Marc Falco Law HomeInsurance Companies Are Not On Your Side
Unfortunately, many people have been led to believe, from decades of commercials and bias media reporting, that insurance companies work for them. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
If you have been in a car, motorcycle, bicycle or pedestrian accident, it is a very good idea to hire an attorney. If you do not, your own insurance company may try to limit what you recover, including benefits under your own policy. In Florida, we have a 14-day requirement for you to seek medical treatment or your company will deny you your $10,000.00 in No-Fault/PIP benefits, regardless of whether you have been paying for those benefits for years. They also try to limit those benefits to only $2,500.00 unless you obtain an opinion from a physician that complies with the Emergency Medical Condition definition.
If you have ever been in an accident and have had to deal with an insurance company, you know how difficult that can be. If you have never had to deal with an insurance company, prepare for a long and frustrating process. Just dealing with the insurance company regarding your motor vehicle, motorcycle or bicycle property damage can be exasperating.
The insurance industry is one of the largest industries in the United States. It is a multi-billion dollar industry and the insurance companies, regardless of their cute slogans and warm and fuzzy commercials, are not charitable organizations. They have shareholders and are profit driven. They are no different than casinos. They merely play the numbers game. Although there are some very nice people in the insurance industry that try to do the right thing, their hands usually are tied, not to mention insurance companies wrote the book on departmentalization.
Why Won’t They Answer The Phone
The longer an insurance company holds its money, the more they make off of their investments. One of their main goals is to prolong the process and hold their money as long as possible, even when they know they have to pay the money. One tactic is by not answering the phone. You may leave numerous voicemail messages before you ever hear back from someone. Then, as luck would have it, when you do receive a return call, you miss it. Then it may be days before you get someone to call you back again.
One of the biggest complaints I hear from clients when they hire me is, “I keep calling my insurance company but they never call me back. I can’t get any answers.” At FalcoLaw I can assure you they will call us back. Additionally, we call them repeatedly, man the phones and make sure we receive their return calls. If, for whatever reason they are not cooperative, we have the option of filing a lawsuit against them on your behalf.
I Just Got A Large Medical Bill -- I Thought My Insurance Company Was Supposed To Pay For It.
In Florida, the required No-Fault/PIP coverage pays 80% of your medical bills, up to $10,000.00. You can pay additional money for Medical Payment coverage. However, most individuals have the typical 80%. Once the proper bill is sent to your insurance company, the insurance company has 35 days to pay 80% based upon the No-Fault/PIP fee schedule. If they do not, they are in breach of contract.
Unfortunately, not all medical providers use the proper format to submit the bills. At FalcoLaw we can assist your doctors, physicians, hospitals or clinics on the proper procedure to submit your bills so that they are paid in accordance with your insurance policy. Additionally, many physicians, hospitals and medical facilities accept a Letter of Protection from FalcoLaw. This will insure that you will not be charged these outstanding bills, whether it is the 20% or over and above the $10,000.00 PIP limit, until the end of the case. This allows you to continue treating without having to worry about paying the bills as you go along. You also may not be working at the time and paying these medical bills when you are not bringing in the same amount of income can be very stressful and sometimes impossible.
I Can’t Work Due To My Injuries, How Am I Going To Survive
As mentioned above, Florida requires you to pay for No-Fault/PIP insurance if you are operating a motor vehicle in the state. This coverage pays 80% of your medical bills and 60% of your lost wages up to $10,000.00. There are specific forms and procedures to follow in order to submit your lost wages to your insurance company. Very few laypersons know what those procedures or forms are and, quite often, your insurance company will not be helpful in that regard.
The Other Insurance Company Keeps Calling And Offering Me Money
Some insurance companies are very aggressive and try to obtain a settlement soon after an accident. Understand that they are not doing you any favors. If they offer you money, you can bet that they are saving money in the long run. If you accept their money, you will sign a Release and give up all of your rights.
Never accept a first offer from an insurance company and never settle your case soon after the accident because you do not know the full extent of your damages. Your damages include not only the medical bills that you incurred, but any damage to your car, motorcycle or other personal property, your total lost wages or future income and, of course, your injuries. Quite often people do not know the full extent of their injuries until a number of months after an accident. That is because some injuries are harder to diagnose.
You need to make sure you treat with competent doctors who will perform the proper tests and diagnosis to determine what the full extent of your injuries are. At FalcoLaw we have long term standing relationships with some of the finest physicians in the area and we can assist in getting you to those right physicians to determine the full extent of your injuries.
Additionally, if we are not able to settle with an insurance company, we are prepared to file a lawsuit on your behalf. Doing so on your own would not be advised. There are procedural aspects of filing a lawsuit, which take many years to understand, not to mention the Rules of Evidence and proper courtroom protocol. Hire your own attorney to work for you and not the insurance company.
Hire Your Own Advocate FalcoLaw
FalcoLaw will be your advocate. We have longstanding relationships with most of the insurance companies as well as the individual adjusters for those insurance companies. We are able to get matters concluded on your behalf. You will not need to be concerned with them once you hire us. Additionally, because of our many years of experience and success in the courtroom, we are able to settle most matters prior to filing a lawsuit. That will save you considerable amounts of time, stress and money. Let FalcoLaw’s 27 years of experience work for you. The Insurance companies have lawyers and you should also.
