If you have been hurt in a car accident in New York State, it’s reasonable to expect you will be compensated by no-fault insurance.

After all, every car in New York State is required to carry $50,000 in no-fault coverage. But there are steps you must take to receive benefits under no-fault insurance.

Three deadlines you can’t miss

What does an injured party need to do to receive compensation? For a start, you must file notices and claims within a certain time period.

• In order to have a claim handled by the no-fault insurance, a Notice of Accident must be filed with the proper no-fault carrier within 30 DAYS of the accident.
• A health care bill requires that a Proof of Claim be filed within 45 DAYS of the treatment.
• To receive compensation for lost salary and wages, a Proof of Claim for Work Loss Benefits must be filed with the insurer within 90 DAYS of the missed work.

Few excuses accepted

The deadlines may be extended, but ONLY if you, the injured party, can submit written proof that it was impossible to comply due to circumstances beyond your control. That is a difficult standard to meet.

Deadlines, forms, statements, etc. – there are many complications on the way to receiving what is justly due to an injury victim. An experienced personal injury attorney can help you keep track of all the steps you must take to have your claims compensated.

For more answers to your questions about auto accidents, insurance and injury claims, be sure to visit the Ziff Law Firm’s Accidents and Car Crash FAQs.

Thanks for reading,
Jim
_________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St.,
Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866 Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com

You know those commercials for the Snuggie?  The “blanket with sleeves” that covers you no matter what you’re doing? No-fault insurance may seem like a Snuggie – but you should know it doesn’t always have you covered.

New York no-fault insurance provides a maximum of $50,000 to compensate people for medical expenses and lost wages arising from accidents involving the use or operation of motor vehicles.

The insurance company pays for:

• Basic economic losses such as lost earnings
• Necessary medical expenses
• Other expenses ($25 per day) caused by the injury

This coverage provides people with immediate relief for injuries received in accidents. At the same time, no-fault insurance avoids forcing every injured party into litigation in order to receive compensation for damages.

Every motor vehicle in New York State is required to carry no-fault insurance. And every person in the car – or person struck by the car – a pedestrian or bicyclist for example, – may recover their losses from that car’s no-fault insurance.

If that specific car is not insured, an injured occupant may collect on their own no-fault policy – or a policy belonging to any insured relative who lives in the occupant’s household.

So, it must be difficult to find a situation no-fault doesn’t cover, right? Not quite.

The motorcycle exception

Motorcycles are not covered by no-fault insurance – at least not in the same way motor vehicles are.

Even though a motorcyclist must carry no-fault insurance coverage, it benefits people injured by the motorcycle – not the motorcyclist or passenger. (A motorcycle passenger may, however, bring a liability claim against the motorcyclist  if he or she was negligent in causing the accident.)

Deal-breakers

You can void your own no-fault coverage if you are:

• Injured by your own intentional act.
• Operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
• Hurt while committing a felony or fleeing law enforcement.
• Racing or conducting speed tests.
• In a car known to be stolen.
• In an accident in your own car and you don’t have no-fault coverage.
• Are repairing, servicing or maintaining a vehicle and get injured while doing so.

The law of no-fault insurance is extremely complex, and involves many exceptions (many more than I have mentioned here) and supplements.  Don’t take this article as the last word on the subject.

If you have been involved in an auto accident, you should contact a personal injury attorney quickly - to make sure that your rights are protected and you receive just compensation.

Thanks for reading, Jim
_________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
New York and Pennsylvania Accident Lawyer
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866  Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com

Frustration is nothing new in accident and injury lawsuits. All the parties have something to complain about: insurance companies don’t like to pay high settlements, the courts are backlogged, and personal injury victims may have to wait years for their cases to be resolved.

Add to all these concerns the perception that the situation is getting worse.

In recent years, insurance companies have created the idea that there has been an explosion in the number of lawsuits. But a little history lesson puts that idea to rest. The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog had an entry earlier this month about car accident lawsuits that really opened my eyes to the true situation.

The entry quoted a Time Magazine article, “Traffic Jam.” Here are some fast facts from that article:

• Car accidents account for more than half to three-quarters of personal-injury lawsuits. Tens of thousands of auto accident cases await trial in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City.
• Car accident victims might wait years for their cases to get to the jury.
• Despite taking in huge sums in premiums, insurance companies suffer a net loss!

The pretty shocking truth is that the Time Magazine article was printed Jan. 10, 1964! That is more than 45 years ago.

I don’t write this in the sense of “Let’s all despair; things are never going to get better.” The reality is that the system is always being refined. Just because things aren’t perfect, let’s not forget to look at what is improving.

The truth is that there are fewer NY accident lawsuits per capita now than there were 20 years ago. In fact, statistics from the NY State Office of Court Administration show that there were actually more than 13,000 FEWER cases brought in NY Supreme Courts in 2006 than in 2002.

Will the legal system ever be perfect? Probably not, because “justice” is a perception to all the parties involved in a case. Most outcomes are likely to displease someone involved.

But it’s important to appreciate the fact that the law is continually being adapted to make things better. Maybe the law will never be perfect, but that is what it aspires to be.

Thanks for reading,

Jim
_______________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866 Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll-free 1-800-943-3529
mailto: jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com

It doesn’t hurt to have a good friend who’s also an insurance expert! Recently, my buddy Peter Wallin of Wallin Insurance (www.wallininsurance.com), sent me a copy of his newsletter. He had taken his family on a trip to Florida and the experience sparked the idea of writing about the dos and don’ts of rental car insurance. Here is his advice:

Rental Car Insurance

You rent a car while on vacation. As you get to the rental agency counter at the airport they ask you the dreaded question: “Do you want to buy accident insurance for this rental car? It’s only $14.95 per day.”

Well, here’s your answer, right from your local insurance agent – NO! You do not need to buy the extra insurance.

If the rental contract does not exceed 30 days and the rental car will not be driven out of the United States and/or Canada, then the extra “collision damage waiver” and the “liability” does not need to be purchased from the rental company.

When you have a New York personal auto policy you automatically receive rental car protection.

This is not typical of insurance policies issued in other states, which is why the rental company in Florida may attempt to convince you that you need the extra protection. When in doubt, call our agency before you reserve your next rental car. Give us the details of the trip you have planned and we’ll help you determine whether you need the extra insurance before you pick up the car.

Go ahead – you have my permission to spend the cost savings on some extra fun instead of extra insurance!

- Peter Wallin

You can contact Peter at (607) 734-8799 or e-mail peter@wallininsurance.com.

Thanks for reading, Jim
_________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866 Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com

Here’s a quote that may give you pause: “A Carfax report showing that a vehicle has not been in an accident cannot be relied upon, and don’t expect Carfax or a dealer to tell you that.”

Bob Kraft, a Texas personal injury attorney, friend of mine, and author of the blog P.I.S.S.D. (Personal Injury, Social Security Disability) alerted me to a BIG problem with Carfax reports.

If you’re not familiar with Carfax, it is a service that implies it can alert you to ANY bad history about a car you may be planning to buy. With a VIN number, Carfax checks its national database to put together a vehicle history report. Using Carfax, you should be able to discover if a vehicle has been in an accident or wrecked.

So what’s wrong with Carfax?

As we learn from these blog posts, Carfax is NOT totally reliable.

The quote is from a post by Oklahoma attorney Louis M. Green, The Trouble with Carfax. Louis writes about how Carfax has created the perception that their information is 100% complete. That isn’t the reality, however.

Carfax is only as accurate as the information reported to it. Negative information about vehicles does turn up on Carfax reports, but, unfortunately, Carfax does not always receive all of the information available.

Check out Bob’s blog and the original post.

Thanks for reading, Jim
_________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866 Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com

As my clients and regular readers know, I STRONGLY urge EVERY car owner to make sure that they have good uninsured and underinsured coverage on their car insurance policy. This coverage, often referred to as UM or SUM coverage, protects YOU if you have the incredibly bad luck to be hit by another driver who has either no insurance or not enough insurance to cover your expenses. For literally pennies a day you can add UM/SUM coverage to your policy and frankly you are crazy if you don’t have this important coverage. You can get my free book explaining this coverage and telling you how to read your insurance policy in detail by clicking here. It’s a real easy read and you will quickly see why I think this coverage is very important.

But a recent blog post by my friend and fellow accident lawyer, Jim Carroll, gave me even more ammunition for my crusade to make sure everyone has good UM/SUM coverage. In his post, Jim quotes from a Wall Street Journal article Road Risks Rise as More Drivers Drop Insurance:

“More drivers are letting their car insurance lapse because of the sour economy, putting themselves and others at risk. “

“The trend is bad news for everybody on the road. If you’re hit by an uninsured motorist, you may have to sue to recover costs, and many uninsured motorists have few assets. You can protect yourself by carrying uninsured-motorist coverage — almost half of states require the added coverage — but this may boost your premium.”

So, the bottom line is that now, more than ever, when people are facing tough financial times and cutting corners on their insurance, means that YOU have to make sure YOU have the right coverage to protect your family.

Thanks for reading,

Jim Reed
NY and PA Accident & Injury Lawyer
jreed@zifflaw.com

‘Tis that time of year again. The cool crisp air, the leaves blowing in the wind, the early setting sun…. Autumn is almost over and Winter is on it’s way. This time of year brings two significant events both of which greatly increase your chances of a car collision with a deer– it’s deer mating season and deer hunting season. Both the mating season and the hunting season cause deer to be on the move much more than normal which means that deer are dangerously crossing roads much more than normal. Unfortunately, more deer/road crossings means more car/deer crashes.

The consequences of deer collisions can be horrible– catastrophic injuries and death, totalled or badly damaged vehicles.

But deer collisions are NOT inevitable and there are some defensive driving steps you can (and should!) take to try to minimize the likelihood of hitting a deer with your car. Over the last 20+ years I have handled many personal injury and wrongful death cases involving collisions with deer and I have learned first-hand that many drivers do not take reasonable precautions to avoid deer accidents.

Heck, I have lived in Upstate New York for all of my 47 years (ugh!), I drive MANY miles every year in highly deer infested areas, and I have never hit a deer. Some would credit this with just good luck but I think it has less to do with good luck and everything to do with the fact that when my Dad, an avid hunter himself, taught me to drive, he pounded in to my thick teenage head, the need to drive defensively to avoid hitting a deer.

Below are a few simple tips that my Dad taught me that can greatly reduce your chances of hitting a deer.

DRIVING TIPS TO AVOID DEER COLLISIONS

1. SLOW DOWN– If you are in an area that is known to harbor a large deer population, SLOW DOWN. This sounds so simple but it is amazing the number of drivers who go the same speed even though they know that an area is known for a high number of deer. Come on folks….we all know that you can’t go the same speed when roads are snowy and icy because the road conditions make it dangerous to go the “usual” speed. The same is true for deer-infested areas. If you know you are in an area where deer frequently cross the road, slow down and watch out for deer crossings.

2. BE ON THE LOOKOUT– During the Fall and especially during hunting season, EXPECT to see more deer on the road. Expect to see them in unexpected areas. Expect to see them behaving in unusual ways. A buck in rut is blinded by lust and spends his days and nights chasing does for mating. This mating activity greatly increases the number of deer crossings. Likewise during the hunting season, deer are on the move trying to avoid the hunters in the woods. For defensive driving purposes, this means we KNOW we are facing greater hazard from deer collisions so it means that we need to be even more vigilant in watching out for deer.

3. IF YOU SEE ONE DEER, MORE WILL INEVITABLY FOLLOW– Another simple rule. However, it’s amazing the number of drivers who will see one deer at the side of the road and won’t slow down at all. Not smart. Deer, particularly doe’s, travel in packs, and during mating season those packs are often hotly pursued by one or more bucks. Knowing this, smart defensive drivers slow WAY down when they see a deer anywhere near a road.

I hope these tips help you safely navigate the high-risk deer season. Best of the season to you!

Thanks for reading,

Jim Reed
New York Accident Lawyer
jreed@zifflaw.com

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The national press is abuzz with the news that insurance giant AIG may be headed toward bankruptcy as the fallout from the sub prime mortgage mess continues. Since AIG writes a LOT of insurance in NY, and we have several clients who were injured in car crashes by defendants insured by AIG, people are naturally wondering how this may affect their personal injury case. The answer we are giving is a simple one – don’t worry yet.

If you are insured by AIG, they will continue to pay for your defense and indemnify you for any judgment obtained against you up to the policy limits. If you were injured as a result of the negligence of someone insured by AIG, the policy remains in effect as of this moment, and the policy limits remain available to satisy any judgment you may obtain. This situation will change, though, the minute AIG files for bankruptcy.

In the event AIG does file for bankruptcy, this doesn’t mean your case goes down the tubes. Understanding why requires a basic understanding of how insurance companies work, which I will attempt to explain. On an ongoing basis, insurance companies are required to keep a certain aount of money on hand as “reserves”. The reserves are meant to be sufficient to cover all outstanding claims against the insurance company. A reserve is set in each individual case. Some cases will be under reserved, and some cases will be over reserved, but they generally average out. In the event that AIG does file for bankruptcy, New York State has a liquidation bureau that would take over the handling of all cases, hire attorneys to defend AIG insureds and pay any judgments obtained out of these reserved funds.

Even if AIG does file for bankruptcy, that doesn’t mean that your case must be settled at a discount. If the company has reserved its cases correctly, there should be sufficient funds to cover all cases. This won’t stop AIG attorneys from attempting to use this as a negotiation strategy, though. I have personally had attorneys argue that because the insurance company in a case I was handling was in bankruptcy, I would have to accept less money than the case was worth. Unbelievable logic isn’t it? My client, who has done nothing wrong, is injured by by their insured, but I should accept less money because the insurance company can’t manage its business without going bankrupt? Full value can still be obtained, as we have demonstrated in the past, but the wise practitioner will push their case to a conclusion as soon as possible. When you know that there is a limited pot of money to deal with, you never want to be at the end of the line!

Thanks for reading,

Adam M. Gee, Esq.
NY and PA Personal Injury and Malpractice Attorney
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
Email: agee@zifflaw.com
www.zifflaw.com

Here are a couple links to stories about the AIG mess.

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• Crisis threatens insurance giant
• AIG in freefall
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Image by Tbass Efendi via Flickr

Let’s face it, Plaintiff’s attorney’s don’t much care for insurance companies. We fight with them all day, every day in order to try to get them to honor their responsibilities to our clients. The insurance companies fight us tooth and nail every step of the way by denying and delaying legitimate claims in the hope that we will accept less compensation than our clients are entitled to. When you deal with these tactics every day like we do, you grow so used to them that it almost seems normal. Every once in a while, though, new information comes to light that reminds us just how abusive and deceptive insurance companies really are.

A newly released report compiled after reviewing thousands of pages of documents, complaints, testimony and financial records of insurance companies from across the nation provided us with a refresher on just how bad insurance companies treat people. The abuses it reveals are enough to turn your stomach, and the common tactic of “delay, deny, defend” rings true to those of us battling in the trenches with these insurance giants every day. This is certainly not the first such report that identifies the tactics used by insurance companies to defraud their policy holders and lawful claimants. What is new, though, is that they name the 10 worst insurance companies in the country. While we have our own opinions formed over decades of dealing with insurance companies, it is nice to finally have some empirical evidence to rely on when we tell our friends, family and clients who the worst companies really are. Without further adieu, the worst insurance companies in America are:

1. Allstate Insurance Company. Is this really a surprise? The supposed good hands people have had the boxing gloves on for years, no matter what some actor who played a president on the show 24 may tell us.

2. UNUM Insurance. One of the largest disability insurance carriers, has been mistreating their insureds longer than anyone in this office can remember.

3. AIG. The largest insurance company in the world, AIG has been referred to as the new Enron because multi billion dollar corporate fraud.

4. State Farm. Another shocker here. The Company has gone to great lengths to avoid paying claims, including forging signatures on earthquake waivers after the deadly Northridge earthquakes, and altering engineering reports regarding damage after Hurricane Katrina.

5. Conseco. This company sells long term care policies, typically to the elderly. Unfortunately, Conseco uses the deteriorating health of its policyholders to its advantage because the company knows if it waits long enough to pay out claims, its customers will die.

6. Wellpoint. A health insurer, Wellpoint routinely cancels the policies of pregnant women and chronically ill patients.

7. Farmers Insurance Group. Consistently ranks at or near the bottom of homeowner satisfaction surveys. The company offers pizza parties to adjusters who meet low payment goals.

8. United Health. Physicians report that reimbursement rates are so low and payment is delayed so long that patient health is compromised. Money that should have been spent on medical treatment for policyholders has instead gone to the company’s former CEO, who faced criminal and civil charges for back dating stock options.

9. Torchmark. Founded by its own admission as little more than a scam, Torchmark has preyed on low-income Southerners for over 100 years. The company has come under fire for a variety of transgressions, including charging minority policyholders more than whites.

10. Liberty Mutual. Like Allstate and State Farm, Liberty Mutual has adopted “deny, delay and defend” tactics. The company has also gone one step further than simple claims-handling abuses by indulging in what regulators describe as systematic bid rigging.

You can read the full report here.

While these are the ten worst insurance companies nationwide, I could add a few companies to the list who operate in Elmira, the Southern Tier of New York, and the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania. The companies I am thinking of may be too small to make a national list, but any Twin Tier resident who has ever dealt with them could tell you a story or two. I won’t list them here, but if you ask me privately, I will be more than happy to give you my own top ten list of the worst insurance companies.

Thanks for reading,

_______________________________
Adam M. Gee, Esq.
New York and Pennsylvania Personal Injury and Malpractice Attorney
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
Email: agee@zifflaw.com
www.zifflaw.com

“A stitch in time saves nine.” I never really understood this proverb when I was growing up, though I certainly heard my father use it on more than one occasion as he cautioned me to take my time before embarking on a new endeavor.

As a personal injury attorney in the Elmira/Corning, New York area, I have now come to understand the true wisdom behind those words, especially when it comes to automobile maintenance. Accidents certainly do happen, but general awareness of basic automobile maintenance can go a long way toward preventing personal injuries and saving lives. Although I do not profess to be an expert mechanic in any way, I have decided to post basic auto tips periodically this summer to inform – or more likely, remind – readers of simple steps you can take to protect your families from injuries sustained in automobile accidents.To many people summer is synonymous with road trips and family vacation, and I hope my tips will help readers stay safe when hitting the roads.

Tip #1 – Check your Tires

Today is my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. My father, ever the romantic, decided to take my mother to the Sherwood Inn in Skaneateles, New York for a little getaway. Alas, as my parents pulled out of Horseheads to begin their journey, they got a flat tire. Luckily neither was injured and my dad had the tools to change the tire, though they may have been “spared” (I couldn’t resist) a short delay if only my dad had followed his own advice and checked car before getting on the road.

Tires are crucial to vehicle’s handling, traction, and stability, and can cause an automobile to loose alignment if they are not in proper working order. In general, you should check each of tire periodically, or about once a month.

When checking your tires, first look for obvious defects and damage, and visit a professional if anything looks seriously amiss.

It is very wise to carry a tire gauge in your automobile at all times, and you should check the pressure in each of your tires every time you check them. Tire pressure changes due to a variety of factors, though they are most commonly affected by changes in weather or air temperature. A decrease in air temperature often causes a loss in tire pressure, while an increase in air temperature often causes a gain.

Each vehicle has its own recommended air pressure, and information about it can likely be found in your vehicle’s owners manual. Although a tire’s maximum pressure is listed on its in fine print, you should never use max pressure as a guide when filling your tires because over-inflation allows tires to puncture more easily and can create instability for your automobile.

As an avid bicycle rider, I realize the importance of checking the pressure of my bike’s tires before every ride I take to avoid an accident (and make the ride more enjoyable!) Although checking a vehicle’s tires before every trip may be a bit overly onerous, it is something all of us could do a bit more frequently in order to stay safe.

Thanks for reading,

Christina Bruner Sonsire