Colorado Auto Accident & Motorcycle Laws

How to Stack Auto Insurance Policies and Receive Proper Compensation After an Accident |…

Jeff Kelley

 

Paying Medical Bills Following Bicycle Collision

This summer, unfortunately it seems not a week goes by without a car versus bicycle accident. Despite ad campaigns about keeping our heads up, everybody, whether we’re driving or biking, we’ve had way too many of these accidents. We’re here to talk about what happens after this kind of an accident, and how to get your medical bills paid.

We have Jeff Kelly, he is an attorney with Harding & Associates, in for Phil Harding this Friday. Good to see you again. Good morning. Jeff, you were here last week, and you talked about an interesting concept I haven’t really even heard about before, and that’s about stacking insurance policies to make sure you’re actually getting all of the compensation that’s due you.

That’s correct. And to remind our viewers, you need to have a knowledgeable attorney in this area who will really dig into the different coverages available. And here is a graphic that we used last week. Maybe we could talk about this just for a minute.

Areas of Coverage

Yeah, just kind of a refresher here. Right. And the different areas that you look to for a coverage would be the owner of the car, if they have insurance, the driver of the car, are they insured? And if you have problems in those areas, there may not be insurance or enough insurance, and you look to your own UM, UIM coverage, which we know is Uninsured Motorist or Underinsured Motorist coverage. Yeah, we know that now because you all are always here educating us on UM and UIM.

All right, so we understand a little bit more about the stacking, so that says the car driver or even the passenger, or the person who’s been hit. But I would think it’s vital that we have an attorney who understands how to dig and find those different policies for example. Right. You know, it’s not just knowing about digging into finding each of these policies or coverages, but you absolutely have to give the proper notification.

Today I want to show our viewers how they can reduce what they have to pay back to health insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, and the like. Yeah. I think a lot of people including myself didn’t realize that you do have to pay it back. I just thought, “Okay, it’s covered, they pay for it.” But once you get these policies and they come in, sometimes you have to pay back the health insurance, right?

Yes. And that’s called subrogation. Subrogation is paying back any health or other insurance company money that they paid out for your medical care due to this accident. Three years ago Colorado passed a law that says, “Whenever an insurance company pays– whatever they pay out for you, needs to be reduced by the amount of your attorney’s fees.” Yeah, it was just three years ago. It was called the Make Whole Law. Here is a little bit of it, an excerpt from it, right? Yes, and I’d like the viewers to know that it’s important that it says, “The amount recoverable if any by the payer of benefits or reimbursement, or subrogation, shall be reduced by an amount equal to the payer of benefits proportionate share of the attorney’s fees and expenses incurred on behalf of the injured party in making a recovery.”

All right. So the two little tiny words, but if any. That’s a big deal. If any is paid back to the health insurance, is that correct?

Yes. Great eye for detail. The reason that that’s important is that the law says that if any, is because if you are not made whole, you generally do not have to pay back your health insurance. Let’s look at another portion of this law, of the Make Whole Law. It says, “Any provision in a policy contract or benefit plan allowing a required reimbursement for subrogation in circumstances in which the injured party has not been fully compensated, is void as against public policy.”

All right. So is this where you come in, Jeff? You and the rest of the team at Harding & Associates? You help the court decide or anyone decide if I have been made whole?

Yeah. I mean how do you prove you’ve been made whole or not? Great point. What we do is, this law describes this type of a determination. It’s set up by statue. In short, if you get the total amount of the insurance coverage as we went through those policies, and we’ll do that in a minute, then you are presumed not to have been made whole. And with this analysis that works with each policy that you can collect from. So if we could go back to that first graphic, I could go through this for– We may have a little bit of technical, our air on the graphics.

So let’s just talk about the different ones. So if the owner of the car, if they have insurance. Let’s say they get 25,000. Right?

Yes. What you do is, you go through an analysis with each policy. And let’s say potentially there is a $25,000 policy for the driver of the other car, $25,000 policy for the owner of the car, possibly a $25,000 UM, UIM policy on another vehicle you may own, then as you settle with each carrier, presuming you have damages that substantiate that type of a recovery. Then the health insurance company, based on the Make Whole Law, will defer recovery, and should defer recovery so you don’t have to pay back your health insurance each time you go through that analysis with each settlement. Okay. Now, I think it’s important here, because the Make Whole Law is relatively new. You said it’s only three years old. Yes. I didn’t even know about it. And you said there were actually attorneys who– they know that it exist, but they’re not actually even using it. That is key when you’re in an accident, to have an attorney like you and Phil, you’re digging for these other policies. And I think the point– it’s all wiggled, so I’m trying to keep up with you. So if you are getting the maximum, the 25,000, then basically they’re assuming, “Okay, you haven’t been made whole yet because you’re already getting the max.”

Correct. Am I reading that right? Right. The presumption is that a policy limit settlement presumes that you have damages that exceed that amount. So what you have to do is, you have to give the health insurance company, and they use a third-party administrator to recover monies for the health insurance company. You give them a 60-day notice, and they have that time period to evaluate it and look at it, and determine if they agree that the party has not been made whole by that policy when there is settlement. If they don’t agree, then you have to go to an arbitration with them. Okay. All right. Good stuff. Thank you so much.

You’re always educating us, you and Phil. If you have any legal questions for Jeff or his colleague Phil Harding, they would absolutely love to hear from you, and it’s easy to get a hold of them. You can go to our website coloradosbest.tv. Look for Phil’s photo there, there it is. Click on it, and they take the time and answer each of your questions personally. And many times they come on the show and address them right here on Colorado’s Best. To contact Harding & Associates directly, here is their number 303-762-9500. You can also go online to hlaw.org. Coming up.

By: Jeff Kelley

Paying Medical Bills Following Bicycle Collision

This summer, unfortunately it seems not a week goes by without a car versus bicycle accident. Despite ad campaigns about keeping our heads up, everybody, whether we’re driving or biking, we’ve had way too many of these accidents. We’re here to talk about what happens after this kind of an accident, and how to get your medical bills paid.

We have Jeff Kelly, he is an attorney with Harding & Associates, in for Phil Harding this Friday. Good to see you again. Good morning. Jeff, you were here last week, and you talked about an interesting concept I haven’t really even heard about before, and that’s about stacking insurance policies to make sure you’re actually getting all of the compensation that’s due you.

That’s correct. And to remind our viewers, you need to have a knowledgeable attorney in this area who will really dig into the different coverages available. And here is a graphic that we used last week. Maybe we could talk about this just for a minute.

Areas of Coverage

Yeah, just kind of a refresher here. Right. And the different areas that you look to for a coverage would be the owner of the car, if they have insurance, the driver of the car, are they insured? And if you have problems in those areas, there may not be insurance or enough insurance, and you look to your own UM, UIM coverage, which we know is Uninsured Motorist or Underinsured Motorist coverage. Yeah, we know that now because you all are always here educating us on UM and UIM.

All right, so we understand a little bit more about the stacking, so that says the car driver or even the passenger, or the person who’s been hit. But I would think it’s vital that we have an attorney who understands how to dig and find those different policies for example. Right. You know, it’s not just knowing about digging into finding each of these policies or coverages, but you absolutely have to give the proper notification.

Today I want to show our viewers how they can reduce what they have to pay back to health insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, and the like. Yeah. I think a lot of people including myself didn’t realize that you do have to pay it back. I just thought, “Okay, it’s covered, they pay for it.” But once you get these policies and they come in, sometimes you have to pay back the health insurance, right?

Yes. And that’s called subrogation. Subrogation is paying back any health or other insurance company money that they paid out for your medical care due to this accident. Three years ago Colorado passed a law that says, “Whenever an insurance company pays– whatever they pay out for you, needs to be reduced by the amount of your attorney’s fees.” Yeah, it was just three years ago. It was called the Make Whole Law. Here is a little bit of it, an excerpt from it, right? Yes, and I’d like the viewers to know that it’s important that it says, “The amount recoverable if any by the payer of benefits or reimbursement, or subrogation, shall be reduced by an amount equal to the payer of benefits proportionate share of the attorney’s fees and expenses incurred on behalf of the injured party in making a recovery.”

All right. So the two little tiny words, but if any. That’s a big deal. If any is paid back to the health insurance, is that correct?

Yes. Great eye for detail. The reason that that’s important is that the law says that if any, is because if you are not made whole, you generally do not have to pay back your health insurance. Let’s look at another portion of this law, of the Make Whole Law. It says, “Any provision in a policy contract or benefit plan allowing a required reimbursement for subrogation in circumstances in which the injured party has not been fully compensated, is void as against public policy.”

All right. So is this where you come in, Jeff? You and the rest of the team at Harding & Associates? You help the court decide or anyone decide if I have been made whole?

Yeah. I mean how do you prove you’ve been made whole or not? Great point. What we do is, this law describes this type of a determination. It’s set up by statue. In short, if you get the total amount of the insurance coverage as we went through those policies, and we’ll do that in a minute, then you are presumed not to have been made whole. And with this analysis that works with each policy that you can collect from. So if we could go back to that first graphic, I could go through this for– We may have a little bit of technical, our air on the graphics.

So let’s just talk about the different ones. So if the owner of the car, if they have insurance. Let’s say they get 25,000. Right?

Yes. What you do is, you go through an analysis with each policy. And let’s say potentially there is a $25,000 policy for the driver of the other car, $25,000 policy for the owner of the car, possibly a $25,000 UM, UIM policy on another vehicle you may own, then as you settle with each carrier, presuming you have damages that substantiate that type of a recovery. Then the health insurance company, based on the Make Whole Law, will defer recovery, and should defer recovery so you don’t have to pay back your health insurance each time you go through that analysis with each settlement. Okay. Now, I think it’s important here, because the Make Whole Law is relatively new. You said it’s only three years old. Yes. I didn’t even know about it. And you said there were actually attorneys who– they know that it exist, but they’re not actually even using it. That is key when you’re in an accident, to have an attorney like you and Phil, you’re digging for these other policies. And I think the point– it’s all wiggled, so I’m trying to keep up with you. So if you are getting the maximum, the 25,000, then basically they’re assuming, “Okay, you haven’t been made whole yet because you’re already getting the max.”

Correct. Am I reading that right? Right. The presumption is that a policy limit settlement presumes that you have damages that exceed that amount. So what you have to do is, you have to give the health insurance company, and they use a third-party administrator to recover monies for the health insurance company. You give them a 60-day notice, and they have that time period to evaluate it and look at it, and determine if they agree that the party has not been made whole by that policy when there is settlement. If they don’t agree, then you have to go to an arbitration with them. Okay. All right. Good stuff. Thank you so much.

You’re always educating us, you and Phil. If you have any legal questions for Jeff or his colleague Phil Harding, they would absolutely love to hear from you, and it’s easy to get a hold of them. You can go to our website coloradosbest.tv. Look for Phil’s photo there, there it is. Click on it, and they take the time and answer each of your questions personally. And many times they come on the show and address them right here on Colorado’s Best. To contact Harding & Associates directly, here is their number 303-762-9500. You can also go online to hlaw.org. Coming up.

By: Jeff Kelley

Tips & Recommendations After Experiencing an Auto Accident | Colorado

Phil Harding

 

You know Colorado’s best attorney? He’s right here standing next to me.  Hello.  Phil Harding. Well hello. Happy Friday. Every week you teach us interesting things about the law that impacts our lives. I have learned really truly a lot from you.  Good.  And we always encourage you to send him your questions. So today, we thought we would actually see what kinds of questions you’re sending in, and hopefully he has the answer, right? You have all the answers?  I sure hope I do.  All right. What are we starting with?  Well, I’m excited about this, and we’re going to go see how many questions we can go over. And let me tell you what we’re starting with.  Okay. What are we starting with? What was the question?  Well, the question was, if I make a statement after my injury, can they use that against me? Like in an auto accident. I’m going to tell you, if the insurance adjuster on the other side takes your statement within 15 days of the injury, totally inadmissible.  I did not know that. Didn’t know that. When I got in an accident a couple years back, the first thing I did that day was I gave my statement. You’re not supposed to do that.  Never. And that’s why there’s a Colorado law. There’s Colorado law that says, if someone on the other side takes your statement within 15 days, totally inadmissible. The other thing that it says is, if you settled your injury claim, now not the property claim but your injury claim within 30 days, totally voidable. And while we’re talking about personal injuries, I want to go over some quick dos and don’ts–  I love these.  –after an injury.  Because it’s telling us exactly what not to do. So, what should you not do?  Absolutely. Let’s start with the don’t. Don’t sign the medical release for the other side, and we’re going to show this here in just a second. Don’t give a statement. Number one, you saw that there was a law. But number two, it’s not going to help you anyway. So don’t make a statement without an attorney on line. Don’t show your medical bills with reductions it it.  What does that mean.  You’re going to see this here in just a moment because I’m going to show you a Swedish Medical bill on this. And don’t settle your case until you’re done treating. Now let’s talk about some dos. All right?  Okay.  Here are some dos. Do, if you’re able to after the accident, take pictures of the scene, including skid marks, damage to the car, all of that stuff. Also, another do is take pictures of your injuries, bruising and the like. Do kind of keep a log as to what’s going on. And most importantly, do follow your doctor’s orders. Because if you don’t, the other side’s going to say you failed to mediate your damages. Now let’s move on. Remember how I said don’t sign the medical release?  Yeah. Why is that?  The other side, yeah, they want to see your medical records, but they want to see your medical bills more than anything. Here’s one graphic I want to talk about. Now this, I got to tell you, in this situation, this is one bill from Swedish. Swedish billed $29,352 for the hospital alone. Not for the surgeon, but just for the hospital. Your insurance company reduced this amount by $20,803. They said, “We have a contracted rate with you.” So they knocked down that bill. And so they ended up only paying $6000. Now when you settle your case, you may have to pay back that $6000 to you health insurance. Colorado law says that you’re entitled to that full $29,000 to be paid from the other side. It’s called the Collateral Source doctrine. Now if you had signed a release for the other side, they would have seen this entire bill, and they’d only pay you $6000 when under Colorado law you’re entitled to full $29,000.  So that’s why earlier you said do not show the reductions on your medical bills.  Right. Right. You reduct that section. This one mistake alone, you would have lost $23,000.  Really.  One mistake.  Wow.  All right?  That’s why you need an attorney.  And that’s only one bill on this.  Okay. So now we’re going to talk about the recovery. A recovery depends on the other side having insurance, so what if the other side does not have insurance?  Yeah, that a great question. That’s a big question as a matter of fact that I get all the time too. And you know this, one out of six people driving in Colorado has no insurance at all.  Yes. I know that. That’s crazy.  So I’ve got to tell you, here’s the thing that you need to do. You need to take control of– you have health insurance. Make sure on your auto insurance you have something known as UM/UIM, stands for uninsured/underinsured motors coverage, and this is what I want you to know. Unless you signed a waiver, you have that on your car. What we’re talking about right now is insurance coverages. And here’s the thing, unless you signed a waiver, you have Med-Pay. So you have $5000 of medical payments that you don’t have to pay back. You have UM/UIM, uninsured/underinsured motors coverage. When you get UM/UIM, I want you to make sure that you have at least $100,000 on that. That one bill that we just saw from Swedish, $30,000. So make sure you have at least $100,000 on that.  $100,000. Okay.  And then with your car, if you have your car and either your renter’s or your homeowner’s insurance with the same company, add an umbrella for $300 or $400 more, you can get a $1 million more of coverage. Now, we’re going to jump real quick. I know we don’t have much time.  We have one minute.  Okay. Statute of limitation.  The countdown is on. We’re talking about statute–  Statute of limitation. Remember, statute of limitations is, you have to either settle this case or file a lawsuit within this time frame. If you’re on an auto accident, it’s three years.  Three years.  PLA, Premise Liability Act, that’s if you’re injured on the property of another. That’s two years. But if for example you’re injured on the state capital, you have to give notice, GIA, Governmental Immunity Act, within 180 days to even get the statute of limitations. Now if you’re fired or if you quit and your employer doesn’t pay you, you have to give them notice within 60 days. And if you do that, you get additional attorney’s fees and cost. Call me. I can answer these questions, but here is kind of the rocket docket going over, just a grab bag of questions.  Well Phil, it just shows me everything that I don’t know and why I would need a lawyer like you. Is that what you wanted everyone to deduce from all of this?  Absolutely or go to Coloradosbest.tv, and you can look at my previous segments.  That’s good. You will learn a lot. I promise. So now you know. Phil really does answer your questions. So if you have a question for Phil, go to Coloradosbest.tv and send those questions in. He really will answer them, and he answers them personally by email as well. If you would 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: Phil Harding

You know Colorado’s best attorney? He’s right here standing next to me.  Hello.  Phil Harding. Well hello. Happy Friday. Every week you teach us interesting things about the law that impacts our lives. I have learned really truly a lot from you.  Good.  And we always encourage you to send him your questions. So today, we thought we would actually see what kinds of questions you’re sending in, and hopefully he has the answer, right? You have all the answers?  I sure hope I do.  All right. What are we starting with?  Well, I’m excited about this, and we’re going to go see how many questions we can go over. And let me tell you what we’re starting with.  Okay. What are we starting with? What was the question?  Well, the question was, if I make a statement after my injury, can they use that against me? Like in an auto accident. I’m going to tell you, if the insurance adjuster on the other side takes your statement within 15 days of the injury, totally inadmissible.  I did not know that. Didn’t know that. When I got in an accident a couple years back, the first thing I did that day was I gave my statement. You’re not supposed to do that.  Never. And that’s why there’s a Colorado law. There’s Colorado law that says, if someone on the other side takes your statement within 15 days, totally inadmissible. The other thing that it says is, if you settled your injury claim, now not the property claim but your injury claim within 30 days, totally voidable. And while we’re talking about personal injuries, I want to go over some quick dos and don’ts–  I love these.  –after an injury.  Because it’s telling us exactly what not to do. So, what should you not do?  Absolutely. Let’s start with the don’t. Don’t sign the medical release for the other side, and we’re going to show this here in just a second. Don’t give a statement. Number one, you saw that there was a law. But number two, it’s not going to help you anyway. So don’t make a statement without an attorney on line. Don’t show your medical bills with reductions it it.  What does that mean.  You’re going to see this here in just a moment because I’m going to show you a Swedish Medical bill on this. And don’t settle your case until you’re done treating. Now let’s talk about some dos. All right?  Okay.  Here are some dos. Do, if you’re able to after the accident, take pictures of the scene, including skid marks, damage to the car, all of that stuff. Also, another do is take pictures of your injuries, bruising and the like. Do kind of keep a log as to what’s going on. And most importantly, do follow your doctor’s orders. Because if you don’t, the other side’s going to say you failed to mediate your damages. Now let’s move on. Remember how I said don’t sign the medical release?  Yeah. Why is that?  The other side, yeah, they want to see your medical records, but they want to see your medical bills more than anything. Here’s one graphic I want to talk about. Now this, I got to tell you, in this situation, this is one bill from Swedish. Swedish billed $29,352 for the hospital alone. Not for the surgeon, but just for the hospital. Your insurance company reduced this amount by $20,803. They said, “We have a contracted rate with you.” So they knocked down that bill. And so they ended up only paying $6000. Now when you settle your case, you may have to pay back that $6000 to you health insurance. Colorado law says that you’re entitled to that full $29,000 to be paid from the other side. It’s called the Collateral Source doctrine. Now if you had signed a release for the other side, they would have seen this entire bill, and they’d only pay you $6000 when under Colorado law you’re entitled to full $29,000.  So that’s why earlier you said do not show the reductions on your medical bills.  Right. Right. You reduct that section. This one mistake alone, you would have lost $23,000.  Really.  One mistake.  Wow.  All right?  That’s why you need an attorney.  And that’s only one bill on this.  Okay. So now we’re going to talk about the recovery. A recovery depends on the other side having insurance, so what if the other side does not have insurance?  Yeah, that a great question. That’s a big question as a matter of fact that I get all the time too. And you know this, one out of six people driving in Colorado has no insurance at all.  Yes. I know that. That’s crazy.  So I’ve got to tell you, here’s the thing that you need to do. You need to take control of– you have health insurance. Make sure on your auto insurance you have something known as UM/UIM, stands for uninsured/underinsured motors coverage, and this is what I want you to know. Unless you signed a waiver, you have that on your car. What we’re talking about right now is insurance coverages. And here’s the thing, unless you signed a waiver, you have Med-Pay. So you have $5000 of medical payments that you don’t have to pay back. You have UM/UIM, uninsured/underinsured motors coverage. When you get UM/UIM, I want you to make sure that you have at least $100,000 on that. That one bill that we just saw from Swedish, $30,000. So make sure you have at least $100,000 on that.  $100,000. Okay.  And then with your car, if you have your car and either your renter’s or your homeowner’s insurance with the same company, add an umbrella for $300 or $400 more, you can get a $1 million more of coverage. Now, we’re going to jump real quick. I know we don’t have much time.  We have one minute.  Okay. Statute of limitation.  The countdown is on. We’re talking about statute–  Statute of limitation. Remember, statute of limitations is, you have to either settle this case or file a lawsuit within this time frame. If you’re on an auto accident, it’s three years.  Three years.  PLA, Premise Liability Act, that’s if you’re injured on the property of another. That’s two years. But if for example you’re injured on the state capital, you have to give notice, GIA, Governmental Immunity Act, within 180 days to even get the statute of limitations. Now if you’re fired or if you quit and your employer doesn’t pay you, you have to give them notice within 60 days. And if you do that, you get additional attorney’s fees and cost. Call me. I can answer these questions, but here is kind of the rocket docket going over, just a grab bag of questions.  Well Phil, it just shows me everything that I don’t know and why I would need a lawyer like you. Is that what you wanted everyone to deduce from all of this?  Absolutely or go to Coloradosbest.tv, and you can look at my previous segments.  That’s good. You will learn a lot. I promise. So now you know. Phil really does answer your questions. So if you have a question for Phil, go to Coloradosbest.tv and send those questions in. He really will answer them, and he answers them personally by email as well. If you would 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: Phil Harding

How Motorcycle Insurance Coverage Effects a Passenger | Denver Car Accidents

Jeff Kelley

 

Motorcycle Passenger Safety and Litigation

This is prime motorcycle riding season and we hope you’re paying close attention to all those riders on two wheels. If you’re a rider, there are some things you can do to make sure that you’re really safe when you ride. Jeff Kelly, an attorney with Harding and Associates is here the first Friday of every month. He’s an avid motorcyclist who’s been riding for 30 years. Yes. 30 years. Wow. You have a lot of experience. And you’ve been practicing law for 25. Okay. We are talking to female passengers today. So all females out there who ever get on the back of a motorcycle, you want to listen up today because this is really interesting. You get a lot of phone calls come Monday morning. Yes. Why? Tell me why. Well, because people have been out riding motorcycles, and oftentimes it’s the passenger that’s calling me. They’re home, they’re unfortunately recovering from some kind of a collision. And they’re saying, “What do I do? What insurance do I go? Who do I contact?” Yeah. What do I– because I think, as females, we say, “Oh, motorcycle ride. Let’s get on.” It’s very last minute.

You’re not really thinking a lot about what could happen, and so a lot of these accidents do happen and you don’t have coverage. That’s right. What happens is someone’s invited, say, “Hey, I’m going to go to the store. I’m going to go somewhere. Would you like to go with me on my bike?” And the passenger, oftentimes a female, says, “Sure. I’ll go.” But they don’t know really what they’re getting into when they’re throwing their leg over that back seat and what may lie ahead there for them if there’s a collision. Okay.

You brought your helmet today. How can you miss this? It’s very neon. I remember saying no to the helmet when I was a young 20-year-old because I didn’t want to ruin my hair [laughter]. A lot of women do that. That is so common with– it’s hot. It might be 95 degrees out. I brought this several times because I want to really establish through repetition that this is the type of thing that could really save you from an accident.

Clothing, last time I brought a jacket that was the same color and that’s what I wear. This is what I wear. I want to make sure that I can be seen. You can’t miss it. Absolutely. Okay. We’re going to talk about protecting yourself if you’re a passenger, specifically. Most passengers are females. Why don’t we get into that. Right. Let’s get right down to that. Obviously, you might have health insurance. That’s great. That could be there as sometimes almost a last resort. But primarily, what you’re not going to know as a passenger, you’re not going to know what kind of insurance that motorcycle has. So if it’s a friend or even someone that you just met, and you’re getting on the motorcycle, that person only has to have $25,000 of liability protection. So if the driver of that motorcycle commits an error, drives recklessly, too fast, crashes the bike, the passenger is going to have only $25,000, the minimum limit, if they have that. Perhaps they have no insurance. So you brought a printout today. Obviously, we’re not going to be able to see this one. But you say– there’s your printout. You say that women should actually ask the person who’s driving to bring this out, really? Any passenger needs to know this. This is the bare essentials. Right on the top. Motorcycle Liability Insurance – $500,000. That’s like carrying– They need to have that. Well, it’d be good to know because your injuries could well exceed $500,000. And this is bodily injury coverage. This is what the driver of the motorcycle has to cover the passenger if they driver of the motorcycle’s at fault.

Now, dropping down there to Motorcycle Medical Payments, that’s $10,000 in MedPay. That is the most that I could actually get under this particular policy. That would set off any insurance coverage that one might have with health insurance. You have to pay health insurance back from a recovery from a third party. Medical payment coverage would reduce the amount that you have to pay back.

So you need to make sure there’s MedPay? Yes. In addition– Ideally. –to that top one? Okay. And then, as I’ve talked about on prior shows, the uninsured motorist protection down below, you see $500,000. That applies when the driver of the motorcycle would not have maybe done anything incorrectly, or not at fault for the accident and another vehicle caused the accident, or perhaps either another vehicle or a vehicle that didn’t stop. So it would be uninsured or under-insured. A vehicle that didn’t stop to say what insurance they had, or the one that did cause the accident had again maybe that minimum $25,000.

So you have to have those three? Yeah. I have to say, when I used to ride around with my boyfriend, this wasn’t even on my mind. And if it would’ve been, I would’ve been a little embarrassed to ask, Can I check your insurance? But you say you have to be smart about it, right? Well, it is a trap for the unweary. And we, as attorneys at Harding and Associates, we have to go back in time and try to assemble what’s available and look for the coverage.

As a passenger, the passenger has a unique set of challenges when there’s an injury because the driver of the other vehicle, possibly a car, may blame the driver of the motorcycle. Going too fast, too fast for conditions, sliding out on sand, around a curve. The passenger’s basically going to be the victim. As a last resort, the passenger hopefully will have some uninsured or under-insured coverage on their vehicle sitting in the driveway at their house. That’s the only thing a passenger can do is verify what coverage they have on their own vehicles. And some of that insurance coverage that you have on your, let’s say, four-wheel vehicle may exclude an accident that happened on a vehicle with less than four wheels.

So the moral of the story is, females, as passengers, we need to be smart about it. And we want people to know that you and Phil Harding are available to look over people’s coverage and let them know if they have enough, right? Absolutely. They could send it in anytime. We’ll talk to them, go over that coverage. Great. All right. If you have any legal questions for Jeff or his colleague, Phil Harding, as we mentioned, they would love to hear from you. Just log on to coloradosbest.tv, look for Phil’s photo, and click right there. They take the time to answer each question personally. And to contact Harding and Associates directly, their number is 303-762-9500 or online at hlaw.org.

By: Jeff Kelley

Motorcycle Passenger Safety and Litigation

This is prime motorcycle riding season and we hope you’re paying close attention to all those riders on two wheels. If you’re a rider, there are some things you can do to make sure that you’re really safe when you ride. Jeff Kelly, an attorney with Harding and Associates is here the first Friday of every month. He’s an avid motorcyclist who’s been riding for 30 years. Yes. 30 years. Wow. You have a lot of experience. And you’ve been practicing law for 25. Okay. We are talking to female passengers today. So all females out there who ever get on the back of a motorcycle, you want to listen up today because this is really interesting. You get a lot of phone calls come Monday morning. Yes. Why? Tell me why. Well, because people have been out riding motorcycles, and oftentimes it’s the passenger that’s calling me. They’re home, they’re unfortunately recovering from some kind of a collision. And they’re saying, “What do I do? What insurance do I go? Who do I contact?” Yeah. What do I– because I think, as females, we say, “Oh, motorcycle ride. Let’s get on.” It’s very last minute.

You’re not really thinking a lot about what could happen, and so a lot of these accidents do happen and you don’t have coverage. That’s right. What happens is someone’s invited, say, “Hey, I’m going to go to the store. I’m going to go somewhere. Would you like to go with me on my bike?” And the passenger, oftentimes a female, says, “Sure. I’ll go.” But they don’t know really what they’re getting into when they’re throwing their leg over that back seat and what may lie ahead there for them if there’s a collision. Okay.

You brought your helmet today. How can you miss this? It’s very neon. I remember saying no to the helmet when I was a young 20-year-old because I didn’t want to ruin my hair [laughter]. A lot of women do that. That is so common with– it’s hot. It might be 95 degrees out. I brought this several times because I want to really establish through repetition that this is the type of thing that could really save you from an accident.

Clothing, last time I brought a jacket that was the same color and that’s what I wear. This is what I wear. I want to make sure that I can be seen. You can’t miss it. Absolutely. Okay. We’re going to talk about protecting yourself if you’re a passenger, specifically. Most passengers are females. Why don’t we get into that. Right. Let’s get right down to that. Obviously, you might have health insurance. That’s great. That could be there as sometimes almost a last resort. But primarily, what you’re not going to know as a passenger, you’re not going to know what kind of insurance that motorcycle has. So if it’s a friend or even someone that you just met, and you’re getting on the motorcycle, that person only has to have $25,000 of liability protection. So if the driver of that motorcycle commits an error, drives recklessly, too fast, crashes the bike, the passenger is going to have only $25,000, the minimum limit, if they have that. Perhaps they have no insurance. So you brought a printout today. Obviously, we’re not going to be able to see this one. But you say– there’s your printout. You say that women should actually ask the person who’s driving to bring this out, really? Any passenger needs to know this. This is the bare essentials. Right on the top. Motorcycle Liability Insurance – $500,000. That’s like carrying– They need to have that. Well, it’d be good to know because your injuries could well exceed $500,000. And this is bodily injury coverage. This is what the driver of the motorcycle has to cover the passenger if they driver of the motorcycle’s at fault.

Now, dropping down there to Motorcycle Medical Payments, that’s $10,000 in MedPay. That is the most that I could actually get under this particular policy. That would set off any insurance coverage that one might have with health insurance. You have to pay health insurance back from a recovery from a third party. Medical payment coverage would reduce the amount that you have to pay back.

So you need to make sure there’s MedPay? Yes. In addition– Ideally. –to that top one? Okay. And then, as I’ve talked about on prior shows, the uninsured motorist protection down below, you see $500,000. That applies when the driver of the motorcycle would not have maybe done anything incorrectly, or not at fault for the accident and another vehicle caused the accident, or perhaps either another vehicle or a vehicle that didn’t stop. So it would be uninsured or under-insured. A vehicle that didn’t stop to say what insurance they had, or the one that did cause the accident had again maybe that minimum $25,000.

So you have to have those three? Yeah. I have to say, when I used to ride around with my boyfriend, this wasn’t even on my mind. And if it would’ve been, I would’ve been a little embarrassed to ask, Can I check your insurance? But you say you have to be smart about it, right? Well, it is a trap for the unweary. And we, as attorneys at Harding and Associates, we have to go back in time and try to assemble what’s available and look for the coverage.

As a passenger, the passenger has a unique set of challenges when there’s an injury because the driver of the other vehicle, possibly a car, may blame the driver of the motorcycle. Going too fast, too fast for conditions, sliding out on sand, around a curve. The passenger’s basically going to be the victim. As a last resort, the passenger hopefully will have some uninsured or under-insured coverage on their vehicle sitting in the driveway at their house. That’s the only thing a passenger can do is verify what coverage they have on their own vehicles. And some of that insurance coverage that you have on your, let’s say, four-wheel vehicle may exclude an accident that happened on a vehicle with less than four wheels.

So the moral of the story is, females, as passengers, we need to be smart about it. And we want people to know that you and Phil Harding are available to look over people’s coverage and let them know if they have enough, right? Absolutely. They could send it in anytime. We’ll talk to them, go over that coverage. Great. All right. If you have any legal questions for Jeff or his colleague, Phil Harding, as we mentioned, they would love to hear from you. Just log on to coloradosbest.tv, look for Phil’s photo, and click right there. They take the time to answer each question personally. And to contact Harding and Associates directly, their number is 303-762-9500 or online at hlaw.org.

By: Jeff Kelley

12
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