Archive for December 1, 2010
Definition of Bodily Injury – Law – Personal Injury
December 1, 2010 | Author admin
Definition of “bodily injury”
A quick check on the Internet leads to many sites that provide definitions about injuries. However, the only definition that counts after you’ve been in an auto accident is the one listed in your auto insurance policy.
Check your auto insurance policy
Here are a couple of examples of General Definitions taken directly from auto insurance policies:
* Bodily injury means bodily injury to a person, including resultant sickness, disease or death.
* Bodily injury means any bodily injury, sickness, disease or death sustained by any person.
Bodily injury refers to injuries sustained
There you have it. Bodily injury is damage to your body that may show up now or later as injuries, illnesses, diseases, or even death. Bodily injuries are specific to something that happens to you that results in damage. Those injuries can be to the body, mind, or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property.
The most common forms of bodily injury are injuries to the neck and back (commonly called whiplash) or simply bumps and bruises.
Insurance companies may refer to underlying injuries as soft tissue damage. More significant injuries affect the limbs, brain and head, or spinal cord, and can cause a lifetime of damages. Here you will require Vancouver WA Personal Injury Lawyer to fight for justice by providing enough proof.
Reaction at the scene of an accident
At the scene of an accident, the adrenaline kicks in. Your body’s natural reaction is “fight or flight”, and most people are just scared and shook up, not always aware of what could be serious injuries.
So when you suffer bodily injury, protect your rights by the words you use. Instead of saying, “I’m fine,” just say something like, “I’m not sure… it’s all so sudden.” After all, how can you really tell in the rush of that moment?
Damages may not be visible
The thing that most people may not realize until later is that physical damage may not be readily apparent. Even broken bones might not be noticeable. In cases of whiplash, there may be no bruises or scraping, but the ligaments, connective tissues, and muscles may have been stretched and snapped to the point of damage that is not immediately evident. Such injuries may not be identified without an x-ray, MRI, CAT scan, or other diagnostic tools.
So what is personal injury?
The term “personal injury” is often used by victims to find an attorney who specializes in such cases, as our office does. Think of personal injury as an “umbrella” term that covers not only your bodily injuries, but other damages as well.
Educate yourself about your rights in an auto accident
Everyone deserves to find out if they have a claim. It’s better to learn about your rights sooner than later, though. For example, even in a simple conversation with an insurance company, you may say things that later might make it difficult to reach a favorable settlement. That is true whether you are talking with your own insurance company of the one that represents the other driver.
It’s better to consult with our offices immediately after the accident, to protect your rights and make sure you see medical providers who truly care about your injuries and are careful to document their findings.
My next blog will discuss some of the damages other than bodily injury that can affect your claim.
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Imagine Life Without Property Insurance? How Would You Sleep at Night – Finance
December 1, 2010 | Author admin
Copyright 2006 Geoff Morris
Imagine going through life with no insurance at all. Must be a bit like driving car without a seat belt in place.
For most people, insurance is a necessary aspect of life. It is the safety net that protects you from a crushing fall or an imminent disappointment during hard times.
Nothing is worse than an unforeseen natural or man-made disaster that unfortunately removes earnings capacity or assets from you or your business.
There are many types of insurance available, such as life, auto, workman’s compensation, liability. And, sometimes it would seem that we can ‘over-insure’ ourselves.
But perhaps the commonest type that is really necessary is property insurance. Whether you are a homeowner or a business operator, property insurance is the one area you should not neglect. So, what is property insurance?
Property Insurance ‘ A Definition
Property insurance is a type of insurance that provides coverage for building structure or structures and its contents. The coverage of property insurance is malleable and is oftentimes depended on the consumers’ needs. In some cases, property insurance may cover outdoor signs, crime coverage, and property of others, glass coverage, and more.
You can get property insurance through a written contract, called a policy. A property insurance policy legally binds you, the policyholder, with an insurance company. The property insurance policyholder will pay the insurance company a certain amount of money, called ‘a premium’ and in exchange, the company will agree to pay for certain types of damages or losses. These damages or losses to be covered by the property insurance are outlined specifically in the contract.
Property Insurance ‘ Importance and Benefits
Property insurance has many benefits. Monetary value is one of these benefits that a property insurance policy can offer. The property insurance company will pay for damages or losses you encounter in such cases as fire or theft. Property insurance is therefore a way for you to protect yourself and your interests.
The amount of money you get from the property insurance company will depend on how much property insurance you’ve bought at the time of the contract-signing. For instance, if you bought a $100,000 amount of property insurance, your insurer will only pay for replacement or reconstruction of damaged property up to that stated amount. Most property insurance companies pay up to 10% in total damages.
Property Insurance ‘ Types
There are many types of property insurance available. Most of these property insurance types are categorized according to the needs of the policyholders.
For instance, a landlord has different property insurance needs as a homeowner. What the landlord owns is rental property and the specifics involved in that property type is different from a home. Rental property insurance covers the damages or losses arising from negligence on the tenants’ parts.
As all property insurance, rental property insurance offers coverage for the actual building structure and its contents. Rental property insurance can pay for the cost of repairing damaged articles, such as carpets, furniture, curtains, and other house items, caused by guests or tenants.
A homeowners’ property insurance provides the same type of coverage offered by a typical property insurance policy. Most lenders require buyers to have property insurance when applying for a mortgage. The homeowners’ property insurance gives the lenders the security they need to close the sale. Homeowners’ property insurance protects the homeowner from damages caused by disasters, such as fires, floods, earthquakes, theft, vandalism, and the like.
There are several other types of property insurance available. From small business, to medium enterprise, to commercial properties ‘ there’s a different kind of property insurance coverage for each.
via Imagine Life Without Property Insurance? How Would You Sleep at Night – Finance.
Types Of Commercial Insurance
December 1, 2010 | Author admin
Generally speaking, commercial insurance covers businesses, and the two main types are property insurance and liability insurance. Property insurance, as the name suggests, provides coverage for any business property or inventory that is stolen, destroyed from a loss, or damaged; liability insurance covers any damages to someone else’s property, including bodily injuries.
Most businesses that purchase commercial insurance have a combination of property and liability insurance to cover anything that may go wrong. Oftentimes, mistakes made on the job, or simple accidents, can simultaneously affect both the business’ property as well as a third party’s health. For that reason, it’s important to consult with an insurance broker to find the best deal for you and your business.
Property Insurance
Property insurance covers losses and damages to personal property, like fire or flood damage to your office building. There are many different types of property insurance, like machinery insurance to cover equipment breakdowns, debris removal insurance to cover the cost of cleaning up after a storm, and ordinance or law insurance to cover costs related to having to rebuild a building to code that may have been only partially destroyed by nature.
Crime insurance covers things like theft and robbery, and builder’s risk insurance covers any damage that might occur to buildings under construction. Bars and nightclubs often have a lot of glass and mirrors in the building, so they might have a type of glass insurance that covers any glass breakage on the premises.
Liability Insurance
This type of commercial insurance covers injuries that you or your business might accidentally cause to happen to third parties. For instance, commercial vehicle insurance would cover any cars, trucks, or vans that you might use in your business. Errors and Omissions, or “E & O” insurance, covers any accidental mistakes that cause injury to others. An auto repair shop may have auto repair insurance to cover any mistakes that may happen in the garage that could cause damage to a customer’s vehicle.
There are several types of unique liability insurance. Bars and liquor stores should definitely purchase alcohol liability insurance if it’s not already required by the state. Administrative alcohol liability insurance involves breaking liquor laws – failing to check IDs, selling to a minor, or letting inebriated people keep drinking. Civil liabilities can involve lawsuits from the inebriated or those possibly victimized by the inebriated, and criminal liquor liabilities involve the unfortunate situations where someone receives alcohol from your bar and then injures or kills someone.
Two completely different types of commercial liability insurance include landscaping insurance and technology insurance. Landscaping and gardening companies should purchase landscaping insurance to protect against any injury from any daily hazards in the landscaping business, like tools and equipment, pesticides, and more. Technology insurance covers any of the potential liabilities that technology and IT professionals may face in a rapidly changing field.
Businesses Need To Be Insured
If you own a business, chances are you need to purchase some form of commercial insurance to protect yourself and your company. Contact an insurance professional today to find out about the business insurance options available for you.
The reason you are in need of disability insurance – Insurance – Health Coverage
December 1, 2010 | Author admin
Usually, people purchase property and disaster, or casualty insurance to secure their possessions and life insurance to supply profit for their survivors. Nevertheless, lots of people don’t think of securing their profit with disability insurance. But how fine could you live if you weren’t capable to go to work at all? Disablement is an unforeseen event, and if you once become disabled, your capability to make a living could be limited. Although you might have enough finances in the bank to meet your short-dated necessities, what would occur if you were incapable to work for months, or even for years? The real price of disability insurance is in its capability to secure you over the long distance.
What would if you become disabled? What’s then?
What would happen if you undergone an injury or disease and couldn’t function for days, months, or even for years? If you’re alone, you can have no other ways of financial support. If you’re married, you might be capable to count on your spouse’s income, but you perhaps also have many fiscal obligations, like supporting your kids and returning your mortgage loan. Could your spouse truly support you and the whole family? Also, remember that you don’t need to be working in a dangerous occupation to be in need of cheap health insurance; accidents befall not only on the workplace but at home as well, and disease can strike anybody. For these causes, everyone who operates and gains a living has to consider getting disability insurance.
But isn’t disability insurance through the government or a boss enough?
You may consider that you are sufficiently insured from disability because you have health insurance through your boss or through government programs like Social Security and employees’ compensation. Anyway, only fifty percent of employers cover short-dated disablement and just forty percent cover long-dated disablement. Government programs can pay you advantages, but only if you meet a direct definition of disablement. Here’s an idea of the advantages you can already possess, as well as their restrictions:
* Social Security
Though you shouldn’t review the disability advantages you might be acceptable to get from Social Security, you don’t have to count on them either. Social Security rejects more than fifty percent of the claims applied, in part because of its direct definition of disablement. Even if you are deemed acceptable for advantages, you still won’t start getting them till at least half a year after you become disabled for Social Security sets a wait state. Also, your advantage can replace just a portion of your pre-disablement profit.
* Employees’ compensation
If you’re damaged at your job or get ill from job-associated reasons, you can get some disability advantages from employees’ compensation insurance, which is by the way fairly cheap health insurance. How much you get depends on the state of your abide. Nevertheless, when you survey your disablement insurance necessities, remember that employees’ compensation only returns advantages if your disability is job-related, so it proffers only restricted disability maintenance. Certain states also cover just the illnesses or disabilities enclosed in that state’s employees’ compensation laws.
* Retirement plans
Certain government and personal retirement plans pay disability advantages. Frequently these plans pay advantages found on complete, constant disability, or lower your pension benefit in correlation to what you have already got for a disablement. Also, remember that these advantages are normally federated with Social Security or employees’ compensation, so your advantage can be less than you anticipate if you as well obtain disability profit from these government origins.
via The reason you are in need of disability insurance – Insurance – Health Coverage.
Pennsylvania All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Insurance – Insure Your Vehicle Today – Insurance – Auto
December 1, 2010 | Author admin
Insurance for your vehicle is important. If you have a recreational vehicle or camper then there is a requirement for recreational insurance. This insurance is compulsory for financial security. This protects you from loss suffered in road accidents or for paying compensation to the victim or his/her family. There are excellent insurance policies provided by Pennsylvania all terrain vehicle (ATV) insurance. Recreational insurance is compulsory for all US citizens. The intention of this insurance is to pay for the damage or losses to the victims of accidents. The ways of imposing the insurance are however different. This depends on the state you are staying in. For instance, the laws in New Hampshire are relaxed, whereas in Virginia you have to shell out 500 dollars to the state.
This has to be paid every year as insurance of liability. If you are not covered under any type of auto insurance then a fine is levied on you. Your registration can be suspended or you can be put in jail if you are not covered under auto insurance. Mostly you are likely to have insurance to cover the financial loss of the third party in case you are responsible. In order to have a flexible policy, you need to confirm the Pennsylvania all terrain (ATV) insurance rates. Before having a license in Pennsylvania, the driver is likely to have a policy of liability. The holders of the policy should have the license plate of the insurance company. This will confirm full payment done to the party who has suffered loss by the licensee. Hence the PA ATV insurance rate confirms protection against monetary loss in case of an accident that is related to your vehicle. You need to sign an agreement with the PA ATV insurance.
This will have a clause that you will be paying premium and the insurance company will pay the losses incurred by you. Medical damage, liability as well as property coverage is included in the Pennsylvania all terrain vehicle (ATV) insurance quotes. The coverage is of 6 types, but you don’t need to have them all. The Pennsylvania all terrain vehicle (ATV) insurance will inform you what the due date of your premium is and when you have to renew the policy. The policy is generally renewed from a period of six months to a year.
As our cars are insured, we also need to insure our ATV’s. The excellent option is the Pennsylvania all terrain vehicle (ATV) insurance. The PA ATV insurance rates are fixed after getting a PA ATV quote. In order to get a best insurance option, list of various agents has been enlisted. It is very important to have Pennsylvania ATV insurance so as to get financial security from the loss suffered during accident.
via Pennsylvania All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Insurance – Insure Your Vehicle Today – Insurance – Auto.
House Owners Insurance – Insurance Advice – Self Help – Advice
December 1, 2010 | Author admin
Homeowners insurance is often overlooked. Auto, health care and life assurance are frequently thought about more. Yet, it is just as critical to think regarding your home owners insurance insurance plan as well.
House owners insurance or inadequate House insurance, may ruin your nest egg. A big loss that is not insured may take all of your savings. It may take a lot of time. It could take more time than you have left to work, to replace the money you would lose if your dwelling was destroyed.
Fire isn’t the only hazard covered by a homeowners insurance plan. A house owners insurance plan also includes liability coverage and theft coverage.
If your home is completely consumed by flood waters, an insurance plan that includes flood insurance is crucial. The 2005 hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico have have forced us to think about the damage flood waters could do to a home. Floodwater damage isn’t covered by the typical house insurance plan, so be certain to investigate this part of your insurance policies.
You also want to be certain that your date homeowners insurance policy will cover the rebuilding your home. If your dwelling was destroyed, you want to be able to reconstruct the entire houseand not merely a portion of it.
Carefully considering the all aspects of your home owners insurance might just keep you from losing your dwelling if a fire or other calamity hits.
You should know the answers to the following:
Will my insurance costs be reduced if my home and cars are insured by the same insurance company?
Will my current limit of coverage be enough to pay to rebuild my dwelling if a calamity hit?
Are my furniture and other possessions inside the dwelling well covered?
Ensuring that your insurance up-to-date house owners insurance is just as important as getting good insurance in the first place. Your home owners insurance should be enough to pay for reconstructing your house. Since the cost of construction material and labor will probably change on a regular basis, it’s crucial that you keep your policies current.
This is true for other types of coverage as well. Life coverage face amounts ought to be updated since the things that you want your life insurance to pay for will cost more as time goes on. Health care cover needs to be updated because your family size and your needs could change from one year to the next. Vehicle insurance needs to be current since you may have different cars and drivers in different years.
A good financial plan not makes sure that you accumulate assets, but also makes sure that your money don’t evaporate should a catastrophic event occurs. Insurance for your major exposures is crucial if you want to have the best chance of having enough money during your retirement.
House owners insurance is frequently much less expensive than vehicle insurance. You will see fewer advertisements regarding Home insurance when compared to car or life insurance. You may not pay your Homeowners insurance directly.
These may be some of the reasons that it is easy to overlook. Be sure to look for the best House owners insurance plan and to make sure you are well protected. Adequate homeowners coverage could be the only thing that keeps you from being homeless. Make sure that your Home owners insurance plan covers you well.
via House Owners Insurance – Insurance Advice – Self Help – Advice.
Steps to be taken in case of car Accident
December 1, 2010 | Author admin
We any ways have to be careful in our day to day life, but unluckily bad things do happen. Follow the below given 13 steps if in case you come across any car accident:
1. First thing you need to do is to notify the police on time and call ambulance if in case of serious injury.
2. Do work together with the accessible authorities who come to the scene.
3. Take based on reason steps to safe guard your vehicle from any other loss. Consider moving it out of the traffic.
4. Further try to record every thing what every possible on the scene. Your notes should carry the details of accident, recognition of the autos and people available, and the names and badge numbers of all urgent situation personnel. Take pictures in case possible.
5. Insist on breath tests if you estimate drugs or alcohol are involved.
6. Do not agree on money in any case. Do not confess fault. Do not agree on fail to notice about the auto accident.
7. Have a carbon copy of all police reports.
8. Have the insurance company inspects and evaluates the scratch before any steps are taken to repair it.
9. Cooperate with the auto insurance carrier agent in the examination, protection or settlement.
10. Send your car insurance carrier copies or lawful papers received in relations with the accident as soon as possible. Be sure you keep the originals copy with you.
11. If you are injured, submit to physical tests by physicians selected by the insurance carrier as commonly as they reasonably require. (The insurance carrier do pays the cost of these examinations.)
12. Give your support for the car insurance carrier to get medical reports and other applicable records.
13. Now its time to file a claim.
14. After filing a claim you require to keep a record of expenses you incur as a result of an auto accident, as it may be repaid under your policy.
15. Store copies of all the paperwork in your own managed files. You might be required to refer to it later.
Recorded Statement — Do I have to give one after a car accident?
December 1, 2010 | Author admin
The recorded statement is a guarantee step in the claim investigation process.
Insurance adjusters will be calling you to ask if they can take your statement about the accident. Many people believe that they have to give these statements so the insurance company provides coverage for the loss. Most insurance companies have Cooperation Clauses in them, but none of them can require you to give a recorded statement in the event of a car accident.
You have the constitutional right to remain silent and to not testify against your own person. Even in murder trials, the right to no self incrimination is respected. The concept carries over to car accidents. No one can bound coverage and require you to be in a recording giving testimony of facts.
Taking a recorded statement is entirely voluntary. Do not let the insurance company tell you otherwise. If they tell you that the cooperation clause in your policy says that you must cooperate, then you can tell them that you will cooperate by giving a verbal statement (same statement just not recorded).
The cooperation clause is just that, a clause that requires you to help the insurance company�s investigation. It does not say that you have to do it under a recorded statement. If they are too pushy, then ask them to put their requirements on writing and verify what they are telling you against your actual policy.
Benefits v. Harms of a Recorded Statement
The benefit is that your insurance company will be able to better document your file. If there is a dispute about fault, and your case goes to arbitration, the arbitrator will probably look at a file with a recorded statement as having better evidence than a file without one. I have seen arbitrators decide that one person�s version of events was �more convincing� because she/he was willing to put their words in a recording.
The harms of giving a �bad recorded statement �could be many, delay in the investigation for something that you said that could bar coverage, complete denial of coverage, fault being construed against you, interpretation of your words against you, etc.
If you think that giving a recorded statement is the right thing to do, then consider only giving it to your own insurance company. If the other party�s insurance carrier asks for a recorded statement, have them contact your insurance company and �share� a copy of the tape. This way you only give one statement, and the people questioning you is your own insurance company (the one protecting your interests).
Here are the best 10 tips of what you should do before you give a recorded statement:
1. Make sure you have time to talk. Secure at least one hour of your time.
2. Make sure is time that work s for you and the adjuster�s. Do not do it before the adjuster�s lunch time. They will rush you to get out of the tape without giving you a chance to fully explain your point of view.
3. Have all the information available in front of you. For example, Names, streets, insurance polices, and the police report if possible.
4. Read your police before hand. This way you will know why the adjuster is asking what they are asking, and see if they are trying to find information to deny your claim.
5. Tell the adjuster that you are willing to give the statement only if they give you a transcription of what you said. Make sure you say this on the tape.
6. Remember that you can decline to answer any question for any reason at anytime. Just say it. I decline to answer for personal reasons.
7. Tell the adjuster that you will also record the conversation. This usually puts them in their best behavior.
8. Answer only what they asked you. If the question is what color is the light? then answer should be a color and nothing more.
9. If the question is subjective, decline to answer, tell them that you do not know, or simply just ask the adjuster what they are looking for specifically.
10. Be polite and respectful. If they are rude or anxious, the adjuster�s supervisor will probably side you. But if you are rude, your complaint will be dismissed.
via Recorded Statement — Do I have to give one after a car accident?.
