Re: [DML] Advice needed: Unfortunate occurrance
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Re: [DML] Advice needed: Unfortunate occurrance
- From: "Ed Garbade" <edgarbade@xxxx>
- Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 08:06:50 -0500
Aaron,
I'm sorry to hear of your accident. What I gather from your note is that
you are OK and that is the most important thing. That said there is two
major points I feel you MUST keep in mind.
First, insurance companies are in business to make money. One way they do
this is by keeping claim payouts down. Bottom line is know what you are
signing, keep good records, take pictures, and call on the expert vendors if
it appears the company is trying to short change you. You know what is
right for your car and if the insurance company is doing something wrong,
that is when you need the lawyer.
Second, NEVER sign a release for the insurance company to get your medical
records without a lawyer's advice. I had what I considered a minor accident
and being the good guy decided to handle it myself. They sent me a release
and I signed.
A couple months later my left side (mostly neck) started hurting and I
started dropping things. Went to the doctor and bottom line was I had a
problem causing a minimum of 5% disability unquestionably related to the
accident and a total disability of 15+% most of which was likely related to
the accident.
Because I had signed the release, the insurance company dug up my medical
records back to my teens (I'm 41 and was in a accident when I was 16 I
believe). They got their experts to relate every incident in my whole life
(twisted knee, torn cartilage, strained back, ?) to that disability. I even
had a doctor, acknowledged as a medical expert by the insurance company, to
testify that the other injuries couldn?t have caused the damage shown in my
MRIs. To make a long story short, my lawyer gave up and I got $5k.
Ed
10541
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