Washington Injury Law Blog

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: I settled my Seattle car accident case with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Do I have to pay taxes on my injury settlement money?

A: Many of my clients ask me about taxes when we start getting close to a settlement with an insurance company. The short answer is generally no taxes are owed on money received in settlement of a personal injury claim.

Restitution for a loss is not considered income for tax purposes. You may be asking what does that mean exactly? According to current IRS law, if an injured person obtains a settlement from an at fault third party (for example, from the at fault driver who hit you), that settlement money is not taxable.

Of course there are always exceptions, nothing in the law seems to be black and white. The IRS generally taxes punitive damages. What are punitive damages? Punitive damages are money that a defendant is ordered to pay over and above the full value of a case. They serve as an additional punishment given to a defendant in cases of outrageous conduct – the message of punitive damages is that you better not do this again because it was really bad and everyone else should take note or it could happen to you too. So what does all of this mean to your car accident settlement? Probably nothing - because in Washington state punitive damages are not usually available for injury claims.

Often times when you hear about huge car accident verdicts in the media the case is from another state that allows punitive damages in injury cases. I believe there are some  states in south of the U.S. where the media has picked up some sensational headlines.

If you are thinking about accepting an insurance company’s settlement offer it might be a good idea to give an experience Washington injury attorney a call to review your rights and make sure you’re doing the right thing.

Another option is order my free book for Washington residents “The Guide to Washington Injury Cases.” The book has good quality information for you to use in handling your injury claim.

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: I was injured in a rear-end collision but there was little damage to my car. The other driver’s insurance company says there’s no way I could’ve been injury when there’s little damage to my car, and they’re refusing to pay for my medical bills. What do I do now?

A: I hear this more and more these days from people who call me looking for some advice following a Seattle area car accident. Many insurance companies have a policy to outright deny or only offer very small amounts to settle car accident claims when the vehicle damage is less than a certain amount, like $1,000.

Insurance companies do this despite having no credible scientific support for the suggestion that injury likelihood can be determined by the amount of vehicle damage. They hire so-called “experts” (I call them “hired guns”) to help them spread the myth that low vehicle damage equals little or no injury. If you’re in this situation here are a few tips.

1. Take your car to a body shop of your choice and have them give you an estimate of the damage. Often times the bumper may look fine, but the damage is hidden underneath the bumper where there can be significant damage. The bumper may need to be removed to find this damage which the insurance company adjuster won’t do.

2. Document everything surrounding the car accident. Get the estimate of the damage on your car, take photos of your car damage, take photos of the accident scene, getting the names addresses and phones numbers of all witnesses, and complete an accident report. You can get a blank accident report from your local police department if the police didn’t respond at the scene of the accident. If the police did respond – make sure you get the officer’s business card with the incident report number on it.

3. You should not repair the car or accept a vehicle damage settlement until you have spoken with an experience Washington car accident attorney. You need to hire an experienced Washington car accident attorney because a lawsuit will in all likelihood be necessary to get you a fair recovery for your injuries from the car accident.

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: How often do you “win” your cases?

A: As Kirkland car accident lawyer I would love to tell you that I win every case, but I don’t. As in life, there are no guarantees – even with a very good case. As most trial attorneys will tell you, there are cases that should be won at trial, and are not, and there are cases that should be lost, and are won.

Each case is different based on the specific facts involved in each case. Your case may be similar to another of my client’s but not exactly the same in every way. Different impact speeds, different vehicle types, angle of impact and many other factors go into the mix to cause your injury. You also have a unique body that is injured and healed in its own unique and individual way. As you can see – many factors affect your injury case.

In addition, there are many cases where a confidential settlement has been reached that my clients would definitely consider a ‘win’ but I cannot publicize the details of the case.

You can check out some of my results at my law firm’s web site.

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: I was on a jury and the plaintiff was asked for her medical bills to be repaid. The jury thought that the bills were probably all covered by insurance. Was this correct?

A: In Washington, as in most states, evidence about whether or not a plaintiff’s medical bills have been paid by insurance is kept from a jury during a trial. There are many reasons for this law. Sometimes, however, juries attempt to account for the fact that insurance has paid the medical bills and adjust their award accordingly.

If you are on a jury in a personal injury case you should not do this. The reason is that insurance is not simple and different insurance “rules” may apply to the claims at hand. In most cases the plaintiff has to pay back her insurance company out of any award, so she really was not insured at all! Almost all insurance policies require the injured person to pay back any amounts the company paid for the medical bills if the plaintiff wins her lawsuit.

Insurance policies differ and not every insurance policy requires this type of reimbursement. What the courts have done, however, to make the issue fair for everyone, is to simply take insurance out of the consideration of the jury.

If you’re a juror please don’t discount a plaintiff’s damage award because you think the medical bills have already been paid. In almost all of my cases my clients have to repay the insurance company that paid the medical bills. Insurance companies would love this to happen, but it really only hurts the injury victim.

If you’re called for jury duty please go. The justice system in Washington and all other states depends on citizens showing up for jury duty when called. I know it’s a pain and you get paid peanuts, but I need you and my clients need you. We need jurors like you to fight the greed of the insurance companies that force their customers to file lawsuits to get the insurance benefits owed.

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: The insurance company for the driver who hit me says they need me to sign a document (medical records release) before they can pay my medical bills. Should I sign the medical release?

You should never, ever sign the medical release that it sent to you by the at-fault driver’s insurance company. While releases are sometimes important to the claim every release that I have ever seen from an insurance company is overbroad–contains no time limit–can be sent to anyone at all–and allows the insurance company to re-release the information to others. There is no requirement that you sign their release.

While you’re still going to the doctor treating your accident injuries there is no good reason for the at-fault driver’s insurance company to be monitoring your medical records. The only reason they want to see your medical records is so they can look for things to use against you–and ways they can weaken your injury case. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been called and told me the at-fault driver’s insurance adjuster is telling an injury victim that–they should have been healed by now–and they weren’t really hurt that bad in the car accident. Don’t fall for this tactic. Your doctor is the expert on the severity of your injury and how much treatment you need to recover.

My advice to you is that if an insurance adjuster calls you requesting you to sign anything, tell them to mail you the form and you’ll be happy to review it with your attorney.

Or better yet order my free book to Washington residents ”The Guide to Washington Injury Cases” by clicking here. The book will give you some good information about the whole car accident injury claim process before you speak with that pushy insurance adjuster.

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: I have been involved in a Seattle car accident and the medical bills are mounting. The insurance company for the driver who hit me says they will pay my medical bills and give me a “little something” for pain and suffering. They have asked me to sign a release. Should I take them up on their offer?

No, especially if you are still under the care of the physician. Once you settle with the insurance company, that will be the end of your claim, even if your injury gets worse. Your medical bills will not be paid by the driver of the car that hit you as they are incurred. The other driver’s insurance company will only agree to pay your medical bills in exchange for a release of all claims, which ends any further payments of your medical bills or otherwise.

There may be other sources available to pay your medical bills while your claim is pending. You may have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance on your own car insurance, which is specifically designed for paying your medical bills in a car accident regardless of whose fault the accident was. My previous post on PIP insurance (click here) explains this insurance more fully. Another source is your health insurance. Your health insurance will pay for your medical bills from your car accident. If you have either PIP or Health insurance these are the people you need to contact to get your medical bills paid while your actively treating your car accident injuries.

I often hear people say “Why should my insurance pay when the accident was the other guy’s fault? I don’t want my rates to go up.” Don’t fall into this trap. You purchased PIP and health insurance for the very purpose you are now facing after suffering injuries in a car accident. I can’t say for absolute sure, but in my experience I have not seen any of my client’s car insurance rates increase for making a PIP claim. The reason being is they are entitled to be repaid down the road when you do settle your case.

Both PIP and health insurance companies have a repayment right called a “subrogation interest” against your accident claim. If you hire an injury attorney to handle your car accident case he will negotiate and handle this repayment for you. If you don’t have an attorney, the insurance companies generally talk to each other and work out repayment between themselves. All you generally need to do is give the PIP adjuster or health insurance person the name, address, and phone number of the at fault driver’s insurance adjuster. I know this can sound complicated, but you can handle it with some patience and asking a few questions, or you can hire an attorney to take care of these details for you. 

An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to help you understand your rights. My advice to you is that if an insurance adjuster calls you requesting you to sign anything, tell them to mail you the release and you’ll be happy to review it with your attorney.

Or better yet order my free book for Washington residents ”The Guide to Washington Injury Cases” by clicking here. The book will give you some good information about the whole Washington car accident injury claim process before you speak with that pushy insurance adjuster.

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: A friend was in a car accident and broke his leg. He got a lot of money. Will my case be worth as much as his?

Each Washington car accident case is different. Each injury affects a person differently. Even if you both broke the same bone, your pain tolerance might be different. You might need surgery to correct the problem, whereas your friend didn’t. Your friend might be a football player for the Seattle Seahawks, and as a professional athlete his broken bone means he lost months of work. Your situation is probably different.

It’s important to know how your injury has affected your daily life. Has it impaired your ability to do your daily tasks like tying your shoelaces, taking a shower, making breakfast, going to the bathroom, holding groceries and similar activities?

If you were to ask me when you should try to resolve your injury claim, like nearly every one of my clients asks when they hire me, my recommendation is that you shouldn’t begin the process of trying to resolve your injury claim with the insurance company until you have fully healed and recovered from all of your injuries, or your injuries have reach a point of maximum improvement and will not likely get any better in the future. Once you’ve reach this point, the value of your case is based upon all of your damages. So if your broken leg injury was so severe that you now will walk with a limp for the rest of your life, well that has more value than if your leg healed without any permanent limp. This is just one example of the kinds of factors that go into establishing a value of your Washington car accident injury case.

Since everyone is different, and injuries affect each person differently, the value for each case is different. I can tell is this, if the insurance company calls you right after the car accident and offers $500 to settle your broken leg injury claim, $500 is nowhere close to the true value of your case.

Anyone who suffers a serious injury in a car or other vehicle accident should get the advice of an experienced Washington injury attorney as soon as possible. Or better yet, order my free book for Washington residents “The Guide to Washington Injury Cases.” The book has good quality information for you to use before speaking with an insurance adjuster or meeting with an attorney for a “free consultation.”

As a Kirkland injury accident attorney I handle many cases involving very serious injuries. I am frequently asked questions by clients and family members about issues common in many injury accidents. I want to provide you with some good information and tips about serious injury cases in Washington, so I’ve decided to do a series of blogs on the frequently asked questions I get about injury accidents in Washington.

Q:   If an insurance adjuster calls me after my accident to ask me questions, can I talk to her?

Of course you can, but I don’t recommend it following a serious accident. The insurance adjuster is calling to get you to make statements (usually in a recorded call) about the events leading up to and including the accident. They will also ask you about your injuries and whether you went to a hospital or a doctor following the accident. They will ask how you’re doing and if you missed work. She will be looking for ways to limit your claim based on your answers.

The inherent problem with talking to an adjuster following a serious accident is that they’re probing and trying to make a record of your statement. They can then use it against you at a later time should you bring a lawsuit against the driver or owner of the other car involved in your accident. They will also use it against you even if you don’t have an attorney, they will often try to make you feel guilty for not have recovered from your injuries quickly enough or that you’re going to the doctor too much. Don’t fall for the insurance companies deceptive tactics.

If an insurance adjuster calls to talk to you, tell them you’ll be happy to speak to them, after you speak with your attorney. Or better yet order my free book “The Guide to Washington Injury Cases” by clicking here. My special report will give you some good information about handling injury accident claims before you speak with that willy insurance adjuster.