED?

AMOUNT OF MEDICAL BILLS

The amount of medical bills is the “starting” point for insurance companies when they evaluate an injury case – its not the total evaluation process but it’s their starting point.

Why? – because they think they amount of medical bills is a general guage to the severity of the claimed injury (your injury)

Compare: if a car crash injury reported total medical bills of $6,500 versus $69,000 then the initially “see” the case differently – defaulting to the position that the injury claim with $69,000 of medical bills “must” be more serious because the bills ere higher and there must have been “more” treatment – so they assume (and their computer programs assumes likewise” that there must have been either more injuries or more serious injuries than the case with $6,500 of bills (this is not to say that they $6,500 case should be not claimed – because it should be claimed).

Insurance companies also look at the type of treatment and the quality of treatment – an example is: if a case required an er visit, then that is important – if a case required an immediate doctor visit, then that is important – if a case requires a trauma team – then that is important and if a case required you to go to your PCP, then that is important – if a case required radiology or multiple X-rays or MRI's then that is important – the type and quality of medical care is always assessed by the insurance company – remember that.

Note: don’t ever assume that your case is just not big enough or important enough – call bell & pollock and talk to an experienced injury attorney.

MED PAY

Med pay stands for medical payment coverage – this is contained in your own insurance policy. It is designed to pay for your medical bills arising out of a car crash. Rule #1 is: never waive this coverage. Never. This can be used for payment of ambulance bills and er bills. So this is important. It can be used to pay other medical bills as well.

HEALTH INSURANCE

We hear all the time: my insurance agent told me if I have health insurance, I don’t need “med pay”. That is not true. You always need med pay. One of the main reasons is that there is no subrogation against med pay. What does that mean? It means you don’t have to pay med pay back for your medical bills once you recover from the at fault party’s insurance company. With health insurance you do have to pay them back and so that takes money away from you that could otherwise keep. An example: you’re injured in a car crash. Your medical bills are $4,000. You recover $12,000 from that at fault insurance company. You don’t have to pay back the $4,000 to med pay but you do have to pay back the $4,000 to the health insurance company. Enough said company if you had used health insurance to pay for your medical bills from the accident. Enough said.

Legal Injury Hub: Car Accidents 101 Part 5

CAR ACCIDENTS 101 – PART 6 – YOU’RE INJURED IN A CAR CRASH – HOW DO INSURANCE COMPANIES LOOK AT AND ATTACK YOUR MEDICAL TREATMENT? WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW

Car Accidents 101 Radio Show – Part 6