Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

The Atlanta personal injury lawyers at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. have succesfully handled thousands of car wreck injury claims since 1994. A growing trend that our injury attorneys have seen is that drivers using their cell phones are distracted drivers who often cause car wrecks throughout Atlanta, Georgia and throughout our country.

The University Of Utah did a survey in 2006 which compared drivers who were talking on their cell phones to drivers who were driving while consuming alochol to see which was the more dangersou driver. Surprisingly, the cell phone drivers showed a greater impairment in their driving than the DUI drivers in their driving course. The study further found that hands-free cell phone drivers were no better at driving than drivers who held the cell phone to their ears. The DUI drivers were found to drive slower and brake harder than the cell phone drivers. DUI drivers followed closer to the pace car than the cell phone drivers. The most surprising finding was that cell phone drivers were more likley to crash than the DUI drivers. When comparing cell phone drivers to undistracted drivers (drivers not DUI and not on their cell phones), the cell phone drivers were 5.36 times more likely to get into an accident.

Since cell phone drivers create a significantly higher risk of causing car wrecks, it is especially troubling that cell use while driving is so common. In October of 2007 Nationwide Insurance company did a survey which found that 73% of the 1200 drivers surveyed said that they did drive while using their cell phones. Cell phone use amoung the young drivers was the highest. 19% of the drivers surveyed admitted that they even text messaged while driving.

Car wrecks happen every day. In the blink of an eye your life can be turned upside down due to the negligence of another. If you have been injured, we strongly recommend that you contact our personal injury, wrongful death, worker's compensation, and social security disability attorneys as soon as possible. We will answer your legal questions with a free consultation. We also can explain to you what the possible settlement value is of your claim and explain how we can help you obtain the best possible recovery.

Call us today at 866-847-6545 or visit our website at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. so we can discuss and evaluate your case today.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents

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The bad economy appears to have greatly increased the number of drivers who are driving without the required automobile insurance. A study from the Insurance Research Council released on January 21, 2009 predicts that "approximately one in six drivers across the U.S. may be driving uninsured by 2010. When car owners lose their jobs or have their hours cut back, many choose to reduce their car insurance coverage to lower limits or may even drop their coverage all together. The study further noted that 12% of Georgia drivers are breaking the law by not having the required car insurance.

If you have the misfortune of being injured by an uninsured negligent driver, then you may find it very hard to be compensated for your personal injury claim and your property damage claim. Drivers in Atlanta, Georgia and throughout our country should protect themselves and their passengers by purchasing Uninsured Motorist Coverage. This coverage makes all the difference if the negligent driver has no insurance or is under insured for your claim.

The Atlanta personal injury lawyers at The Griffin Law Firm specialize in helping injured victims fully recovery for their personal injury and wrongful death claims. Attorney Richard Griffin founded The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. in 1994 to help as many injured victims as possible. Attorney Richard Griffin is committed to making sure that injured personal injury victims are fully compensated for their car wreck claims. The Atlanta personal injury lawyers of The Griffin Law Firm will guide you through the process and will represent you in your personal injury claim, diminished value property damage claim, and total loss property damage claim. If the car wreck occurred while you were on the job and was due to the negligence of another driver, then the injury lawyers at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. can also help you with your worker's compensation claim as well.

Do no guess at what your case is worth, and do not allow an adjuster to dictate to you what the insurance company is willing to pay you. Rather, level the playing field by hiring the personal injury and wrongful death lawyers at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. so that you will be fully compensated for your injury and property damage claims.

You can call us at 866-847-6545 or visit our website at www.injuryatlanta.com for a free consultation or to find out what your case is worth.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents

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The Atlanta personal injury lawyers at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. are amazed at the enormous number of car wrecks that occur every year. Even with improvements in the roads and the improvements in the safety features on cars, car wrecks occur every single day in Atlanta, Georgia and around the country.

An Allstate study found that 60% of car wrecks occur within 5 miles of your house. This may show that drivers may zone out or become less attentive when they are on the familar roads near their house.

Allstate's study also found that the national average is that everyone will have at least one car wreck every ten years. This means that we all need to make sure we have adequate auto insurance with high liability coverages, high uninsured motorist cvoerages with the new Add On or Excess UM coverage, and even high med pay coverages. You can not afford to hope that others have properly insured themselves because studies show that drivers often reduce or even drop their auto insurance when the economy gets bad.

In 2006 there were 500,000 DUI related car wrecks in the U.S. in 2006 alone. Tragicly 17,000 innocent drivers died in those 500,000 DUI related car wrecks. In Georgia, 392 deaths occurred due to DUI related car wrecks in 2006.

In 2007 there were 2,575,000 car wrecks that occurred in the U.S. Sadly, 42,000 people died in those 2,575,000 car wrecks in 2007. Over 55% of the fatalities involved drivers or passengers that were not wearing their seat belts. The number of car wrecks that were DUI related increased in 2007 to 17,600 throughout the U.S.

As you can see car wrecks occur every day in Atlanta, Georgia and throughout our country. If you or someone you know has been injured in a car wreck, you can call the Atlanta personal injury lawyers at The Griffin Law Firm for a free consultation. Call us at 866-847-6545 or visit our website at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com to have your legal questions answered and to find out what your case is worth.

Attorney Richard Griffin
The Griffin Law Firm, P.C.

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What do you do it you are in a car wreck in Atlanta or anywhere in Georgia? As an Atlanta personal injury attorney for The Griffin Law Firm, P.C., Richard Griffin is asked this question almost every daily. How you conduct yourself at the accident scene can play a vital role in the outcome of your case.

First Step - Get Contact Information From All Witnesses: Immediately get all of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any witnesses at the car accident scene. Since witnesses are often busy or in a hurry, they often do not want to wait for the police to come. Therefore, your only opportunity to get the witness information is immediately after the car wreck. If you do not have a witness than many accidents become a swearing contest where each driver claims the other driver was at fault. This is especially true for lane changing cases or for car wrecks at intersections. Witnesses for these type of cases can mean the difference between all of your property damage and personal injury damages being paid by the negligent driver's car insurance, or you being stuck without an insurance company paying for your damages. Without a witness the insurance companies that represent the negligent driver will often take there insured’s word for it and deny the claim. The burden of proof is on the injured party so getting the witness contact information may make all of the difference.

Second Step - Write Down the Tag Number Of The Negligent Driver: If you are involved in a car wreck that was caused by another driver's negligence, you should immediately write down the tag number for the negligent driver, a description of the negligent driver's car, and a description of the negligent driver. This information could be very important in allowing the police to locate the owner of the negligent driver in their investigation of the accident if the negligent driver leaves the scene of the accident. Unfortunately hit and run car accidents occur quite often in Atlanta and throughout Georgia, so having this information is critical. Our personal injury attorneys at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. are even able to use the tag information to find out which insurance company insures the vehicle that caused the accident.

Third Step - Call The Police: No matter how trust worthy or apologetic the negligent driver is always call the police. The police report will document the accident occurred and will have the officer’s opinion of who was at fault. Without it you are very vulnerable. A dishonest negligent driver could deny the collision even occurred or deny that he or she was at fault in the accident unless there is a police report. If the negligent driver denies the car wreck occurred or states he or she was not to blame for the accident, then insurance adjusters will often deny liability. Without a police report or witnesses it may be difficult to prove that you are entitled to recover for your personal injury medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property damage.

Fourth Step - Take Photographs At the Scene: I strongly recommend that you take photographs of all cars involved immediately after the collision. This can be done by using your cell phone's camera or by carrying a camera in your car at all times. These photographs preserve the evidence that could be needed to prove you were not at fault. Many times the vehicles are moved to clear the roadway so these photographs could help with officer know what happened and our firm help prove your case. These photographs also are very valuable in showing the position of the vehicles when the wreck occurred, documenting the property damage to all vehicles involved, and can be a way to capture a picture of the negligent driver and tag number. Photographs which show substantial property damage can greatly increase the value of your claim. Jurors are very motivated when they see wrecked cars which show a lot of damage. Their nature thought when they see a demolished car is “how could anyone have survived that!” This is a great weapon for our firm to use in settlement negotiations and / or if the case is tried.

Fifth Step - Calmly Tell The Policy What Happened: Make sure you keep your cool when speaking to the police officer. If you are injured, then let the police officer know it. He will typically note if you were injured in the police report. If ask for an ambulance, then the police will usually note that your were injured. If you do not want an ambulance, then unless you make it clear to the police that you were injured, but would drive yourself to the doctor, the police will usually note "no injuries" on the police report. Adjusters will often use "no injury" notes from the police report against you by arguing you must not have been injured in the car wreck since you did not tell the police officer you were injured at the scene.

If you had to move your car, then show the police officer your photographs so he can see where the cars were. If you have witness information of witnesses that did not stay, give it to the police officer.

Seveth Step - Get Medical Treatment you Need: If you are injured, then you should get medical treatment as soon as possible. Delays in seeking medical treatment are often used by adjusters to argue you were not really hurt do to a gap in treatment. The longer the gap in treatment the stronger the adjuster will argue this. If you have serious injures, then you should seek treatment at the emergency room. If you do not wish to go to the emergency room, then seek treatment from your family doctor or a medical doctor or chiropractor. If our clients need help finding a doctor, then our firm can help you find a good doctor in your area. If you have health insurance or med pay coverage, then use it. This usually means that you will net more money in your settlement. If our clients need a doctor to treat you on a lien (no payment needed until the case settles), then our firm can help arrange this as well.

SEVENTH STEP - CALL THE GRIFFIN LAW FIRM ASAP SO WE CAN ADVISE YOU AND PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS IMMEDIATELY: The most important step is to call our firm [866-847-6545 or http://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/] as soon as possible. We can make sure your property damage issues are resolved. We can help you get the treatment you need. We can do everything possible to maximize your recovery to make sure you are fairly compensated for your past and future medical expenses, past and future lost wages, and past and future pain and suffering.

Written by Richard S. Griffin, Attorney at Law. http://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/ or call us at 866-847-6545.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Car Wreck Claims , Personal Injury Claims , Truck Accident Claims , Wrongful Death Claims

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The Atlanta personal injury attorneys at The Griffin Law Firm, have been very successful in negotiating reductions on the medical expenses for our clients when appropriate. These reductions are often appropriate and much more likely if there is a small personal injury settlement due to weaknesses in the case. On cases where litigation is not a good option, we negotiate reductions in medical bills and negotiate reductions in subrogation claims to maximize our client’s recovery. Litigation is sometimes not a good option when there are weaknesses in the case such as pre-existing conditions, multiple prior personal injury claims, low property damage, gaps in medical treatment, disputes in liability (who is at fault), etc. The Atlanta personal injury lawyers at The Griffin Law Firm do our best to maximize our client’s net recoveries whenever possible. Many times this is accomplished by negotiate reductions in the medical bills for our client.

One of Attorney Richard Griffin's favorite examples involved a personal injury client who had medical expenses of approximately $400,000. The client was injured when a stolen car collided with her head on causing a fractured pelvis, broken hip, and other serious and permanent injuries. Unfortunately the criminal who stole the car did not have any automobile insurance and the liability automobile insurance for the car that was stolen did not cover the negligent driving of a criminal. The only insurance which covered the claim was a $25,000 Uninsured Motorist policy the client had. Atlanta personal injury attorney Richard Griffin was able to recover the $25000 policy limits and was able to negotiate a reduction on the $400,000 hospital lien down to $17,000. This was truly making the best out of a terrible situation. Attorney Richard Griffin's personal injury client was able to net thousands of dollars and have the $400,000 medical bill pain in full for only $17000. The Griffin Law Firm therefore able to save their client from having to go bankrupt which would have ruined their credit in addition to the $25,000 personal injury settlement.

Every case is different, but every case deserves to have trained and experienced personal injury attorneys fight hard. Attorney Richard Griffin and all of the personal injury attorneys at The Griffin Law Firm would be happy to provide you with a free consultation regarding your personal injury case. If you or someone you know has a personal injury, worker's compensation, wrongful death, or social security disability claim, contact us at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com or call us at 866-847-6545 for a free settlement evaluation.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents

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I recently heard an Allstate Insurance Company commercial that stated 60% of car wrecks occur within 5 miles of the driver’s home. This shows you that it is important not to go into mental “cruise control” just because you are near your home. Staying alert and ready to respond to a sudden emergency situation is critical to staying safe even as you approach your home.

There have also been many, many studies which show that most car wrecks are caused by drivers who are distracted or not paying attention. Distractions can include driving while using your cell phone, changing the station on your radio or IPOD, or operating your GPS system. Protect the ones you love and keep other drivers safe by limiting you use of these type of devices while driving.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a car wreck, truck wreck, motorcycle wreck, call the Atlanta personal injury attorneys at The Griffin Law Firm for a free consultation. We will answer your legal questions about your personal injury claim and explain the personal injury claims process. Let the personal injury attorneys at The Griffin Law Firm be your settlement solution to maximize your personal injury recovery. Call us at 866-847-6545 or visit or website at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com.

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Studies have shown that 75% of Americans will talk on their cell phones while driving.(**) Cell phone use by drivers appears to be a major cause of car accidents in Atlanta, Georgia and around the country. These studies have found that drivers who are talking on their cell phones while driving are "distracted drivers".(*) Distracted drivers (drivers who drive while talking on their cell phone) have 28% slower reaction times than drivers not using their cell phones.(*) Drivers who were using their cell phones while driving reacted as slow as drunk drivers.(**) In both cases the delay in applying the brakes greatly increases your risk of rear-ending the car in front of you. There is also a greater chance that the cell phone using driver will be rear-ended by the car directly behind them since they delay applying the brakes and then suddenly slam on their brakes.(*) The reaction time was no faster for drivers who talked on the cell phone using hands-free devices. The distracted driver is one that often uses up the driver's "pool of attention".(*) Clearly this means that using your cell phone while driving may put you and the other drivers around you in danger.

Atlanta personal injury lawyers are now attempting to hold employers liable for accidents their employees cause while talking on the cell phone. Cell phone records are often obtained during the litigation process to find out the phone call was business related (for the benefit of their employer). Usually employers are only liable for injuries caused by their negligent employees if they are doing something for the benefit of their employer. Recently there were two personal injury lawsuits in Fulton County, Georgia that involved negligent drivers using their cell phone for a business purpose. Both of these personal injury lawsuits were settled with employers before trial (one for $5.2 million and the other for $750,00. (**) It appears to be only a matter of time before employers are routinely held liable for personal injury claims involving their employees driving while taking business cell phone calls. This liability is based on the premise that the employee is performing a service for the benefit of their employer at the time of the car accident.

The personal injury lawyers at Griffin Law Firm make sure that all possible liability policies and uninsured or under-insured motorist policies are pursued. Our personal injury attorneys have had great success in stacking insurance policies to make sure you recover as much as you deserve. People who attempt to represent themselves are truly at the mercy of the insurance company and often get offers that are way below the true value of the personal injury claim.

The personal injury attorneys at Griffin Law Firm specialize in personal injury and wrongful death claims. Our attorneys can not only maximize your recovery, but also explore all available insurance policies which may cover your claim. If you or someone you know has a personal injury claim, please do not hesitate to call us at 877-303-8440 or 404-303-8400 ext. 210 for a free consultation. You can also submit your case for a free settlement evaluation at our website at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com.

[The articles and studies discussed above are the following:
* [Men's Health Magazine (April 2008 issue) which cited the study performed by State University Of New York at Cortland by Joy Hendrick, PhD]
** [the Atlanta Journal and Constitution dated April 2, 2008]

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Posted In: Auto Accidents

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I recently read a study from the Insurance Research Counsel 2004 which found that settlements for injured victims who are represented by personal injury attorneys are three and a half times higher than those who represent themselves. This does not surprise me and confirms what I have found in my own personal injury practice. It seems that every week a potential new client will call my office frustrated and upset that the insurance adjuster is offering them such a small offer for their personal injury claim. Many times I accept these cases and have been able to increase the client's settlement considerably. I truly enjoy my job which allows me to help people recover what they deserve for their personal injury claims. These personal injury settlements must consider the cost of the medical treatment, the amount of lost wages, the type of injury, whether there is any punitive damage exposure, and pain and suffering. People who do not have an attorney often are at the mercy of insurance adjusters who give them take it or leave it low ball offers. Luckily you have a choice to even the playing field to make sure justice is done in your case. If you would like a free consultation, then call The Griffin Law Firm at 404-303-8400 or toll fee at 877-303-8440. You can also visit our website at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com for a free settlement evaluation.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Car Wreck Claims , Personal Injury Claims , Truck Accident Claims

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The National Safety Council reported that in the year 2001 there were approximately 12.5 million traffic accidents, with about 2.3 million disabling injuries. It is a good thing that the US government along with auto makers have spent billions of dollars on testing and research to make vehicles safer. Yet even with modern advancements not all vehicles offer the same level protection and each occupant has a different risk of injury. “The insurance company often uses the cost to repair the vehicle as a gauge for determining the extent of injury to the vehicle occupants.” says Atlanta personal injury attorney Richard Griffin, of the Griffin Law Firm. The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. is a large Atlanta firm that specialized in auto and work injuries. Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney Richard Griffin goes on to say that minorities, the elderly, and the poor are often the most negatively affected by this practice of claims evaluation. “Statistically, minorities, elderly, and the financially disadvantaged drive vehicles with below average safety ratings or older vehicles. They are also less likely to have access to healthcare. When a vehicle that is less safe is involved in a car wreck, the driver and the passengers are much more likely to be injured even with property damage of less than $1,000.00. People injured in vehicles with less than $1,000.00 in property damage then are told by insurance adjusters that they could not have been hurt since the property damage was minimal. Then insurance adjusters offered a very small amount or nothing at all to these injured victims especially if they are not represented by an attorney.

Personal injury victims often are stuck with medical bills and have lost wages go unpaid if they are not represented by trained and experienced personal injury attorneys. Attorney Richard Griffin stated, "Everyone with an injury needs good legal representation, and that’s what my firm does!”

The State of Florida Department of Highway Safety studied if people could be injured in low speed impacts. In 1999 this study found that 67,602 people were involved in automobile collisions at a speed of less than 10 MPH. The study further found that 55,973 of those (the vast majority) were in fact injured and required medical treatment. Surprisingly 528 people out of the 67,602 people in these low impact collisions actually lost their life in the car wreck. Clearly, it is uncorrect and terribly unfair for insurance adjusters to conclude on their own that low property damage means that no one could have been injured.

The Highway Loss Data Institute is a nonprofit public service organization that gathers, processes, and publishes data concerning different types of vehicles. In their September 2005 publication, “Injury, Collision and Theft Loss”, the Institute rates the relative frequency of injuries in each model, year and class of vehicles. (A full listing of vehicles can be seen at www.iihs.org.) Vehicles such as the BMW L 7 series, Chevrolet Suburban, Ford Crown Victoria, Volvo V70, Buick Park Avenue and Saab 9-5 all rate substantially better than average. While the Kia (Rio, Optima, Grand Vitara), Mitsubishi (Lancer, Galant, Eclipse), and Hyundai (Accent, Tiburon, Sonata) all rate substantially worse than average. These ratings support the idea that minorities and the poor may be at a higher risk of injury because their vehicles have poor safety features or may be older with no modern protection devises. “The vehicle safety does have a major impact on occupant injury but so does the pre-injury health of the occupant and the forces generated during the collision”, states Attorney Richard Griffin. “Many insurance carriers do not understand that each occupant has a different threshold and risk for injury. An 18 year old healthy football player will have a lower risk of injury than an 89 year old female with osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. There are literally thousands of factors that are involved with an injury but the cost to repair property damage is not a major factor.” In 2001 the Supreme Court of Delaware, in the case of Davis v. Maute stated that the defense “may not directly argue that the seriousness of personal injuries from a car accident correlates to the extent of the damage to the cars, unless the party can produce competent expert testimony on the issue. Absent such expert testimony, any inference by the jury that minimal damage to the plaintiff’s car translates into minimal personal injuries to the plaintiff would necessarily amount to unguided speculation.” But the insurance companies still routinely state that “less than $1500 of damage equals no injury”. “This leaves the injured person wondering, if they are really in good hands?” says Attorney Richard Griffin.

Attorney Richard Griffin further stated, “The elderly, disadvantaged and some minority groups often do appear to be taken advantage of with lower settlements especailly when they are not represented by a trained and experienced personal injury and wrongful death attorney. That is why our Atlanta personal injury law firm investigates each claim extensively and fights to protects the rights of the injured. We see many cases where the client did not immediately seek legal advice and often have to fight very hard to turn these cases around. I recommend that any person injured get immediate legal advice from lawyers that specialize in personal injury.” Because of an extraordinary nationwide effort by insurance carriers, motor vehicle accident claims have been dramatically reduced. Insurance carriers have been particularly successful in defending minor impact cases. In California alone, according to the research arm of the California Supreme Court, motor vehicle accident filings in superior court were down 50% in just 10 years. Few industries have successfully reduced its liabilities by 50% in just 10 years. The Insurance Research Council in a 2003 reported that 10% less claimants were utilizing the services of an attorney from 2002 to 1992. This is a surprising trend since 92% of claimants whose cases were value at over $25,000 were represented by an attorney. That still leaves the question, “do auto accidents discriminate?” Do auto accidents discriminate? Yes it appears that they do indeed discriminate when adjusters attempt to under pay claims involving low property damage to cars that often have poor safety ratings. Another factor in addition to the safety rating of the car you are in is what is your age and condition of your body before the collision occurred. If you have a weak or degenerated back, drive a car with a poor safety rating, or have any of the other hundreds factors that put you at high risk for injury. Then yes auto accidents do discriminate. But one thing is 100% certain. They never taught a doctor in medical school, that when you are evaluating a patient to leave the exam room, go to the parking lot, look at the patient’s car, come back in the examination room and give the patient your diagnosis.

The personal injury lawyers and wrongful death lawyers at The Griffin Law Firm, P.C. will fight for you to make sure that the insurance adjusters do not save money at your expense by under paying your personal injury or wrongful death claim.

Call us today at 866-847-6545 or visit our website at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com for a free legal evaluation or to find out what your case is worth.

Richard S. Griffin, Attorney At Law

See more at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Bad Faith Insurance Actions , Personal Injury Claims

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People often struggle to make ends meet in Atlanta and throughout Georgia. For this reason, many people look for ways to save money everywhere they can. This is understandable. However, many people do not understand what the risk is to cutting corners on your Georgia car insurance should you have the misfortune of being seriously injured in a car wreck.

Georgia laws require that anyone who owns a car that is being driven on Georgia roads to have car insurance. Georgia law only requires liability coverage of $25,000/$50,000/$25000. This would be minimum coverage and would mean that the car insurance would only cover liability claims up to a maximum of $25000 per injured person and would only cover up to $50,000 per accident for Georgia personal injury claims. Since medical bills are higher than ever, if you are at fault for an accident and seriously injury another driver or pedestrian, then you could be on the hook for any excess jury verdict for the Georgia personal injury claim. This means that your personal assets (bank accounts, cars, houses, boats, etc.) could be lost if there was a jury verdict against you of more than your liability policy limits.

Another type of coverage available to you in your Georgia car insurance is uninsured motorist coverage and medical pay (med pay) coverage. These coverages are not required by Georgia law, but do offer you significant protection should you be seriously injured in a car wreck in Atlanta or throughout Georgia. Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Georgia is insurance coverage for any car wreck personal injury claims when the negligent driver who hurts you does not have auto insurance. This coverage can really be a life saver because if you do not have uninsured motorist coverage and you are injured by an uninsured driver, then you would not have any insurance coverage for your claim. Your only remedy would be to sue the individual and try to collect from their personal assets. The problem with this is that most people who are driving without car insurance do not have a lot of assets to recover against.

Uninsured motorist coverage also serves as under-insured motorist coverage when your claim is worth more than the negligent driver's liability policy limits. Recent changes in Georgia law for uninsured motorist coverage will give you the option to elect add on uninsured motorist coverage which would allow you to stack your uninsured motorist coverage on top of the liability policy. Traditional uninsured motorist coverage, now called "reduction" or "limits to limits" coverage [see O.C.G.A. Section 33-7-11(b)(1)(D)(ii)]. Under traditional uninsured motorist (which all uninsured motorist policy in Georgia if issued prior to 01/01/09), there is only under-insured motorist coverage when your uninsured motorist coverage exceeds the amount of liability policy limits. For example, under traditional uninsured motorist coverage ("reduction" or limits to limits") if you had $25,000 in uninsured motorist coverage and the liability policy was also $25,000, then you would have no under-insured motorist coverage. If you had $50,000 in uninsured motorist coverage on a "reduction" or "limits to limits" car insurance policy, then you would have $25,000 of uninsured motorist coverage. To have an under-insured motorist claim you must always obtain a policy limits offer from the liability carrier or you cannot pursue an under-insured motorist claim at all.

Georgia Medical Payment Coverage or "Med Pay" is medical coverage for you and anyone in your car who is injured in a car wreck. Since there are car wrecks in Atlanta and across Georgia every day, this coverage can be incredibly helpful. This coverage is a elected add on to your Georgia car insurance policy so you do not have to have it. You purchase a specific amount ($1000, $5000, $10,000, etc.) and each injured party in your car can get the medical treatment they need from a doctor of their choice up to that purchased amount. This Med Pay coverage can be especially important to people who do not have health insurance and need to have expensive tests, surgeries, pain management, etc. Without Med Pay or health insurance many specialists such as orthopaedic surgeons, neurologists, pain management doctors, etc. will not agree to treat injured people.

The cost of adding uninsured motorist coverage and med pay coverage is lower than you might expect. I strongly recommend you have these valuable coverages if you can afford it to protect yourself and your passengers should a tragic car wreck, truck wreck, motorcycle wreck, pedestrian accident occur to you or the ones you love.

As you can see there are many complex legal issues surrounding how to stack multiple car insurance claims. For this reason, it is very important to contact experience Georgia personal injury attorneys to represent you on these claims. The second reason why you need to hire a experience Georgia personal injury claim is because usually great settlements are the result of outstanding negotiation and litigation skills. Adjuster usually will offer far less to injured parties who are not representing because they know you do not know the true value of the case and do not have the ability to litigate the case if the adjuster's offers are unreasonable.

For a free case evaluation or legal consultation please do not hesitate to call me at 866-847-6535 or visit our website at http://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/index.html.
Richard Griffin
Attorney At Law.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Car Wreck Claims , Personal Injury Claims , Truck Accident Claims

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My name is Attorney Richard S. Griffin http://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/lawyer-attorney-1282309.html. My Atanta personal injury law firm, The Griffin Law Firm, P.C, specialize in handling personal injury, wrongful death, worker’s compensationhttp://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/lawyer-attorney-1282786.html, and social security disability claimshttp://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/lawyer-attorney-1282782.html. My firm has successfully handled thousands of injury claims and have recovered millions of dollars for our clients. Every case is different, but our commitment remains the same to make sure you have the best possible legal representation. Please visit our website at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com.

In this blog I will evaluate legal issues of interest to me. I am also always willing to provide a free legal consultation about potential injury claims that you may have. I can be reached at 404-303-8400 or at www.griffinlawfirmpc.com or email to richard@griffinlawfirmpc.com.
http://www.griffinlawfirmpc.com/lawyer-attorney-1282309.html

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Car Wreck Claims , Personal Injury Claims , Social Security Disability Claims , Worker's Compensation Claims , Wrongful Death Claims

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