Tips Guides

Having already covered issues involved in choosing Liability coverage and First Party coverage, as well as making the Limited Tort or Full Tort election, I now address my last automobile insurance topic dealing with Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage. Since there are countless vehicles traveling the roads every day, with either no liability coverage or minimal liability coverage, it is important for you to consider purchasing substantial Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage.

In the event that you are involved in an accident caused by a driver with little or no insurance, it is likely that you will need to turn to your own automobile insurance policy to get fair compensation for your injuries and damages. In such situations, you are protected if you have purchased Uninsured (UM) and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage.

Uninsured Motorist coverage (UM) provides protection for accidents caused by a driver of a vehicle who has no insurance or who leaves the scene and cannot be located such as a hit-and-run driver. Underinsured Motorist coverage (UIM) provides protection for accidents caused by a driver of a vehicle who has liability insurance but not enough coverage to pay for the damages resulting from the accident, such as medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering.

In Pennsylvania, all automobile insurance companies must offer both UM and UIM coverage and must obtain signed waivers if UM or UIM coverage is rejected. Since UM/UIM coverage is very important to have to protect you from drivers with little or no liability coverage, it is advisable to carry at least $100,000 of coverage, if not more. In addition to choosing the amount of UM/UIM coverage, you are also given the option to “stack” such coverage if you insure more than one vehicle on your policy. For example, if you “stack” $100,000 of coverage on a policy covering three automobiles, you will have $300,000 of available coverage if you are a victim of an accident involving an Uninsured or Underinsured driver ($100,000 per vehicle x 3 vehicles = $300,000). Because “stacking” coverage is relatively inexpensive, it is often a good idea to consider it for multi-vehicle policies.

In the event that you, or a relative who lives with you, is involved in an accident caused by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver, you are able to seek compensation for your damages (medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering) from your own UM coverage. Your recovery can be up to the amount of your UM coverage. In addition, if you, or a relative who lives with you, is injured by a driver who does not have enough insurance to cover the damages, you can file a claim for underinsured benefits to make up the difference between the amount of insurance the responsible driver has and the amount of your damages. For example, if the responsible driver has $15,000 of coverage and your damages are $100,000 and you have $100,000 of UIM coverage, you would be paid $15,000 from the other driver’s policy and $85,000 from your own UIM coverage.

Tim Rayne is the author of numerous publications on Personal Injury Law and is a graduate of the Temple University Beasley School of Law’s Master’s in Trial Advocacy Program. Tim can be reached at http://www.macelree.com/traynelaw.

The primary defense in a Personal Injury Negligence case, like a car accident or slip and fall case, is that the injured person contributed to causing the accident. In Pennsylvania, this is called the Comparative Negligence Defense. The defense, if proven in Court, can reduce the compensation owed to a victim of an accident or completely eliminate the victim’s ability to recover.

The History of Contributory Negligence in Pennsylvania
Before 1976, Negligence Law in Pennsylvania recognized the defense of Contributory Negligence. Under a Contributory Negligence defense, if a defendant could prove that the injured party was negligent and was in any way responsible for causing the accident, he would not be able to recover any compensation in Court.

Many states, including Pennsylvania, felt that Contributory Negligence was much too harsh a rule because, if the injured party was determined to be negligent but the defendant was much more responsible for the accident, the injured party would still be barred from recovery. In the harshest case, even if the injured party was 1% responsible and the defendant 99% responsible, the injured party would still be unable to recover compensation for his injuries in Court.

The Comparative Negligence Rule
In 1976, the Pennsylvania legislature adopted a Comparative Negligence Statute for negligence cases involving death, personal injuries or property damage. The Comparative Negligence Statute applies to all Personal Injury cases in which negligence is claimed, including car, truck and motorcycle accidents and slip and fall cases.

Pennsylvania’s Comparative Negligence Statute states that the fact that an injured party may have been negligent shall not bar recovery where the negligence was not greater than the negligence of the defendant, but any damages sustained shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the injured party.

There are two parts to the Comparative Negligence rule. First, there is a greater than 50% rule. If the injured party is greater than 50% responsible, he cannot recover. If he is 50% responsible or less, he can recover. Second, the injured party’s damages must be reduced by the percentage of his responsibility for the accident.

At the end of a personal injury trial, the judge will instruct the jury that they must decide whether the defendant was negligent and whether the injured party was also negligent. If the jury determines that both were at fault for the accident, the judge will instruct them to assign fault in percentages; that is, 50% injured party/50% defendant, 60/40, 80/20, 25/75, etc. Then, the jury is instructed to award damages for the injured party’s losses.

After the verdict is rendered, the injured party cannot recover damages if the jury found his fault 51% or higher. If the jury determined that it was 50% or lower, the injured party can recover, but the damages which the jury calculated will be reduced by his percentage of fault. For example, if the jury finds the negligence 20% to the injured party and 80% to the defendant and calculates the damages as $100,000, the injured party’s verdict gets reduced by 20% to account for his 20% fault and he actually receives $80,000.

Comparative Negligence is the most common defense in Personal Injury cases. Pennsylvania’s system of Comparative Negligence allows an injured party to recover so long as he is not more than 50% responsible for the accident, but reduces his recoverable damages by his percentage of fault. The system attempts to be fair to both the injured party and the defendant by holding both of them responsible for their role in causing the accident.

Tim Rayne is the author of numerous publications on Personal Injury Law and is a graduate of the Temple University Beasley School of Law’s Master’s in Trial Advocacy Program. Tim can be reached at http://www.macelree.com/traynelaw.

One of the most common questions I hear in my Personal Injury practice is “I know someone who got hurt at work, can they sue their employer?” Bad news, good news: No, you usually cannot sue your employer, but the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act provides payment of medical bills, lost wages and other compensation in the event that a worker is injured, maimed or killed at work. As an added bonus, Workers’ Compensation benefits must be paid regardless of whether the employer caused the injury or it happened because of the employee’s own carelessness.

Purpose of the Workers’ Compensation Act
Under the Pennsylvania common law, a person’s right to receive compensation for injuries depends on proving that someone else caused the injury through their negligence or intentional wrongdoing. Obviously, proving negligence or intentional wrongdoing is often difficult and it can take years for disputed cases to get litigated.

The Pennsylvania Legislature recognized that the traditional court system and negligence law did not operate well for workers injured on the job, so in 1916 it passed the Workers’ Compensation Act. The Act replaces traditional negligence law and makes claims under it the exclusive means of compensation for injured workers. Simply put, a worker’s ability to file a lawsuit against his or her employer was eliminated in favor of quicker and more certain compensation under the Act.

The Benefits Available Under the Workers’ Compensation Act
If an employee is injured, maimed or killed at work or during the course of employment, the Act serves as a vehicle for that worker to receive compensation. It does not matter whose fault the accident was; if it happened during work, the Act applies.

For a work injury case, the Act provides that the employee’s medical bills must be paid by the employer. Often, employees will be required to treat with company-approved medical providers for a period of time, but the employer must pay all of the bills with no deductibles or co-pays. In addition to having medical bills paid, if the employee is disabled from work, the Act requires the employer to pay lost wage benefits, which are calculated in relation to the employee’s average earnings prior to the accident. Unlike the traditional Negligence law, the Act provides no compensation for non-economic damages, like pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of life’s pleasures, etc.

The Act provides an additional method of compensation for accidents which involve the permanent loss of or loss of the use of parts of the body, such as arms, legs, fingers, toes, vision, hearing, etc. The Act also provides specific compensation for permanent and serious disfigurement of the head, neck or face. The Act provides a schedule of compensation for such losses, which multiplies a portion of the person’s wages by a set number of weeks for each loss. The following are a few examples:

Loss of a hand — two thirds of wages for 335 weeks
Loss of an arm or leg — two thirds of wages for 410 weeks
Loss of a foot — two thirds of wages for 250 weeks
Loss of an eye — two thirds of wages for 275 weeks

Although the figures seem arbitrary and somewhat barbaric, the purpose of this “specific loss” compensation is to pay for the pain, annoyance, inconvenience and embarrassment relating to work accidents which cause serious and permanent injuries.

Finally, the Act has provisions requiring the employer to pay death benefits and burial expenses in the event that an employee is killed while working. The death benefit is calculated based upon the employee’s wages and the Act provides for payments to specific beneficiaries, which are usually the widow or widower and children under 18, unless there are none of these. In the case of no spouse or children, death benefits can be paid to parents, brothers or sisters under special circumstances. The death benefit continues to be paid by the employer’s insurance company for the length of time designated by the Act. Burial expenses of not more than $3,000 must also be paid by the employer.

Tim Rayne is the author of numerous publications on Personal Injury Law and is a graduate of the Temple University Beasley School of Law’s Master’s in Trial Advocacy Program. Tim can be reached at http://www.macelree.com/traynelaw.

A personal injury lawyer is an attorney who legally represents an individual who claims to have been injured due to the negligence of another party. This party can be another person, a company, or even an agency of the government. A personal injury lawyer must be very knowledgeable of the law and must possess great experience when it comes to the law. They are literally trained in every area of the law, but they only take cases that fall within the personal injury category. That means they handle a lot of claims regarding defective products, auto accidents, injuries at work, medical malpractice, and the like.

What does he do?

When an individual claims to have been injured at no fault of their own and they state that another party is responsible, the personal injury lawyer looks into this claim to ensure that there is enough for a case. Suffering a painful and debilitating injury is difficult for a person and occurs entirely too much. That is why the personal injury lawyer is available to set things straight for that individual and make the responsible party pay for the harm that they inflicted on another due to their wrongdoing or negligence.

The law says that a person who has been injured by another who was being reckless or negligent has the right to collect monetary damages. The individual is also able to collect damages for such things as lost wages and emotional distress. There is no need for an individual to live with these things when something can be done about it. However, the personal injury lawyer must prove that there is a case before filing a lawsuit. If he finds that there is just cause to file a lawsuit, then he will do so in local court.

He will represent the injured during any preliminary hearings and, if a settlement is not reached with the accused, then the case could very well go to trial. During that trial, he will present evidence, have any witnesses testify, and will also question the accused as to how the accident culminated. In the end, it is the personal injury lawyer’s job to make sure that the injured receives the compensation that he or she deserves for pain and suffering.

But does my case fall under personal injury?

Some people do not realize that their case falls under personal injury. Wrongful death, dog bites, airplane accidents, exposure to pesticides, bad faith insurance, and many other incidents fall under the category of personal injury. If you think you have been wronged by another person and that wrongdoing has injured you in some way, it is in your best interest to contact a personal injury lawyer immediately. It is good to not hesitate because he will be able to help you even more when the details are fresh in your mind. Even if you have never been in an accident, be sure to keep this in mind. That way you know to call the authorities as soon as an accident occurs and you know to seek medical treatment at the scene of the accident.

With this said, you can see how a personal injury lawyer is very important in making sure that individuals are taken care of when they have been put under physical and mental distress, have lost wages due to an injury, or have experienced some kind of damage to property that cannot be recovered. When a person is not at fault, they should not have to pay. It is the individual who was negligent that should have to pay for the pain they inflicted upon another.

Bergel, Magence LLP is a leading Toronto Personal Injury Law Firm with more than 35 years of experience. Remember - no fault doesn’t mean no recovery!

Companies and businesses now have a legal responsibility to ensure a competent person is on site at all times should a fire happen to break out. A competent person is also termed as a fire warden, that is; a person who has had sufficient training to ensure the safety of staff members and anyone else who may be on the premises.

The fire warden must have an understanding of the risks of fire on any part of the premises and actions to follow in the event of a fire. In addition they should also have had enough training to competently use the fire fighting equipment on the premises. But what are the responsibilities and duties of the legally required warden in a business or residential property? The following information attempts to clarify this issue.

The warden’s training comes in most useful once a fire has been started. In accordance with law there are a number of predefined jobs that they must fulfil to ensure people’s safety. One of the most important tasks of the warden that they will have instilled in them during training is that during their exit they must ensure that the fire doors are shut behind them. This prevents the spreading of smoke and gives other people in the building a safer exit.

In residential areas the warden must also knock on resident’s doors and ensure they are aware of the fire; while it may not always be possible to convince them to leave their homes, it is a vital constituent of the training that wardens are aware of the necessity to take not of the location of anyone left in the building.

In addition to these responsibilities the fire warden is entrusted with the duty to help any disabled people on the premises with exiting the building. Once again however if it is not possible to remove any disabled persons it is essential to inform the fire service of the whereabouts of any of these vulnerable persons. It is not just disabled persons that are classified as vulnerable, the elderly also fall into this category and should be given as much importance as the disabled. The warden’s training should also make them aware that in the event of a fire the elevators in tall buildings should never be used, the stairs are the best way to exit, even if assisting the disabled and elderly.

Once the warden has managed to evacuate the building to the best of their ability they will have to congregate them in the fire assembly point. This area will have been defined by the legally required fire risk assessment and should be clearly marked. Normally it must be at least one hundred feet away to avoid the dangers of falling objects or even explosions. Once the residents or members of staff are in this area, it is the warden’s responsibility to converse with the fire service’s representative on their arrival, ensuring they are fully informed of any people remaining in the building, and other issues they should be aware of.

Through effective training the fire warden should have the knowledge to perform this task efficiently, minimising the risk to anyone inside the building. Being a fire warden takes a great deal of responsibility and should always be taken seriously; after all, the people in any premises are dependent upon the speedy and rapid evacuation in the event of a blaze. By being thorough a warden can reduce the instances of injury and death and make the job easier for the professionals once they arrive.

Safety expert Thomas Pretty looks into how fire warden training can help in the evacuation of buildings.

If you happen to be involved in an automotive, or any type of accident caused by another individual, you might be able to collect money against them or an insurance company for damages caused to you. If you are involved in such an accident, you have the right to sue that person who hurt you. When you are hurt in an accident, those individuals are responsible for causing you physical and mental pain, loss of money due to the high cost of medical bills, and your loss of income from being out of work recovering from your accident. Shouldn’t these individuals or companies be held accountable for your pain and suffering both physically and financially? Yes they should!

Have you noticed that over the last few years there has been a rise in the number of attorneys and law firms in your area? This is due to the rise of personal injury accidents that are happening each year and individuals who need to be represented by a personal injury lawyer. A simple search on Google or Yahoo for Philadelphia personal injury lawyer, or any city in the US will give you a list of at least 10-20 personal injury lawyers or law firms that deal specifically with personal injury cases.

Now that you have your list of lawyers in your area, how do you go about finding the perfect lawyer for your case? The ver first thing you should do is create an email for each law firm or lawyer that you are considering and send it to them. In this email you should describe your case in detail.

You should also ask them about their background, including how many personal injury cases they have covered in the last few years and how many of those they have won. You should also ask them how much they were able to recover for each of their personal injury clients and what they fees or commissions are when they win a case.

If you are contacting a firm directly, you should request that you are assigned a lawyer that is used to handling cases similar to yours. You may not know this, but some law firms have lawyers who only focus on handling cases just like yours. If you can find a lawyer who handles car wrecks, then you will have an advantage when entering the courtroom.

Once you start getting replies to your emails or phone calls from these lawyers or law firms, you should then plan on scheduling an appointment to speak with a lawyer in the firm regarding your case. This way you can meet the lawyer who will be handing your case in person. You can feel them out and see if they will be a good lawyer for your case. This meeting can very much influence your decision in selecting this lawyer in particular.

If you do your homework, you can be confident that you will find the lawyer to best represent you and your case.

Bart Icles recommends that you visit his site, Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer for more information. He has done a lot of research on Philadelphia personal injury lawyers and has provided this information for your education.