Personal Injury

November 19, 2010

Personal injury cases and medical privacy

By making a personal injury claim, you are asking the insurance company for the person who caused your injuries to pay you for your damages. In the most generous view of insurance companies, in order to fairly compensate you, the will need to do a full invesitigation of your claim. Of course, we normally see that this investigation is not as impartial as it should be. Nevertheless, when you make a claim, you open a window into parts of your life you would ordinarily consider private.

One example is your medical history. For instance, if you are claiming that you have an injury to the muscles in your neck, it makes sense for the insurance company to verify that you weren’t treating for the same thing before the accident. Obviously, they are not required to pay you to get physical therapy for your neck if it was necessitated by a prior, chronic neck problem. There is no way to know if you had a prior neck problem without examining your medical history.

The analysis of what information the insurance company is entitled to review really comes down to what they may receive should your case enter litgation, and further, what they would be allowed to present to a jury. The scope is extremely broad. However, in some circumstances, items that could in no way be related to an auto accident, or would not be allowed into evidence in a trial, can be withheld.

October 22, 2010

Workers’ compensation injuries and personal injury claims

by Peter Thompson & Associates

In Maine, there is a potential intersection of the workers’ compensation and personal injury systems when the injury is caused by a third party.

Generally, if you are injured at work, regardless of the cause, you are compensated for that injury entirely through the workers’ compensation system. However, did you know that if a party other than your employer is responsible for the injury, you may also have a separate claim against that party?

For example, if you were driving a vehicle as part of your job and were injured in an accident caused by another driver, you have both a workers’ compensation claim and a claim against the other driver.

October 22, 2010

Oxford teenager killed in crash

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Reported in the Portland Press Herald, October 22, 2010

HARRISON — Police in Harrison, Maine, say one teenager has been killed and three other people injured in a car crash.

Eighteen-year-old Thomas McLendon, of Oxford, was a passenger in a Chevrolet Trailblazer whose driver lost control rounding a corner and crashed into trees.

October 16, 2010

Three-vehicle crash on Route 26 in Paris sends 2 women to hospital

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Reported in the Sun Journal, October 16, 2010

PARIS — Two people were injured late Friday morning when a car delivering mail was struck from behind by an 18-wheel tractor-trailer on a rainy, windswept stretch of Route 26 near the West Paris town line.

According to Lt. Michael Dailey of the Paris police, a 1998 Buick Century driven by 31-year-old Katie Brett of Paris was traveling south at 11:30 a.m. and had stopped to let a northbound car pass before she attempted to turn into Doe’s Variety. Her car was hit by a Freightliner fuel truck driven by 53-year-old William LeTarte of Dummer, N.H. The truck was lettered with “Bill LeTarte Trucking” of Dummer.

September 24, 2010

What if the person who caused my accident doesn’t have enough insurance? Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Maine

by Peter Thompson & Associates

What happens if someone else’s negligence behind the wheel causes you injury and they don’t have enough insurance?sIn Maine, every auto insurance policy is required to have several components. In a previous post, we discussed uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, or the coverage that exists when the other party is not insured. The partner component of UM coverage is underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage. Like with UM coverage, every auto insurance policy in Maine must have a minimum of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident of UIM coverage (See Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 29-A Section 1605 (1)(C)(2) & (3) and Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 24-A Section 2902). This means, if you have insurance, you automatically have this coverage as part of your policy.

UIM coverage is used when someone causes you injury and their insurance policy is not sufficient to cover your damages. For example, although Maine requires $50,000 minimum of insurance, Massachusetts only requires $20,000 minimum. With the rising costs of medical expenses, even a moderate injury can easily use up this amount. This must also cover any lost wages, pain and suffering, attorney’s fees, and all other damages you may have. (The only exception is your vehicle damage, which is usually covered separately.)

So, if you are injured by someone who has $20,000 of insurance and you have $50,000, then there is a total of $70,000 of coverage right?sUnfortunately, no. In Maine, your UIM carrier receives a credit for the amount paid by the insurance company for the at fault driver. Therefore, in this example there is only a total of $50,000 of coverage. $20,000 paid by the at fault driver and $30,000 paid by your UIM carrier. Therefore, if you only have the minimum required insurance coverage of $50,000 of UIM, and someone else with the minimum causes you an injury, there is no additional coverage for your injuries.

September 24, 2010

New Sharon man dies after he was struck by truck

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Reported by the Bangor Daily News on Septemeber 22, 2010

NEW SHARON — An elderly man was killed Tuesday morning as he crossed Route 134 in front of his house, police said.

Glen Fitch, 87, was killed instantly when he was struck by a pickup truck driven by 43-year-old Walter Fails of New Sharon.

September 18, 2010

What happens if the person who caused my accident didn’t have insurance?sUninsured Motorist Coverage in Maine

by Peter Thompson & Associates

What happens if someone else’s negligence behind the wheel causes you injury and they don’t have insurance?sIn Maine, every auto insurance policy is required to have several components. One of those components is uninsured motorist coverage (UM). Every auto insurance policy must have a minimum of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident of UM coverage. (See Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 29-A Section 1605 (1)(C)(2) & (3) and Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 24-A Section 2902). This means, if you have insurance, you automatically have this coverage as part of your policy.

UM coverage is used when someone with no insurance at all causes you injury. In that case, you can use up to the amount of your policy. Therefore, if you have only purchased the state minimum of insurance, the maximum amount available tosyou from an accident will be $50,000. This is true even if the accident was not your fault. With the rising costs of medical expenses, even a moderate injury can easily use up this amount. This must also cover any lost wages, pain and suffering, attorney’s fees, and all other damages you may have. (The only exception is your vehicle damage, which is usually covered separately.)

Note that the limit is further split, depending on how many people are injured in the accident. For example, if a family of three are traveling in the same car and all three are injured, the maximum amount available for the whole accident is capped at $100,000. No one person can recover more than $50,000 and the total amount the insurance company will have to pay will not exceed $100,000. Again, if all three have even moderate injuries, there will likely not be enough money to properly compensate everyone.

September 16, 2010

Family of Three Killed, Man Injured in Route 1A, Dedham Accident

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Reported by Bangor Daily News on September 14, 2010 and September 15, 2010

DEDHAM, Maine — A family of three from Jonesport was killed and an Orono man was injured Tuesday in a two-vehicle crash on U. . Route 1A.

Killed in the accident were Carlos A. Tapia, 34, his wife, Rachelle R. Tapia, 23, and Rachelle Tapia’s 4-year-old daughter, Mackenzie Gray, who was Carlos Tapia’s stepdaughter.

September 9, 2010

Maine Law Requires Disclosure of Insurance Limits

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Until recently, auto and other liability insurance companies in Maine were not required to disclose the amount of insurance carried by their insureds, even when they were clearly at fault for an accident. This gave the insurance companies an advantage in settlement negotiations and in determining how long a case took to settle. Fortunately, the Maine legislature corrected this obvious inequity and granted injured persons the right to the insurance coverage information. (M.R. .A 24A -§2164-E.) If the insurance companies do not disclose the information within 60 days of a written request, you are entitled to a $500 fine from them. Many insurance companies are not yet aware of the change in the law and the team at Peter Thompson & Associates has successfully collected several $500 fines for our clients. If you have questions about your rights when dealing with insurance companies, contact us at 1-800-917-1784 or read more on our website, www.Peter-Thompson-Associates.com, on our car accident practice page.

November 17, 2009

Serious injuries resulting from 4 car crash in York

by Peter Thompson & Associates

November 12, 2009: A four-car accident on Route 1 Thursday afternoon resulted in multiple injuries and heavy damage to the vehicles involved. A 2008 Volvo station wagon driven by James W. Stott II, 55, of Cape Neddick, was traveling northbound on Route 1 when he struck a southbound 2008 Dodge Durango driven by 38-year-old Erin Latulippe of Ogunquit, who had two young children. Police said the force of the impact sent the Durango careening into a 2007 Kia Sedona van driven by Kelly M. Moulton, 42, of Cape Neddick, who had a 6-year-old child in her vehicle. Following that collision, the Volvo collided with a 2000 Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Bryan J. Learned, 24, of Wells, which also rolled over.

The cause of this accident is under investigation. As personal injury specialists, Peter Thompson & Associates has investigated hundreds of multi-car accidents. In almost all cases, the primary and secondary causes of collisions are disputed, resulting in the need for a comprehensive accident reconstruction. While police will often conduct an accident reconstruction, we find it frequently necessary to conduct more detailed investigations of accident scenes to determine who, among the various vehicles involved, was at fault. Because important evidence that will be necessary to provide the most accurate investigation is often lost as time passes, it is critical that a comprehensive accident reconstruction occur as soon as possible and that all witnesses to the accident are interviewed to preserve their recollections.