A person who has been seriously hurt in an accident caused by someone else driving a vehicle will typically receive an insurance company settlement offer. An injury attorney in Oro Valley can help convince the insurer to increase the amount if it does not seem reasonable. Sometimes working out a settlement takes several months. That is to be expected, for instance, if the injured person needs a long recovery time involving more than one surgery and ongoing physical therapy. The lawyer wants to make sure the client gets all the financial compensation they are entitled to, and that should include payments for all medical bills as well as for lost wages from when this person could not go to work.
In the meantime, the injured person will probably need to make payments on the medical bills, since hospitals and other facilities do not patiently wait for payment because a settlement is tied up in legal issues. Those bill payments could be made through the individual’s health insurance. They could also be made through the person’s automotive insurance if the policy includes personal injury protection, commonly called PIP. In Arizona, this type of coverage is optional, so not everyone has it.
A client of an injury attorney in Oro Valley must understand that they will not receive the full settlement from the at-fault driver’s insurance company. First, a firm such as Price & Price Law receives its fees through the settlement. This is very common in personal injury cases, as it allows accident victims to receive legal assistance without having to make upfront fee payments. Visit the website for information on this firm and the opportunity to arrange a free initial consultation.
Second, if health insurance or PIP insurance has paid for medical bills, some of the settlement money must pay back those insurers. This is entirely reasonable since a large portion of the insurance company’s settlement is intended to pay for aspects such as surgery, hospitalization and care by physicians and therapists. The rest of the settlement is intended to pay for a loss of income and any other factors the individual should be compensated for.
