Attorney - How to win your personal injury claim

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9th Edition

Attorney Joseph L. Matthews

Matthews, J. L., 1946- author.

How to win your personal injury claim / Attorney Joseph L. Matthews. -- Ninth edition.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4133-2150-0 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-4133-2151-7 (epub book)

1. Personal injuries--United States--Popular works. 2. Accident insurance claims--United States--Popular works. 3. Liability insurance claims--United States--Popular works. I. Title.

KF1257.M38 2015

346.730323--dc23

2014043179

This book covers only United States law, unless it specifically states otherwise.

Copyright 1992, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2015 by Joseph L. Matthews.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission. Reproduction prohibitions do not apply to the forms contained in this product when reproduced for personal use.

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Thanks go to several people who gave of their time and skills to help make this book happen. Annie Tillery did sometimes dizzying research with thoroughness and good cheerand Ella Hirst took over the research detail for the 4th edition. Stephen Elias gave the manuscript a careful reading at several stages and gave numerous helpful suggestions along with unfailing encouragement. Amy DelPo and Emily Doskow have significantly improved subsequent editions of the book, combing their knowledge of the law with thoughtful and eagle-eyed editorial energies.

Another round of thanks go to Peter Lovenheim of Empire Mediation in New York and to Bill Mahoney of Aetna Insurance of California, for their consultations regarding the use of mediation in personal injury claim disputes.

Special thanks go to Richard Duane, Esq., who took time out from his busy law practice to review the manuscript and give it the benefit of his great expertise in the area of personal injury law. Both the quality and willingness of his assistance came as no surprise, since he is known to trial lawyers and clients alike as a tireless and brilliant advocate for the rights of the injured.

Last and greatest thanks are reserved for Barbara Kate Repa. Far more than merely a skilled and dedicated editor, Barbara Kate vetted this book into the world with her vast talents and compassion tuned equally to the needs of future readers and to the foibles of a wandering and sometimes wondering author. The assistance this book will provide its readers comes in large part from her untiring efforts.

Joseph Matthews has been an attorney since 1971, and from 1975 to 1977 he taught at the law school of the University of California, Berkeley. During his more than three decades as a lawyer, Matthews has handled hundreds of claims for people injured in accidents.

Matthews is also author of Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions: Get the Most Out of Your Retirement & Medical Benefits (with Dorothy Matthews Berman), and Long-Term Care: How to Plan & Pay for It, both published by Nolo.

You dont need any special training to handle most injury claimsjust patience, perseverance, and some basic information about how the insurance claims process works. If you can follow instructions and process some relatively simple paperwork, you can handle your own claim and potentially save thousands of dollars.

It doesnt matter whether you were partly at fault for an accident as long as the accident was not entirely your fault. You can use this book if you have been injured or your vehicle or other property has been damaged in any sort of accident that occurred when you werent at work. Even if youre injured on the job, if someone other than your employer or a coworker might be partly to blame, you can use this book to seek compensation.

How to Win Your Personal Injury Claim is your insurance claim companion. It sets out all the information you need in order to get a fair settlement from the insurance claims system. It will help you to:

protect your interests after an accident

understand what your claim is worth

prepare a claim for compensation, and

negotiate a settlement with an insurance company, whether its your own or the insurer of someone else who was responsible for your injuries.

The book also explains what to do if the insurance company refuses to negotiate fairly.

Youll learn to handle nearly any type of accident situation, and to navigate most of the tricky parts of the insurance claims process. The book walks you through all the different parts of the process, with samples and examples of everything you might need to do.

If your claim is too complicated for you to handle yourself, youll learn that here, too. And the book explains how to work with an attorney if it comes to that.

These are the types of personal injury claims that you can learn to handle yourself with the help of How to Win Your Personal Injury Claim.

Whether you make your claim against the other drivers or owners insurance or under your own policy, and whether or not your state has some kind of no-fault auto insurance law, you can handle your own claims for vehicle accidents that occur:

while you are driving or riding as a passenger, in your own car or someone elses, riding a bicycle or motorcycle, or walking