Information and Insight for Injured Iowans

     Don’t you hate it when you underestimate your expenses? Not only can this happen to your monthly budget, but also in your motorcycle accident claim. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, we have seen insurance companies try to settle claims with offers that barely cover a motorcycle accident victim’s expenses. We want to protect these injured bikers from losing money that should be theirs.

Insurance company representatives will sometimes try to convince an injured biker to quickly settle his or her personal injury claim by throwing out a settlement figure that – at first glance—might seem fair. What they often do not mention is that the motorcycle accident victim may not be entitled to keep all of that money.

     Often an injured biker has had medical bills or lost wages paid by his or her:

·         Health insurance company

·         Auto insurance company (“medical payment coverage”)

·         Short-term disability insurance company

·         Employer’s  worker’s compensation company

     Almost all of the insurance policies described above require an injured biker to pay back any amounts received if the injured biker receives a settlement with the negligent driver or his or her insurance company. This legal obligation which is known as “subrogation” can leave an injured biker with little or nothing after a settlement. We protect our clients from the shock of subrogation by always advising out clients about how much of any settlement offer they will actually be able to put in their pockets. We also work to reduce our client’s subrogation obligations whenever possible before a settlement is reached.

To learn other ways to protect your rights as a motorcycle accident victim, go to Iowa Motorcycle Accident Facts to download a free 35-page guide. 

You deserve compensation for your car accident injuries and as Cedar Rapids, Iowa, personal injury attorneys, we want to make sure you do. After a car accident, the other driver’s insurance company will contact you to collect information regarding the crash.  However, the insurance company is not serving to protect your best interests and may sometimes try to get you to say something that will harm your claim.

     Giving a recorded statement is not likely to make the other driver’s insurance company pay your medical bills any sooner. Not only is there usually any benefit to giving a recorded statement to an insurance company on your own but there is also a serious risk. Insurance company representatives are professionals trained to take recorded statements that can be used against you in court. In our experience, they ask specific questions that may result in damaging admissions from you that will reduce the value of your personal injury claim. If the other driver’s insurance company calls you after a car accident, we recommend that you politely tell them that you will be happy to speak to them – after you speak to your attorney.  Our firm protects our clients from the danger of recorded statements by only allowing them to be taken when one of our attorneys is present.

To protect yourself against other unfair tactics insurance companies may use, go to Iowa Car Accident Facts to download a free 35-page guide.

Have you ever spoken too soon and then regretted it later? In our experience as Cedar Rapids, Iowa motorcycle accident attorneys, we have seen many motorcycle accident victims make the mistake of giving a recorded statement to an insurance agency before speaking with an experienced motorcycle lawyer.

Giving a recorded statement is not likely to make the other driver’s insurance company pay your medical bills any sooner. Not only is there usually no benefit to giving a recorded statement to an insurance company on your own but there is also a serious risk.  Insurance company representatives are professionals trained to take recorded statements that can be used against you in court. They ask specific questions designed to get damaging admissions for you that will reduce the value of your motorcycle accident claim. If the other driver’s insurance company calls you after a motorcycle accident, we recommend that you politely tell them you will be happy to speak to them—after you speak to your attorney. Our firm protects our clients from the danger of recorded statements by only allowing them to be taken when one of our attorneys is present.

To protect yourself against other tactics the insurance company may use, go to Iowa Motorcycle Accident Facts to download a free 35-page guide.

  Failing To Keep Your Bike In Good Working Condition Can Damage Your Motorcycle Accident Claim
 There are mistakes that can be made after a motorcycle accident, for example, talking to an insurance adjuster before you get independent legal advice from a motorcycle lawyer-but there are some mistakes that can be made before the accident even occurs. One such mistake is driving a motorcycle that has a known defect and not repairing it.  This can impact your case negatively and there isn’t a way to fix that mistake after a motorcycle accident.  One thing many drivers claim after they hit a motorcycle is that they “couldn’t see” the motorcycle coming.  In these cases, the insurance company may try to claim that your headlight was not working, or that some other defect on the motorcycle actually caused the accident, instead of their driver.  Sometimes, insurance companies try to blame the biker for having inadequate or poorly maintained tires or brakes.  While you might be comfortable on your bike in the condition it is and while the so-called problems my having nothing actually to do with how or why the accident occurred, you don’t want to have to explain anything to an adjuster or jury about the poor condition of your bike. 

The easiest way to prevent these types of claims form the insurance company is to perform routine maintenance on your bike, to make sure you have all of the safety features the law requires, and that they are in working condition.  Also, be sure to keep good records of all tune-ups and repairs.  Do not let a small mechanical problem ruin your ability to collect for your injuries.

For more ways to protect oneself in case of a motorcycle accident, go to Iowa Motorcycle Accident Facts to download a free 35-page guide.

     It is hard to know where to turn after a medical error causes death or serious injury.  Often injured patients or their families contact a local attorney without knowing whether the attorney is truly qualified to handle an Iowa medical malpractice case.  Unfortunately, few attorneys have experience investigating and winning medical malpractice cases in Iowa courtrooms. 

     For that reason, hiring an attorney because she lives down that street or because he handled a traffic ticket for you in the past can be a big mistake.

     What are the odds that you just happen to live minutes away from one of the relatively few Iowa lawyers who practice primarily in medical malpractice cases? The sad truth is that most people are willing to drive several hours for a good deal on a new car but they do not look beyond their hometown for a lawyer. Don’t get us wrong – if you were injured in Iowa, you will likely need a lawyer with a license to practice in Iowa. But what many people don’t realize is that a malpractice attorney who is licensed to practice law in Iowa can file a lawsuit in any Iowa county.

     You should not focus on picking the nearest attorney – you should focus on picking the best and most qualified one for your case. That kind of choice can and should involve a statewide search.

     For a step-by-step guide to finding the right Iowa malpractice attorney for you, go to Iowa Malpractice Facts to download a free 35-page guide.

     Most car accident victims will receive a request from an insurance company to sign a medical release form.  Often, an insurance company representative will suggest that his or her company cannot start paying medical bills until it receives a signed medical release. Do not be bullied into signing one of these forms.
     The first thing to realize is that the other driver’s insurance company is not likely to pay any medical bills until you are willing to settle your case once and for all. Signing a medical release or any other insurance company document is not likely to change that. An insurance company is eventually entitled to review records of any medical treatment for which you ask to be reimbursed. In our experience, however, most medical release forms are written in such a way that they give the insurance company access to all of your medical records – even records that are unrelated to your accident injuries.

     Often insurance companies will then turn around and use your pre-accident health history as justification for making a low settlement offer. Our firm protects our clients from this tactic in a number of ways:

·         We advise our clients to avoid giving an insurance company a signed medical release until we have reviewed your medical records first

·         If our review uncovers items in your medical history that may impact your claim, we make sure that you know about them before the insurance company does

·         When we do provide the insurance company with a signed medical release, we make sure that the release only applies to relevant medical treatment

     To learn more ways to protect yourself from unfair insurance company tactics, go to Iowa Car Accident Facts to download a free 35-page guide.