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Handling Insurance Companies After an Injury – Maximize Your Compensation | Denver Personal Injury

Chris Parrish | 558 Views | 01/29/2015

Car Accidents in Denver

If you’re ever in an accident your insurance company and the other side’s insurance company will be calling you within days. Can you speak freely to both sides or do you have to watch what you say? Colorado’s best attorney, Phil Harding couldn’t be here today so he sent his partner in crime, Chris Parrish from Harding & Associates. He’s here today with all the answers. He just sends you when he can’t make it he’s like, “We’ll just send Chris in.”

You know it’s not as good as the original but I’ll see what I can do.

I will take you. I think you’re pretty darn great. You guys are really good about answering questions when people write into Colorado’s Best, right?

Yeah, we like to take every single call even if it’s something maybe that it’s a little outside of the scope of what we do. We do primarily personal injury although we handle other issues as well. We want to talk to them even if it’s just talking to them about what we do know and maybe giving a referral. We’re happy to be here and answer those questions.

I think at one point in time in your life you’re always going to have a legal issue or a question or you just got in an accident. So it’s really nice to have you guys available.

Thanks, yeah, we’ve all been there.

Insurance Companies

Okay, all right, so we’re going to talk about insurance today. And we’re going to talk about the good guys and the bad guys. Just kind of put it into perspective for us because when people get in accidents they really don’t know who to talk to.

Sure so on the left you’re going to see your insurance and that’s obviously your contract – if you have insurance on your car – and then their insurance. And by their we’re talking about the person that injured you if you’re injured in a car accident.

Okay, so it looks like you don’t talk to anyone there, right?

Well you can kind of see all the things that you want to do exactly with your insurance – again you have a contract with them – notify them of your claim. You want to cooperate with them, keep them updated on your, “Hey, I’m seeing Dr. X, Dr. Z etc.” Pay your medical bills, pay your UM/UIM – which Phils talked about at length – is uninsured underinsured motorist coverage and then forward their insurance. Let your lawyer handle that if you have one.

That’s what we do.

Don’t Talk to Other Insurance Company

Right I mean according to that graphic, don’t talk to them, don’t talk to… I mean you really aren’t supposed to talk to the other side. You’re not obligated.

You’re not obligated. There’s no duty under Colorado law to do so and really, the only thing that you would tell them, it would hurt you. There’s nothing that you could say that would benefit you.

And when they do call you – because I got in an accident – I was on a phone with them within hours.

Absolutely.

you can just say, “Hey, I’m working on getting a lawyer.”

Absolutely.

And go that route.

Inadmissible Statements

Yeah, and there’s actually a law. A lot of people don’t know about this. A lot of attorneys don’t know about it. But it says that within 15 days of an accident they are not allowed to take your statement. And if they do, it’s totally inadmissible.

Yeah, Phil really does push that. So you need to remember the 15 days, right?

Very important, yeah.

Okay, all right, so what are we talking about next?

Collateral Source Doctrine

Next, I think we’ll kind of touch on– there’s a graphic here and it goes over the amounts that basically kind of showing you how to maximize your personal injury claim. And there’s a couple things that come into play here first. There’s the Collateral Source Doctrine. And what that says is that you do not get to see the amounts that are paid that you pay. You only get to show what is billed. And so when you’re talking about settling you case, you’re going to use the higher of the numbers.

Medical Payments Coverage

There’s also medical payments coverage which you have through your own insurance kind of like you have underinsured motorist coverage. And what that does is it pays for medical bills and if you have any remaining – after you’ve used your health insurance – or if you don’t have health insurance, you can use that to pay off that balance which you’ll see there of $7,000. So really – in combination – you’re talking about showing through the Collateral Source Doctrine the total amount that was charged or billed, not paid, but then at the end you get to use that reduced amount there on the right, the $7,000 and if you have that medical payment’s coverage, it can come in and take care of what’s owed. So we maximize again what you get on the top end and what you have to pay back on– minimize what you have to pay back on the back end.

I think it’s really important to point out. I mean all those numbers on that screen and everything.

Yeah, there’s quite a bit.

You know people really don’t know what that means. That’s why it’s so important to get an attorney after an accident, right?

And they shouldn’t know what it means. It’s confusing and confounding that if you’re actually talking to the other side, they’re going to tell you things that aren’t correct. They’re going to say what have you paid. So if there’s $30,000 billed–

Really?

Yeah, and you’ve only paid $12,000, a lot of times they’ll make it seem as if that $12,000 is kind of the figure that matters when it’s not. And so an attorney who practices in this area is really going to know that and be able to take care of that for you.

Harding & Associates

Yeah, absolutely. That’s why you guys are so good. I mean you’re such a good firm to call. You’ve been with them for quite a while. What is your expertise with Harding & Associates?

Well we again, primarily handle personal injury cases but we do a lot of different things as well. We take some construction defect contract cases. It just kind of depends on the facts and more importantly any questions that our viewers have, we take a lot of pride in answering that. And again, if it’s not something that we’ll do, we’re going to be there. We’re going to answer the phone. We will call you back.

You’re very passionate about this. You said you love being a lawyer.

I do. Yeah, I do.

Why is that?

I just think problem solving and talking to people who are in need sometimes, you know again, it’s just pointing them in the right direction. Sometimes you can really help them personally. Either way, you have someone who doesn’t know what’s going on and hopefully you can be there kind of to fix their problem.

And you’re here to help.

That’s right.

So if you have any question for Chris or Phil go to ColoradosBest.TV and send those questions in they will answer each question personally. And if you’d like to contact Phil at his office, Harding & Associates, call 303-762-9500 and you can get a free consultation anytime. You can also find him online at Hlaw.org.

By: Chris Parrish

Handling Insurance Companies After an Injury – Maximize Your Compensation | Denver Personal Injury

Car Accidents in Denver

If you’re ever in an accident your insurance company and the other side’s insurance company will be calling you within days. Can you speak freely to both sides or do you have to watch what you say? Colorado’s best attorney, Phil Harding couldn’t be here today so he sent his partner in crime, Chris Parrish from Harding & Associates. He’s here today with all the answers. He just sends you when he can’t make it he’s like, “We’ll just send Chris in.”

You know it’s not as good as the original but I’ll see what I can do.

I will take you. I think you’re pretty darn great. You guys are really good about answering questions when people write into Colorado’s Best, right?

Yeah, we like to take every single call even if it’s something maybe that it’s a little outside of the scope of what we do. We do primarily personal injury although we handle other issues as well. We want to talk to them even if it’s just talking to them about what we do know and maybe giving a referral. We’re happy to be here and answer those questions.

I think at one point in time in your life you’re always going to have a legal issue or a question or you just got in an accident. So it’s really nice to have you guys available.

Thanks, yeah, we’ve all been there.

Insurance Companies

Okay, all right, so we’re going to talk about insurance today. And we’re going to talk about the good guys and the bad guys. Just kind of put it into perspective for us because when people get in accidents they really don’t know who to talk to.

Sure so on the left you’re going to see your insurance and that’s obviously your contract – if you have insurance on your car – and then their insurance. And by their we’re talking about the person that injured you if you’re injured in a car accident.

Okay, so it looks like you don’t talk to anyone there, right?

Well you can kind of see all the things that you want to do exactly with your insurance – again you have a contract with them – notify them of your claim. You want to cooperate with them, keep them updated on your, “Hey, I’m seeing Dr. X, Dr. Z etc.” Pay your medical bills, pay your UM/UIM – which Phils talked about at length – is uninsured underinsured motorist coverage and then forward their insurance. Let your lawyer handle that if you have one.

That’s what we do.

Don’t Talk to Other Insurance Company

Right I mean according to that graphic, don’t talk to them, don’t talk to… I mean you really aren’t supposed to talk to the other side. You’re not obligated.

You’re not obligated. There’s no duty under Colorado law to do so and really, the only thing that you would tell them, it would hurt you. There’s nothing that you could say that would benefit you.

And when they do call you – because I got in an accident – I was on a phone with them within hours.

Absolutely.

you can just say, “Hey, I’m working on getting a lawyer.”

Absolutely.

And go that route.

Inadmissible Statements

Yeah, and there’s actually a law. A lot of people don’t know about this. A lot of attorneys don’t know about it. But it says that within 15 days of an accident they are not allowed to take your statement. And if they do, it’s totally inadmissible.

Yeah, Phil really does push that. So you need to remember the 15 days, right?

Very important, yeah.

Okay, all right, so what are we talking about next?

Collateral Source Doctrine

Next, I think we’ll kind of touch on– there’s a graphic here and it goes over the amounts that basically kind of showing you how to maximize your personal injury claim. And there’s a couple things that come into play here first. There’s the Collateral Source Doctrine. And what that says is that you do not get to see the amounts that are paid that you pay. You only get to show what is billed. And so when you’re talking about settling you case, you’re going to use the higher of the numbers.

Medical Payments Coverage

There’s also medical payments coverage which you have through your own insurance kind of like you have underinsured motorist coverage. And what that does is it pays for medical bills and if you have any remaining – after you’ve used your health insurance – or if you don’t have health insurance, you can use that to pay off that balance which you’ll see there of $7,000. So really – in combination – you’re talking about showing through the Collateral Source Doctrine the total amount that was charged or billed, not paid, but then at the end you get to use that reduced amount there on the right, the $7,000 and if you have that medical payment’s coverage, it can come in and take care of what’s owed. So we maximize again what you get on the top end and what you have to pay back on– minimize what you have to pay back on the back end.

I think it’s really important to point out. I mean all those numbers on that screen and everything.

Yeah, there’s quite a bit.

You know people really don’t know what that means. That’s why it’s so important to get an attorney after an accident, right?

And they shouldn’t know what it means. It’s confusing and confounding that if you’re actually talking to the other side, they’re going to tell you things that aren’t correct. They’re going to say what have you paid. So if there’s $30,000 billed–

Really?

Yeah, and you’ve only paid $12,000, a lot of times they’ll make it seem as if that $12,000 is kind of the figure that matters when it’s not. And so an attorney who practices in this area is really going to know that and be able to take care of that for you.

Harding & Associates

Yeah, absolutely. That’s why you guys are so good. I mean you’re such a good firm to call. You’ve been with them for quite a while. What is your expertise with Harding & Associates?

Well we again, primarily handle personal injury cases but we do a lot of different things as well. We take some construction defect contract cases. It just kind of depends on the facts and more importantly any questions that our viewers have, we take a lot of pride in answering that. And again, if it’s not something that we’ll do, we’re going to be there. We’re going to answer the phone. We will call you back.

You’re very passionate about this. You said you love being a lawyer.

I do. Yeah, I do.

Why is that?

I just think problem solving and talking to people who are in need sometimes, you know again, it’s just pointing them in the right direction. Sometimes you can really help them personally. Either way, you have someone who doesn’t know what’s going on and hopefully you can be there kind of to fix their problem.

And you’re here to help.

That’s right.

So if you have any question for Chris or Phil go to ColoradosBest.TV and send those questions in they will answer each question personally. And if you’d like to contact Phil at his office, Harding & Associates, call 303-762-9500 and you can get a free consultation anytime. You can also find him online at Hlaw.org.

By: Chris Parrish