My personal injury lawyer going for my own insurance

[kaylac83]

I was in a car accident a few weeks ago in my bf’s vehicle and was hit directly on the passenger side. The accident was the other party’s fault but given that Florida is a no fault state I don’t think it matters much. We immediately called a personal injury attorney to handle our case knowing we’d have to go be seen for our injuries. A few weeks go by the and attorney calls and states both my bf and the other driver have limited bodily injury coverage but my insurance which is separate from my bf’s has much higher coverage and that they would seek the maximum from my policy.

Should I be worried about the lawyer going after my own insurance? There are other people on the policy and I wouldn’t want 1) my rate to rise and 2) to be dropped completely by the insurance company especially since I played virtually no part in the accident.

 

[resjudicata]

@kaylac83 So they will run up your medical bills. Pay themselves first. Negotiate your treatment bill reduction and pay them and you can have the scraps.

You shouldn’t have hired an attorney unless you grossly misunderstand how insurance works and need help valuing your claim. Even the facilities that treat you would have taking your insurance info and invoiced them with out taking half your money

 

[ayenew]

@resjudicata Agreed

 

[dennisbon]

@kaylac83 (Insurance Claims supervisor here) not trying to sound dramatic at all but Your rate is going to sky rocket for the rest of your life. You will forever be seen in the eyes of carriers as “the person who hires an attorney in the event of an accident to get as much money as possible”There is a database insurance companies use and they have access to every detail regarding prior claims, and when they see that “attorney represented” phrase on there and that your own carrier paid for your injuries when you weren’t at fault, they aren’t going to trust you at all. This leads to my next point, unless the insurance company is being shady or not honoring a claim (which happens sometimes but rarely due to large amount of pressure from the department of insurance) STOP GETTING ATTORNEYS. Everyone wonders why auto insurance is so expensive, it’s because the general public has been lied by commercials and billboards that you are entitled to money after an accident. Yes, if your crippled by a drunk driver you should be paid out heavily for pain and suffering. That is not the case for 99.9% of accidents. Your medical bills would be paid regardless of if you got an attorney, your attorney is going to do nothing but make themselves money at everyone else’s expense. Courts don’t like insurance, attorneys use courts as a threat and cause insurance companies to pay millions in nonsense injury claims. Attorneys do nothing but send emails threatening insurance companies. Insurance is a necessity and required by law, the insurance companies have to stay in business, so guess who it falls back on? EVERYONE WHO PAYS FOR INSURANCE

 

[davelew86]

@kaylac83 Yes, your rate will go up. Yes, they could drop you.

 

[levarchknight]

@kaylac83 If you know this soon after the crash that your injuries are severe, you need to include all carriers to make sure your injuries are covered. If you only go after some, with lesser amounts, you might not be. If you were not at fault they shouldn’t hold it against you. They might, but that’s another story.

 

[legolas2106]

@kaylac83 Your lawyer has a fiduciary duty to act in your best interest. Don't post online and ask the lawyer these questions. The lawyer is more qualified than the people answering here. In some states like Ohio it is illegal for them to consider this in your rates. I don't know about Florida.

 

[ayenew]

@kaylac83 Lawyers are gonna go after whoever they legally can for a bigger payout, more money in their pockets. This is the same payout that would 100% go to you that you now only get a smaller cut after ur bills and attorney is paid. I never understood why people get attorneys with mild injuries. Attorneys are gonna run up those treatment and medical bills as much as they can to max out all policies and then the customer gonna wonder why their premiums are so high smh