As a Pennsylvania Car Accident Lawyer who regularly brings Car Accident Claims against Insurance Companies like State Farm, Allstate, Progressive, GEICO, Erie and others and who regularly files Car Accident Lawsuits in the Courts in Pennsylvania, I can tell you that there are critical choices that you make when you buy Car Insurance that impact your legal rights and the rights of your family members who live with you.

Here are some of the most important choices:

Increased Medical Coverage

Pennsylvania Car Accident Medical Bills are paid on a No-Fault basis which means that regardless of who caused the accident, your own car insurance company pays your medical bills up to the amount of your coverage. There are no co-pays or deductibles and your insurance company pays a discounted rate, so the medical benefits last longer than you might think.

The Pennsylvania state minimum medical coverage and most commonly chosen amount is $5,000. However, I recommend that you choose higher coverage because it’s inexpensive. You can buy coverage of $10,000, $100,000 or even $1 Million. Given that many people have bad health insurance or high deductible plans, it is advantageous to have high Medical Coverage.

Full Tort NOT Limited Tort

When you purchase Car Insurance in Pennsylvania you have to choose Full Tort or Limited Tort. Full Tort costs more but protects your full legal rights to compensation after a car accident. You and your family members who are covered by the policy can recover economic damages, like medical bill and lost wages, and you can also recover non-economic damages, like money for pain and suffering.

If you choose Limited Tort, you pay less in premiums, but your rights to compensation are limited. You can recover economic damages but you waive your rights to recover non-economic damages unless you suffer a Serious Injury – Death, serious and permanent Disfigurement, or Serious Impairment of Body Function.

Uninsured and Underinsured Coverage

Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage (UM/UIM) protects you, your family members covered by the policy and other drivers or passengers in your vehicle in the event of an accident caused by someone else who does not have car insurance or does not have enough car insurance to cover the injuries and damages.

UM/UIM is optional coverage, so many people don’t have it. Because there are many Uninsured or Underinsured drivers on the road, it’s critical to purchase significant UM/UIM coverage to protect your family.

In the event of an accident, if the responsible driver has no insurance or not enough to cover the damages, you can make a claim on your own policy to be fully compensated up to the amount of coverage that you choose. The good news is that the claim will not increase your insurance rates since you paid premiums for the coverage.

I recommend that you purchase as much UM/UIM coverage as you can afford, at least $100,000 but preferably $1 Million or more. I’ve seen many catastrophic injury or death cases in my career in which the victim has little or no UM/UIM and the responsible driver only had the state minimum of $15,000 of Liability Coverage. In those cases, the victim or his or her family faced many financial challenges because of the inability to be fully compensated.

Check Your Policy Today!!!

Please check your Car Insurance Policy to make sure you have this important coverage. Also, for more information, check out my book on Car Insurance and Personal injury cases.

One of the most common questions I get in my Pennsylvania Personal Injury practice is: Will my Case have to go to a Jury Trial in Court? The answer is Maybe, but probably not.

The overwhelming majority of all Pennsylvania Personal Injury cases settle out of court rather than go to a Verdict in a Jury Trial. In my practice, I almost always try to settle the case with the insurance company before filing a lawsuit because Litigation is expensive and stressful for clients.

If the insurance company offers Fair Compensation before the lawsuit is filed, then it makes no sense to incur the expense and stress out the client with litigation.

However, sometimes insurance adjusters make Low Ball Offers that should be flatly rejected and litigation should be pursued.

So, it’s important to have a Lawyer who is an experienced Trial Lawyer who will properly prepare the case for Court and be ready to call the insurance company’s bluff and try the case if necessary.

Often after Litigation is filed and some Discovery occurs, the Defense lawyer will re-evaluate the case and it can still be settled before Trial for a fair sum.

Tim Rayne is a Pennsylvania Trial Lawyer who helps accident victims understand their rights and receive fair compensation. Contact Tim for a Free Consultation regarding your claim at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or check out his website www.TimRayneLaw.com.

If you are injured in a Slip and Fall Incident in Pennsylvania there are several things you should do in order to protect your legal rights. Slip and Fall claims are often considered highly suspicious by Insurance Companies and Juries so it’s critical that you do all of the right things to protect your legal rights.

Identify Witnesses

Having independent witnesses (other than you and family members) can be critical in a Slip and Fall case. If anyone tells you that they witnessed your fall and/or the condition that caused you to fall, write down their contact information and encourage them to give a statement to the store management or property owner.

Document the Condition that Caused the Fall with Photos and Video

It’s important to document the condition that caused you to fall. In the legal case you will have the burden of proving that there was a defective and dangerous condition that caused your fall and that the store or property owner created it or knew or should have known about it and had enough time to warn you about it or correct it before you fell.

Take photographs and video to document the dangerous condition.

Report the Incident

Make sure that you report the incident immediately to store management or the property owner, even if you do not think that you’ve been seriously injured. A failure to promptly report the incident can open you up to an argument that you are making up the incident.

Request Preservation of Security Video

When you report the incident, ask that any video of the premises be preserved. You should ask for video from four hours before the incident until after you left the premises to be saved. That video may show how the dangerous condition was created which is critical evidence in a slip and fall case.

Get Medical Treatment

Get immediate medical treatment to document your injuries and be sure to mention that the injuries were caused by the fall.

Seek Legal Advice

It’s important to seek Legal Advice as soon as possible after the incident to make sure that you are taking all appropriate steps to protect your Legal Rights. Personal Injury Lawyers offer Free Consultations and there is no obligation to hire the first lawyer you meet with. Personal Injury Lawyers handle Slip and Fall Cases on a Contingent Fee Basis, so there are no up front costs or legal fees. Instead, the Lawyer is paid at the end and only for a successful result.

Tim Rayne is a Slip and Fall Pennsylvania Personal Injury Lawyer with the Law Firm MacElree Harvey, Ltd. For over 25 years, Tim has been helping accident victims understand their legal rights and receive fair compensation from insurance companies. Tim has law offices in Kennett Square and West Chester Pennsylvania and can be reached at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or you can check out his website at www.TimRayneLaw.com.

You’ve been injured in a Car Accident in Pennsylvania that was caused by someone else and now the Car Insurance Adjuster is calling to offer you $1,000 to settle your claim. The adjuster is also telling you that you don’t need to talk to a lawyer.

What should you do? Is the adjuster right? Do you need a lawyer or not? Should you take the money? What is this Release he wants you to sign?

Well, as with all legal issue, it all depends. The Devil is in the Details.

Are you hurt? If so, what’s wrong? Will you need more treatment? What are your doctors saying? Are you losing time from work? What are your other damages?

First things first, Pump the Brakes

There is no rush. The insurance company knows it has a problem. The accident was caused by its insured. You have a valid claim. The insurance company wants to settle as quickly and cheaply as possible.

For you, there is no reason to rush. Your only time limit is the 2 Year Statute of Limitations which says that if you don’t bring legal action within 2 years of the date of the accident, then you lose your rights.

So, slow down. See what happens and think. Let the adjuster keep calling you and don’t talk to him.

When Don’t you Need a Lawyer After a Car Accident?

You Don’t need a lawyer if you have very minor injuries that you are sure will not worsen and the insurance company is making you a fair offer.

To know what a fair offer is you can likely have a Free Consultation with a Car Accident Lawyer like me and hopefully the lawyer will offer you some guidance on how to negotiate a settlement for a very small claim without charging you a fee.

But, beware that the insurance company will require you to sign a legal Release to get your money which forever extinguishes your claims.

When Do you Need a Lawyer After a Car Accident?

If you’ve been injured in a Car Accident caused by someone else and you have injuries that will require more than a few trips to the ER, Urgent Care or a Doctor, then you should get legal advice and consider retaining a Car Accident Lawyer to represent you.

Car Accident lawyers work on a Contingent Fee Basis and get paid out of the recovery, so it won’t cost your anything up front to talk to or even hire the lawyer.

Talking to a Car Accident Lawyer rather than to the adjuster will allow you to get educated on the process and your legal rights and to learn about the compensation to which you are entitled because you were hurt by someone else’s carelessness.

When in doubt, it’s wise to get a referral and call a Car Accident Lawyer.

Tim Rayne is a Pennsylvania Car Accident Lawyer with the Chester County based law firm MacElree Harvey. For over 25 years, Tim has been helping injured accident victims understand their legal rights and receive fair compensation from insurance companies. Tim has law offices in Kennett Square and West Chester and also meets with clients in their homes or remotely via FaceTime or Zoom. Contact Tim at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or visit his website at www.TimRayneLaw.com.