In 2022, for the 8th consecutive year, Tim Rayne has been named to the Top 100 List for Pennsylvania by Super Lawyers.

The Super Lawyers Selection Process

Each year, the research team at Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters rating service and publication, selects outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas through a rigorous, multi‐phase process that includes:

• a statewide survey of lawyers
• an independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff
• a peer review of candidates by practice area
• a good-standing and disciplinary check

Candidates are evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement, including verdicts and settlements; honors and awards; special licenses and certifications; pro bono and community service efforts; and scholarly lectures and writings.

The ultimate objective of Super Lawyers is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse list of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for other practitioners and consumers searching for legal counsel.

Approximately 5% of the Pennsylvania Bar received the Super Lawyers distinction.

In addition to Tim Rayne, 17 other MacElree Harvey Pennsylvania lawyers were named as either Super Lawyers or Rising Stars.

Super Lawyers Top 100 in Pennsylvania

Once all of the Super Lawyers are named for a particular year, there is a further review process that leads to the selection of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania.

Although Tim is honored to receive recognition like the 2022 Super Lawyers Top 100 in Pennsylvania designation from his peers, what he is really passionate about is telling his clients’ stories to insurance adjusters and juries to make sure that they are fairly compensated after being injured in accidents.

Tim Rayne is a Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyer who helps Pennsylvania Accident Victims understand their legal rights and receive fair compensation from insurance companies. For over 25 years, Tim has been negotiating settlements with insurance companies and trying Jury Trials inside and outside of Pennsylvania. Tim has law offices in Kennett Square and West Chester, PA and meets with clients in their homes or remotely via FaceTime or Zoom. You can contact Tim at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com.

When you buy Car Insurance in Pennsylvania Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage is Optional as is “stacking” of Uninsured/Underinsured Benefits. It’s critical to do both; buy substantial amounts of UM/UIM Coverage and Stack those Benefits.

Why?

Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage is critical to have because it protects you, the people who ride in your car and your family members who live with you if any of you sustain an injury in a car accident caused by someone else who doesn’t have any car insurance (Uninsured) or doesn’t have enough car insurance (Underinsured) to pay for the injuries and damages they cause (medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering etc.).

Having Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage allows you to make a compensation claim against your own insurance company to be compensated above what the responsible driver has to pay from his insurance. And, the Uninsured/Underinsured Claim won’t increase your insurance rates because you paid for the coverage.

What is “Stacking?

“Stacking” does two things, it allows you to combine UM/UIM Benefits in multiple car insurance policies (Inter-Policy Stacking) and it allows you to multiply UM/UIM Benefits in a multi-car policy (Intra-Policy Stacking).

Inter-Policy Stacking

Sometimes more than one Car Insurance Policy will apply to an accident. If that is the case and you choose Stacking on your Policy, then you can get extra UM/UIM Benefits.

Here’s an example. Assume that you are riding in a friend’s car and are seriously injured by another driver who has no insurance. Your first source of Uninsured Benefits (UM) would be the vehicle you are riding in. Assume that your injuries are worth $500,000 and your friend only has $100,000 of UM coverage on the car you were riding in. Then assume that you have $300,000 of UM coverage on your Car Insurance. If you chose Stacking, then you can also make a claim for $300,000 on your own UM Coverage. Stacking allows you to make claims on both policies.

Intra-Policy Stacking

Stacking also multiplies the amount of UM/UIM Coverage by the number of vehicles insured on a multi-vehicle policy. If you have 4 vehicles on your Car Insurance Policy and $300,000 of UM/UIM Coverage, then Stacking multiplies the coverage by 4 resulting in $1.2 million of UM/UIM Coverage.

Then, if you or a family member is injured by an Uninsured or Underinsured driver, you can make a claim for compensation up to the stacked coverage amount.

Benefits of Stacking

As you can see, Stacking offer essential benefits in both single vehicle and multi-vehicle policies. For these reason, I strongly encourage you to Stack UM/UIM Benefits. There is increased cost to do it by it’s well worth it!

Tim Rayne helps Car Accident Victims understand their legal rights and receive fair compensation from insurance companies. Contact Tim at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or check out his website at www.TimRayneLaw.com.

Property owners have a responsibility to maintain their properties so as not to allow dangerous conditions to exist which can cause injuries to people on the property or adjacent to the property.

One of those duties for property owners who own trees is to conduct a reasonable inspection of the trees and to trim or remove dead trees to avoid the risk of the tree or limbs falling and injuring someone.

In my legal career, I’ve had two case where falling trees caused injuries and led to legal liability.

In the first one, my client was a young lady who was visiting a farm and on a haunted hay ride when a large tree limb fell and landed on her leg, causing a serious fracture. The tree had been dead for a long time such that the property owner should have taken it down and the failure to do so made it legally liable for my client’s injuries.

The other case involved a residential property owner who allowed dead trees to remain in the woods which were immediately adjacent to a public road. My client suffered injuries when as he was driving by the property one of the trees fell and struck his car. Again, the property owner was legally liable for failing to inspect and trim or remove the dead trees.

Property Owners Must Maintain Their Properties to Avoid Liability

The bottom line is whether it’s your trees, your house, your pool, your driveway or any other part of your property, you have a responsibility to inspect and maintain your property to avoid legal liability.

At the same time, it is important to maintain adequate Liability Insurance on your property so that if something unexpected occurs and you get sued for injuries, an insurance company will have to pay to defend you and pay compensation to the injured person.

In both of the cases I mentioned above, the property owners had insurance and the insurance company defended the property owner and paid compensation to the injured people.

For more information on your legal rights after an accident, contact Tim Rayne at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or check out his website www.TimRayneLaw.com.

If you ride a motorcycle in Pennsylvania it’s critical for you to carry Underinsurance Coverage to make sure that you are fully compensated if you are seriously injured in a Pennsylvania motorcycle accident.

Injuries from motorcycle accidents are usually serious and often the car or truck driver responsible for causing the crash will not have enough insurance coverage to pay for your injuries and damages. Serious injuries lead to high medical bills, lost income, lots of pain and suffering and often long term disability.

Fair compensation can be hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

If the responsible driver doesn’t have enough liability coverage, then you need to rely on your own Underinsurance Coverage on your motorcycle in order to be fairly compensated.

I recommend that you purchase at least $500,000 of Underinsurance Coverage to make sure that you are fully compensated.

Tim Rayne is a Personal Injury and Motorcycle Accident Lawyer who can assist you with understanding your legal rights and receiving fair treatment from insurance companies. Tim can be reached at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or you can check out his website at www.TimRayneLaw.com.

If you ride a motorcycle and are unlucky enough to be involved in a crash, it’s an unfortunate fact that you will likely suffer serious injuries. I’ve seen it happen numerous times in my legal career as a Personal Injury Lawyer. A motorcycle rider sustains multiple fractures or a serious head injury when a car turns left in front of him. Once the immediate health concerns are addressed, the rider or his family must determine whether the car driver has enough insurance to pay for the medical bills, lost income and other damages.

How Much Insurance Will the Car Driver Have to Compensate the Motorcycle Rider?

In Pennsylvania the minimum amount of Car Insurance Liability Coverage is only $15,000. So, if a motorcycle rider is injured in a collision caused by a car driver, the driver may have as little as $15,000 to compensate the motorcycle rider and his family.

For a serious motorcycle injury, $15,000 would not come even close to fully compensating the motorcycle rider or his family.

The Solution – Underinsurance Coverage for Your Motorcycle

What is the Solution if the responsible car driver doesn’t have enough coverage to make up for all of the injuries and damages? It’s called Underinsurance Coverage, which is coverage you pay for on your own Motorcycle Insurance Policy that will pay you compensation to make up for your injuries and damages in the event that you are injured in an accident that’s not your fault and the responsible driver doesn’t have enough Liability Coverage to pay for the damage.

The way Underinsured Coverage works is that you make a claim against the responsible driver and his/her insurance company first and then make up the difference between that coverage and the fair value of the claim by making an Underinsurance Claim.

For example, assume a motorcycle accident is caused by a negligent car driver and that the motorcycle rider breaks both arms and legs. The case is worth $500,000 but the car driver only has $50,000 of Liability Insurance. The motorcycle driver has $500,000 of Underinsurance coverage.

In that case, the motorcycle rider can collect $50,000 from the driver’s Liability Coverage and then can recover the remaining $450,000 from his own Underinsurance Coverage and is fully compensated.

So, as you can see, Underinsurance Coverage is critical and can make sure that motorcycle accident victims are fully compensated in every case, even if the responsible driver doesn’t have enough insurance coverage.

For more information about your legal rights after a Motorcycle Accident, contact Lawyer Tim Rayne at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or check out his website at TimRayneLaw.com.