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There are many common myths regarding personal injury lawsuits.
Our legal team routinely debunks these myths. The following are some common
myths:
Myth #1: You can only obtain a settlement or verdict that
does not exceed the Defendant’s insurance policy limits.
You may
think that the most money you could collect in a personal injury case is the
amount of the Defendant’s insurance policy limits, but this is not true. Even though a Defendant has liability
insurance, they are always personally responsible for settlements or verdicts
in excess of their insurance policy limits.
Our personal injury attorneys, on multiple occasions, have collected a
monetary recovery for our clients in excess of a Defendant’s insurance policy
limits. Also, there may be other
insurance policies covering your injury such as an excess, umbrella, or
non-owned vehicle coverage just to name a few examples.
Myth #2: You have to be seriously injured in an auto
accident to collect a settlement.
While it is true that you can only
file a claim for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering if you have serious
injuries in an auto accident, you do not need to be seriously injured to
collect a settlement from either your insurance company or even the at fault
driver. Regardless of the seriousness of your injuries, your insurance company
may owe you benefits such as replacement services, household chores, medical
expenses, mileage to doctors and attendant care. You also do not need to be seriously injured
to collect from the at fault driver for economic damages such as excess wage
loss
Myth #3: You cannot collect from an at fault driver if you
are operating a vehicle without insurance.
This is
not true. Although Michigan’s no-fault
law does preclude claims by owners of vehicles who are operating their own
uninsured vehicle at the time of the accident, it does not preclude a claim if
the owner of a vehicle is a passenger in the vehicle that they own. Michigan’s no-fault law also does not
preclude a claim if someone is operating an uninsured vehicle which they do not
own.
Myth #4: You can file a lawsuit whenever you want
If you
want to file a personal injury claim, you may think you have all the time in
the world. However, Michigan has a statute of limitations that only allows for
the filing of a lawsuit for a specific time period after the injuries were
sustained. Different claims have
different statutes of limitation but they are generally two to three
years. It is very important to retain a
personal injury specialist as soon as possible after an injury accident so
necessary evidence can be preserved, such as necessary photos and witness
statements.
