Seatbelts Save Lives-and Recoveries!

When injured in an automobile accident, one damages component you frequently hear about is Pain and Suffering. While many politicians have tried to correlate "pain and suffering" with "frivolous," pain and suffering is just a catchall category for what we call the intangible damages. Things like the frustration at not being able to go throw the football with a child, not pursuing a hobby, not being able to dance with a spouse or climb that last fourteener. Very real losses, but one's that are very hard to monetarily quantify. In the cases that my firm handles, these losses can often far exceed the economic losses like medical bills or wage loss.

Did you know that if you are injured in an accident and were not wearing your seatbelt, the Colorado Legislature enacted a law that says you forfeit the ability to be compensated for non-economic damages? I know it seems crazy that the at fault party could be less responsible for the damages they cause just because of you didn't have a seatbelt on.

These type of laws are collectively referred to as "Tort Reform." Every time you hear about a new "tort-reform" law, what it really means is that some injured person will have fewer options to get compensated for their very real damages. As the House and Senate in Washington debates "Health Care Reform" beware of any provisions that purport to "stop lawsuit abuse" or to "protect doctors." These are carefully crafted ways of saying Tort Reform, and in the end, an injured party will lose out.

So, today's message is WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS, and look out for Tort Reform-It kills a case that could be your only hope!

Don't waive medpay!!!

Increasingly, a disturbing trend in our office is that victims of car accidents are finding out that they have waived the important "medpay" coverage mandated by current insurance law in Colorado. Amazingly, when asked about this "waiver'', many of our clients don't recall waiving anything on their auto insurance.

Here is the scoop: In 2009, Medpay became mandatory coverage in Colorado unless you waive it in writing. ANY TIME an insurance company wants you to waive anything, be absolutely sure you know what you are waiving. Right now, medpay is one of the best values on your policy, just like UM and UIM coverage discussed elsewhere on this blog. Don't waive it!

What if I already have insurance? Isn't it double coverage? NO. Medpay is designed to be primary to other insurance, meaning it pays first before your health insurance kicks in. Second, since you will generally have to pay back benefits paid under your health insurance when you collect from the at-fault driver, you want medpay to pay as much as possible before the health insurance bills begin to pile up. After all, the biggest plus of medpay is that you don't have to repay those benefits. In legal parlance, medpay benefits are non-subrogable-a good thing.

In our practice, we routinely make the insurance companies provide proof that a customer actually made a knowing waiver of medpay. In situations where they cannot provide this proof, usually a copy of our client's signature, we can often force the insurance companies to retroactively reform the insurance company to provide those benefits. If you feel like you were duped into waiving coverage you didn't understand, call John R. Fuller, P.C. to discuss your situation.

Insurance is for YOU!!

Increasingly, Americans are purchasing sophisticated products via the internet. This trend has resulted in many people purchasing products that they know little about and which ultimately fails to meet their needs. One such example is automobile insurance. The following is designed to help you understand what the various insurance products are and whether you need these products.

LIABILITY: Liability insurance covers losses sustained by the OTHER DRIVER when you cause an accident. Lots of people think when they have $25,000 to $250,000 of "coverage," that they have this much insurance for their family if an accident happens. This is not true. Liability insurance is required in all 50 states. The theory is that you must have coverage for an innocent victim that you negligently injure, but you are free to drive without coverage for yourself.

COMPREHENSIVE: Comprehensive, or "full coverage" is designed primarily to cover your vehicle and other property in the event that YOU or another authorized driver cause an accident. This coverage may also be used when someone else causes an auto accident and either doesn't have insurance or doesn't have enough insurance. But keep in mind: comprehensive insurance is for PROPERTY only, not injuries.

UM/UIM: Look to the left and right on your drive to work and ask yourself if the person you see looks like they have enough insurance. Call me crazy, but I don't trust the other guy to have enough insurance to cover myself and my family in an accident, and you shouldn't either. Studies have shown that as many as one in six drivers are uninsured. Even if you have great, high limits liability insurance, there may be no coverage for yourself and your family in the event of an accident. The solution is an insurance product called "UM/UIM" which stands for Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage. As the name implies, this coverage if for claims where the other driver either fails entirely to have insurance, or perhaps has only the state minimum for an accident that requires much more. If the other driver has insurance, that policy will pay first, but after that, you will be dealing directly with your company. Unlike the adversarial relationship you may encounter in dealing with the other driver's company, your insurance company has a duty of good faith when dealing with their own clients.

MEDPAY: Medpay is a small policy that is designed to cover the initial emergency medical expenses incurred in an accident for you or a covered passenger. It is not available for the other vehicle or passengers. While this of course means the other driver cannot make a claim against your Medpay policy, it also means that you must have this coverage on your own policy for yourself and your family. On January 1, 2009, Colorado now makes Medpay mandatory unless the consumer opts out. As mentioned above, when scrolling through the option screens online, be careful you don't opt out of this important coverage.

Insurance is for YOU!! Only you can protect your family when car accidents happen, and accidents DO happen. Insurance is a complicated product. No two consumers are exactly the same. Before evaluating products like automobile insurance online, be sure you know exactly what each component covers. When in doubt, consult an old-fashioned agent. Many times, you will come out with a lower payment and better coverage. We also offer customers of our firm free insurance evaluations for life. Just call us and we can discuss your situation.

The ABC's of a Slip and Fall-Part 2-Your Status on the Property

After determining the identity of all potential defendants, the next step in the analysis is figuring out the Plaintiff's status on the property. When Colorado enacted its Premises Liability Statute, the legislature defined the duties of a landowner by first categorizing the different ways a Plaintiff might find themselves on the property. In other words, the legislature felt that the duty of a Landowner should be different for, say, a trespasser, than for a social guest. In the end, what emerged was three categories: Trespasser, Licensee, and Invitee.

Defining a trespasser seems pretty simple. First anybody that does not have permission to be on the property is a trespasser. However, defendants will sometimes try to assert that anytime someone is outside the area where they have permission, they are essentially a trespasser. This can be problematic when, for instance, someone with permission to be in one place on a property goes somewhere else. An example makes this clear. Imagine a customer to a car dealership. As long as the customer is on the sales floor or out in the parking lot where the for-sale cars are, the customer would be considered an invitee. However, if the customer decided to walk to the service area and climb into the pit where oil changes are done, that customer may be considered a trespasser for premises liability purposes.

As to a trespasser, a Landowner is liable only for damages willfully or deliberately caused by the landowner.

A Licensee is a person who enters or remains on the land of another for the licensee's own convenience or to advance his own interests, pursuant to the landowner's permission or consent. Licensee includes a social guest. Interestingly, there is a lower duty to someone socially invited to a property than to someone who is an invitee.

As to a Licensee, a Landowner is liable for his unreasonable failure to exercise reasonable care with respect to dangers created by the landowner, of which the landowner actually knew; or his unreasonable failure to warn of dangers he actually knew about and that wasn't ordinarily found on the property.

An invitee is defined as a person who enters or remains on the land of another to transact business in which the parties are mutually interested, or who enters or remains on such land in response to the landowner's express or implied representation that the public is requested, expected, or intended to enter or remain. Customers of retail stores are licensees.

As to an invitee, the Landowner is liable for his unreasonable failure to take reasonable steps to protect against a dangerous condition that he knew or should have known of. The vast majority of viable slip and fall cases filed involve invitees that are hurt because of some dangerous condition.

To really complicate the above, keep in mind that parties will almost never admit what the plaintiff's status is or was on the date of the accident. Under the law, it is the judge that gets to decide the plaintiff's status. Presumably, this will happen at trial, but competent attorneys can sometimes have that issue resolved earlier.

If you have questions or would like to discuss the facts of your case, feel free to visit http://www.personalinjuryco.com/ or contact us directly at 303-597-4500.

ABC's of a Slip and Fall Accidents-Part 1-Who is the Defendant?

In Colorado, slip and fall cases against landowners are governed by Colorado's Premises Liability Act ("PLA") and not under traditional negligence principles. This can radically alter the analysis of whether you have a case.

The same analysis is used for all cases, at least at the beginning. The first step is to determine the proper Defendant. Landowner is defined as "including, without limitation, an authorized agent or a person in possession of real property and a person legally responsible for the condition of real property or for the activities conducted or circumstances existing on real property." C.R.S. 13-21-115(1) This means that, for purposes of applying the PLA, there may be many proper defendants. For instance, in a recent case, an employee fell on ice near the exit of her workplace. We pursued claims against the owner of the building, the property management company, and the landscape and snowplow company. Each defendant fit the definition of "landowner" and thus, were proper defendants under the PLA.

Many times landowners will contract with other parties to be responsible for certain tasks, such as snow removal. In Colorado, landowners can contract someone else into liability, but in most instances cannot contract themselves out of liability. It is particularly important to identify all possible defendants before a lawsuit is filed. It is also possible that not all defendants will fit the definition of a landowner. For instance, in another case, a landowner claimed that some outside party was responsible for creating the dangerous condition. If the landowner was right, the PLA would not apply and you would apply traditional negligence concepts. These cases are tricky and require professional assistance.

Once you have identified the proper defendants, the next step is to determine your status on the property relative to those defendants. This issue will be discussed in Slip and Fall Accidents-Part 2-Status on the Property. Feel free to visit http://www.personalinjuryco.com/ for additional information or to call us at 303-597-4500 to discuss the facts of your case.

John R. Fuller, P.C. Aurora Colorado Personal Injury Lawfirm

This is the blog for John R. Fuller, P.C., a full service personal injury and criminal defense law firm located in Aurora, Colorado. We will attempt to provide general interest topics related to how personal injury cases are handled in Colorado. Please contact us if you have specific questions about your case. We offer free consultations. You can also request future topics by posting a comment here or emailing us. Our website is http://www.personalinjuryco.com/ Welcome!