Category: Denver Personal Injury Attorney

By Donaldson Law

When Should I Accept the Insurance Company’s Offer for My Personal Injury Claim?

At Donaldson Law, LLC, our personal injury attorneys in Denver know that after our clients have been hurt in a premises liability incident, car crash, or another injurious scenario in Colorado, it is difficult to know what to expect from the insurance company.

When it comes to pursuing financial recovery for our clients’ injuries, the insurance company will investigate our client’s claims the same way we do — thoroughly.

After your long road to recovery, you should receive as close to full compensation as possible. That typically means not accepting the first insurance company offer but allowing our law firm to negotiate the best outcome available for your unique recovery needs.

Here is why.

Personal Injuries May Be More Serious Than They First Appear

The full extent of our client’s injuries from an accident may not be known for a long time after the incident.

This could be the case for many reasons, including:

  • Complications arise during the healing process or healing does not occur as expected.
  • The injuries require more extensive treatment than initially anticipated.

Before accepting a personal injury settlement, our clients must know how their injuries will affect their current and future employment, mobility and activity levels, overall health, and quality of life.

That typically requires reaching maximum medical improvement (MMI), which means the client has either reached their pre-injury status or is as good as they are going to get. If a client has ongoing pain or impaired function despite going through the recommended treatment, the impairment or injury will likely be deemed a permanent condition.

From there, our skilled attorneys and the insurance company’s adjuster will begin negotiating based on the strengths and weaknesses of your claim.

The insurance adjuster will often respond to the facts of the case with a settlement that is lower than our initial outline, and the negotiations will continue.

It is crucial to have an experienced personal injury lawyer negotiating on your behalf, because settlement agreements include a release of liability, which means the insurance company is not responsible for any payments outside of the settlement agreement.

Simply put, our clients cannot return to the table and ask for more money once the settlement is finalized. It is important to get it right during the negotiating process.

Will My Case Go to Trial If I Do Not Accept the Insurance Company’s Settlement?

It is estimated that only four to five percent of the personal injury cases in the United States go to trial.

Since you manage your injuries, pain, and suffering, you are also in control of your recovery. We can help.

Our Denver personal injury attorneys will keep you apprised of all negotiations, including when we believe negotiations have met our expectations and, more importantly, your recovery needs. If we agree that the case should proceed inside the courtroom, our trial-tested attorneys are prepared to fight for your complete financial compensation requirements.

Contact Our Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys in Denver, Colorado Today

If you have been injured because of another person or party’s negligence in Colorado, contact our skilled personal injury lawyers in Denver at Donaldson Law, LLC by calling (720) 458-5000 or contact us online to schedule a free confidential consultation to discuss your case.

 

By Donaldson Law

How Do Insurance Companies Investigate Personal Injury Claims?

At Donaldson Law, LLC, our personal injury attorneys in Denver begin our client relationships by explaining each injury victim’s legal rights and options to pursue the negligent party’s insurance coverage for the best outcome for their unique cases.

That means fully investigating the circumstances of their car crash, premises liability incident, or recreational accident claim to help ensure no detail is left to chance.

The insurance company that represents the negligent party who caused our client’s injuries will also thoroughly investigate the claim in similar ways.

While we focus on pursuing our clients’ best interests, the insurance company will work hard to mitigate their policyholder’s liability to help protect the company’s bottom line.

Here is what our Colorado clients need to know about the personal injury claim process.

How Do Insurance Companies Determine Who is Liable for Colorado Accidents with Injuries?

Depending on where and how our clients’ injuries occurred, we may pursue an auto, homeowners, and business insurance policy for their physical and emotional damages.

In return, the insurance company’s representatives will evaluate the accident to place some of the blame on the injured party, or another third party, to minimize the damages, so they pay less.

Even when it may seem obvious that our client was not at fault for the crash, including cases where our clients were injured by a drunk driver or someone who ran a red light, the insurance company will attempt to uncover any other factors that help lessen their liability.

First, the insurance company may l try to contact the injured person as soon as they are aware an accident with injuries occurred. This call is designed to get them to take some or all the fault for the incident that led to their injuries.

That may include asking questions about how the accident occurred, what type of injuries resulted, whether the injured person is seeking care, and whether they can go back to work.

Next, the insurance company will examine the injured person’s driving record and insurance coverage.

Just as our personal injury attorneys will, the insurance company will request a copy of the police report, witness statements, and any evidence obtained from the scene.

Finally, to learn more about our client’s injuries, the insurance company may request copies of the injured person’s medical records.

Physicians may not supply anyone, even insurance companies, with medical records without the injured individual’s written approval.

Providing access to medical records may significantly damage any personal injury claim, especially if the injured person’s complete medical history is delivered to the insurance company.

Complete medical records may outline a previous injury or preexisting condition that the insurance company may take out of context to argue that the crash or incident did not cause all of our client’s current injuries and medical needs.

If you have been asked to sign a document releasing your medical records to the insurance company, contact our experienced personal injury lawyers in Denver to review the document before signing.

Under Colorado law, insurance companies are not entitled to obtain all unrelated medical records that have nothing to do with the injuries suffered as a result of the accident. Limiting access to all medical records — and only giving specific access to the accident’s injury records — will help ensure the insurance company can only evaluate the current diagnosis and treatment plan.

Insurance Representatives Focus on Lessening Company Liability

Insurance company representatives investigate personal injury claims from a position that protects their employers.

The more severe the injuries, and the larger our client’s financial compensation needs, the firmer the insurance company will focus on limiting their liability and financial exposure.

Common ways insurance companies build their cases is to uncover evidence that supports its contention, including:

  • Running background checks on the injured parties to find any potentially damaging information.
  • Reviewing the injured person’s social media accounts for behavior that contradicts their injuries.
  • Talking to friends, neighbors, family members, or coworkers to help disprove the severity of the injury claim.
  • Locating images or witness testimony of the injured person walking without their crutches, skipping doctor’s appointments, or participating in physical activities.

Do not help the insurance company build a case that lessens their liability.

Allow our skilled Denver personal injury attorneys to protect, strengthen, and pursue your complete financial recovery needs, starting with a free consultation.

Contact Our Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys in Denver, Colorado Today

If you have been injured because of another person or party’s negligence in Colorado, contact our skilled personal injury lawyers in Denver at Donaldson Law, LLC by calling (303) 458-5000 or contact us online to schedule a free confidential consultation to discuss your case.

By Donaldson Law

Statute of Limitations in Colorado for Injury Claims

Injury Claims

Legal claims generally must be filed within certain time frames. Different types of claims have different deadlines. For example, a breach of contract claim may have a different deadline than a debt collection claim.

There are several purposes for these deadlines. Claimants should be motivated to file their cases, for example. In addition, if extended periods of time were provided to file a claim, it may be difficult for the parties to locate evidence and witnesses to build their cases.

Deadlines for Injury Claims

In Colorado, the deadline for car accident personal injury claims is three years. 

If the injury was not caused by a motor vehicle accident, Colorado allows a victim two years to file a claim. This shorter statute of limitations applies to slip and fall claims, premises liability claims, ski collisions, and other types of injury claims.

If a government entity is involved in the case, the deadline to file a notice of claim is 182 days. When a government entity is involved in an injury claim, the notice to the governmental entity must be filed by this deadline, or you will be forever barred from pursuing your claim.  Once the notice has been filed, the normal statute of limitations applies – three years for an auto collision and two years for most other types of claims. 

In injury claims, the statute of limitations generally begins on the date of the accident. However, in some rare cases, it may begin when the injury or error was discovered.

There are also factors that may “toll,” or “pause” the statute of limitations. However, these factors do not impact the governmental notice deadline.

For example, if a victim is under 18 years of age or is mentally incompetent, the statute of limitations may be tolled. However, once the victim turns 18 or has regained mental competence, the deadline applies.

These exceptions may only apply, however, if there is no legal representative available to file a claim on behalf of the victim. For example, parents or guardians often file claims on behalf of children and other individuals.  If you are a parent or guardian for an injured minor or incompetent individual, it is important to seek legal advice as early as possible. 

What Happens If You Miss the Statute of Limitations?

If an accident victim misses the statute of limitations and files a claim after the deadline has expired, it is very likely that the claim will be dismissed. Even if the victim was not at fault for the accident, the defendant will likely not be held liable for any of the victim’s damages.

This means that the victim will be responsible for all losses related to the accident—such as medical expenses, lost wages, and other costs. Depending on the facts of the case, the victim could be responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.

Since there are deadlines in place to file legal claims, it is important to meet with an experienced Colorado personal injury attorney as soon as possible to ensure your claim is filed in a timely manner. Personal injury attorneys know which deadlines apply to your case and will ensure that all necessary documents and evidence are submitted expeditiously.

Although two or three years seems like a generous length of time to prepare and file a claim, there is a great deal of work that often goes into preparing a case for filing. 

Your attorney will need to study medical records, accident reports, and eyewitness statements, for example. Medical providers may need several weeks or longer to produce records, and it may also take time to track down witnesses and discuss the case with them. 

Your attorney will make sure that your legal rights are protected and that all deadlines are met. Instead of worrying about filing and pursuing your claim, you can focus on recovering from your injuries.  

Jennifer Donaldson is Prepared to Help You With Your Claim 

If you need an experienced Denver personal injury attorney to help you with your case, call Jennifer Donaldson. Ms. Donaldson has three decades of experience in personal injury matters and offers a free consultation so that you can learn about your legal options. To schedule your free consultation, contact us at 303-458-5000.

By Donaldson Law

Current Insurance Claim Trends in Colorado

On top of this, you may be inundated by calls from adjusters requesting statements and information about your condition which you may not be ready to answer. You did not ask to be hit by a careless driver, but you are suffering the consequences nonetheless, and it can difficult to know what to do.  

Taking Advantage of Early Cooperation

In an effort to be as cooperative as possible, many claimants do whatever they can to please the adjuster for the at-fault insurance company. They are happy to provide recorded statements and sign blanket releases as they believe this is the best way to settle the claim quickly and fairly.

However, the adjusters for at-fault parties are not on your side, and they can use those medical releases to obtain unrelated, privileged medical records or use the recorded statements against you in the future. It is your right to limit the information available to the at-fault party’s insurance adjuster to protect your own privacy. Requirements for cooperation are different when you are dealing with your own insurance company, so be sure to contact a Denver personal injury attorney if you have questions about whether you need to cooperate with an adjuster.

Early Settlement Offers

Many claimants express the wish to “just be done with it,” and we have seen a trend lately wherein insurance companies take advantage of that instinct, offering early settlements which undervalue the claim. While it may seem like a good idea to put the accident behind you and move forward with your life, there can be devastating consequences for your case if you accept an offer before you know the full extent of your damages:

Unforeseen Medical Complications

You may assume that your neck or back pain will resolve rather quickly with a few physical therapy appointments. However, as you return to activities you were able to do prior to the crash, you may find the pain or mobility issues recur.

Sometimes a doctor may decide that after conservative measures have failed, injections or surgery may be required. However, if you have settled your claim before knowing the extent of the treatment you needed, you cannot go back and reopen your claim for any reason, so you will be stuck paying for any additional treatment with your own dollar.

Duty to Pay Back Your Insurance

You may be required to pay back your health insurance company from any settlement you receive, a process called “subrogation.” Many different factors and laws affect an insurance company’s ability to subrogate a claim, but if you have settled a claim prematurely, you may not have taken into account what your insurance company has paid and what might need to be paid back. You may owe the entirety of your settlement proceeds to your health insurance company, or, if you did not have health insurance, the hospital may have filed a lien for your treatment, perhaps exceeding the settlement amount, which you are required to pay.

Discounting the Cost of Your Medical Bills

You may have avoided the trap of accepting a premature settlement offer, but this does not mean you will necessarily receive a fair settlement offer from the at-fault insurance company. Recently, we have seen multiple adjusters reduce the amount of the medical bills incurred by a claimant with the argument that the charged amounts are not reasonable.

Despite the fact there is no evidence to support their claims that a medical bill is unreasonable, nor can they point to any local medical providers who would accept their discounted amount for treatment, insurance companies continue to instruct their adjusters to slash the amount of accepted medical bills, thereby slashing the value of the claim. If the amount of the medical bills is not being fairly evaluated, it is likely the entirety of the claim will be undervalued by the adjuster.

Contact an Attorney to Discuss Your Case

Insurance trends change often with corporate policies or as the result of legal precedents. If you are concerned that you are not being treated fairly, contact an attorney to discuss your case. Donaldson Law, LLC has been handling personal injury cases for over 30 years and can help you assess your claim.

By Donaldson Law

Legal Claims vs. Lawsuits: What’s the Difference?

Denver Personal Injury Lawyers

For those who have been injured in Colorado motor vehicle accidents, slip, and fall accidents, ski crashes, or other such incidents, there are two different routes of recovery available.

Each of these avenues may provide the injured victim with the compensation needed to pay for medical bills and other expenses related to the accident. However, there are advantages and disadvantages to both methods which should be carefully considered.

Filing a Legal Claim with the Insurance Company

The first option is to file a legal claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company.

Once a claim with the insurance company has been filed, the accident victim may negotiate a settlement that provides adequate compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses that stem from the incident.

Sometimes, you file a claim with the insurance company but are unable to settle the claim for what you believe is a fair amount. The adjuster may continually argue that the claim is not worth what the victims believe it is worth. At this point, you will need to discuss with your attorney whether you are willing to settle the claim or whether you want to file a lawsuit instead.

Filing a Lawsuit

Filing a lawsuit often becomes necessary if the insurance company refuses to settle a claim for a reasonable amount.

First, a personal injury attorney files the lawsuit on behalf of the injured victim. The lawsuit is then served on the opposing party, and the parties subsequently enter the discovery phase.

Most personal injury cases need to get through the discovery phase before it is possible to settle a claim. During discovery, the parties exchange evidence, such as medical bills, eyewitness accounts, accident reports, and other documents or items that are needed to fully evaluate the claim. 

Most cases that enter litigation settle without the need for a jury trial.

A major disadvantage of litigation is that it is a very expensive process. Consulting with expert witnesses, taking depositions, copying evidence, and numerous other steps may cost thousands of dollars.

Another disadvantage of litigation is that it may take much longer to finalize a claim, especially if a trial is necessary. Many court dockets have heavy loads. It may be months before a trial can be scheduled.

Additionally, there is always the risk of going to trial and obtaining a defense verdict or a verdict that is smaller than the insurance company’s offer.

Litigation has advantages, however. Once a lawsuit is filed, the parties have subpoena power, making some necessary evidence obtainable.

Further, if an adjuster was not fairly evaluating the claim, other individuals may join the process of evaluating the damages in the case once a lawsuit has been filed. This may result in a fair settlement for the victim’s injuries.

There is also the possibility that a jury will award an accident victim more than the insurance company offered to pay.

An experienced Denver personal injury attorney at Donaldson Law, LLC can help accident victims with both routes and advise them accordingly. Whether the claim is settled with the insurance company or must go to trial, these attorneys are able to ensure that their clients’ legal rights remain protected throughout the case and that they receive the best results possible.

If You Have Been Injured, Contact Donaldson Law, LLC

Attorney Jennifer Donaldson represents injured clients throughout the Denver area and is experienced in both negotiating with insurance companies and advocating for victims in the courtroom. To schedule a free consultation with our firm, contact us at 303-458-5000.