I had a car accident a couple of days ago. I don’t think it was my fault and my car is damaged.

The other driver talked me out of calling the police and gave me his telephone number, but it is not a good number.

I did write down his license plate number just in case.

Did I mess up really bad and will I not be able to collect for the damages to my car?

Answer:

You should immediately call the police, report the accident, give them his license number and give them your best recollection of the accident. You should also immediately call your insurance company and report the accident.

That was good thinking to write down the other driver’s license plate so the he can be identified. There was probably a reason that he didn’t want to call the police, he might have warrants for his arrest or could have been driving either without a license or insurance.

If you have an uninsured motorist rider on your insurance policy, you may be able to collect for the damage to your car and any medical costs you might have. If you don’t, you will have to get an attorney and start an action against the other motorist. If he has any assets, you may be able to collect something.

In the future, do not be talked out of calling the police to the scene of an auto accident no matter how persuasive the other driver is.

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I have worked for the same business for over 10 years. I had a slip and fall accident at work because of a slippery floor.

The fall caused damage to my knee and I had to have surgery. I was out of work for about a month and when I returned to work the doctor put restrictions on what I can do for about another 3 months.

I can’t do my normal job with the restrictions. My employer is not very happy about the restriction and says that he really doesn’t have other work for me to do.

I don’t think that he wants to fire me but he also can’t afford to have someone else do my job and pay me also.

What can I do to save my job.

Answer:

The first thing I would do is have your employer check the company that holds the workers compensation insurance policy that he has. Many times you are eligible to collect until you can do the job that you normally do. If the employer has another job that he can put you in and pay you, that would mean that the policy doesn’t have to pay any longer.

Doctors will sometime try to get workers back to work as soon as possible because, in some cases, it helps the mental attitude of the worker and they might heal sooner with mental and physical activity.

If your employer has to let you go, you should get a consultation with an attorney that specializes in workers injury law to see if that is within the law. That same lawyer might also know if the insurance company that has your employer’s policy has to continue to pay you until you can do the job that you had prior to being hurt.

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I was injured at work and I am off work and collecting compensation while I am healing. There is some scuttlebutt around work that there are going to be some layoffs and I may be one of them.

I have a couple of questions. First, if this happens, will it affect the payment I am getting while I am healing? Second, Is this something that is legal? Can my company fire me because I can’t work right now?

Answer:

Most compensation that comes to injured workers comes from an insurance policy that the employer bought to protect them against claims from people hurt on the job. So, the pay that you are receiving while you are off work to heal shouldn’t be affected. Although, different areas have different workers injury laws.

As far as the being laid off, it really depends on the reason that you are being laid off. If it is retaliation because you filled a workers compensation claim, in most places, that would not be legal. If it is because of lack of business at the company, your employer can probably do that if they have a procedure for the layoffs that is systematic and does not single you out because of your injury.

If you get laid off, you might want to speak with a personal injury attorney that specializes in workers injury law. They can advise you on your rights under the law in the area that you live.

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I was injured at work and I have to be off work to heal for about three months. All my medical bills have been paid by the workers compensation insurance but I haven’t been paid anything to replace my income.

I haven’t heard anything from either my company or the insurance company about this. I have asked some of my friends and they don’t know if I am paid for the time off or not.

My bills are piling up and I haven’t made my mortgage payment in over a mouth. I am worried that I am not going to be paid for this time and that could really hurt me financially.

Am I supposed to be paid while I am off with the work injury?

Answer:

In most places there is a provision for an injured worker to be paid while off work due to a work injury. It may not be 100% of what you were making and there may be a time limit on how long you can collect.

If I were you, I would contact both the person at your company that handles worker injury insurance and I would also contact the insurance company. Find out if and how much you are supposed to be paid for the time off due to the work injury.

You then need to make it clear to them that you need to collect that money as soon as possible because your finances are falling apart from loss of income.

That should get some action for you. Sometimes, if you stay quiet, people will take care of the people who get their attention. Become one of those people that make some noise and you will probably get what you need.

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I was working at a temporary job through a temp agency and I was injured. It was a slip and fall accident. The company where I was working (not the temp agency) had a wet floor and required the workers to continue. I slipped, fell and injured my back.

I was sent to the emergency hospital and they had a specialist look at my back. She said that it may require surgery. Only time will tell if it heals without surgery.

The temp agency is telling me that I am not covered by workers compensation insurance from them and that I need to look to the company where I was assigned to compensate me for my injuries. In the mean time I need more medical attention and I don’t have the money for it. Also, the hospital wants to be paid.

What should I do?

Answer:

I believe the answer to this will be in the workers compensation laws in the area that you live. It is hard to believe that no one is responsible for the consequences of this accident. Also, the contract between the temp agency and the company that you were working at will have a bearing on this. I’m sure situations like this are spelled out in that contract.

I would contact the company where you were working as a temp and appraise them of the situation. Make it clear that you want to be compensated not only for the cost of the medical treatment that you have received but also for any future medical treatments that you need as a result of the injury, including surgery.

If they put it back on the temp agency, you will probably need to get a personal injury attorney involved. They will know who is responsible and can help you get your medical costs, current and future.

You might also want to look into the working conditions of the company where you were injured to see if they were violating safety rules. Your lawyer can help with that and any action you might have to take against all the parties.

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I was in an accident recently with my motorcycle. Amazingly I didn’t sustain any serious injuries, but my motorcycle was totaled. I had a small amount that I owed on the bike.

The insurance company has already paid my medical bills. My question is, will the insurance company pay me directly for the motorcycle or the loan company?

Answer:

It really depends on the insurance company and their internal policies. Some insurance companies do things a little different.

Most of the time the title on a vehicle remains with the lender until the loan is paid off. And many times insurance companies will want to pay the person or entity who has title.

But in my experience, the insurance company will correspond with the lender to find out how much they are owed on the bike. They will then, most likely issue two checks, one to the insurance company for the amount they are owed and one to you for the balance of the value of the motorcycle.

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I was injured at work and told my supervisor. She asked if I wanted to go to a doctor. I didn’t think I was hurt so I said no.

My back started hurting me about 3 weeks later and I went to my doctor. It turns out I injured my back in the work accident.

I need treatment, maybe even surgery. Is it too late to file for worker’s compensation insurance?

Answer:

Speak to your supervisor immediately. Hopefully she made a note in the accident book that you had an accident. If she didn’t, ask her to be a witness for you if there is an action.

You’ve put yourself in a bad position here, it is possible if your supervisor doesn’t help you that you may have to get a worker’s compensation lawyer to handle your case. You will still have to prove that you had the accident at work.

In the future you should report any accident at work as soon as it happens

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I walked into a restroom at a restaurant and slipped on the wet floor. There wasn’t a sign in the restroom about the wet floor. I went to the reception desk and told them about my fall and no sign.

The manager yelled for someone and a man came out of the back room. He said the sign was outside the restroom a little to the side of the entrance door.

I didn’t think I was hurt at the time, but later in the evening my back starting hurting very badly. I went to the emergency room and they said that I had sprained by back.

I contacted the restaurant manager and told him that I was hurt and there would be some medical bill. I asked if they had insurance to cover that.

He said that they did have insurance but that he didn’t think the restaurant was at fault because they did have a sign up outside the door. He felt that they had warned me and that just because I didn’t see the sign didn’t make the accident their fault.

The injury bills are up to a few thousand dollars and they refuse to pay. I think they are at fault and I don’t have the money for the bills.

What should I do?

Answer:

The fact that they had a sign outside the restroom doesn’t make sense unless the restroom is postage stamp size. Inside would make more sense as it would warn people of the wet floor.

They don’t want to make a claim on their insurance because it will run up their policy rates. But they may be liable here.

You need to talk to a personal injury lawyer that is familiar with the slip and fall injury laws in your area. It may only take a letter from the attorney to the restaurant to get some action. They may not want to fight it as that may cost even more money.

If that doesn’t do it, the lawyer can give you good advice as to the restaurant’s responsibility for the accident and the chances of winning a law suit.

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I live in a rental house and the landlord doesn’t have hand rails on the 4 steps leading out of the house into the back yard. My husband was going outside last week, slipped and fell on his wrist and broke it.

We checked the building code and in our area if you have more then 2 steps you are supposed to have at least a hand rail on one side.

Because we don’t have medical insurance we asked our landlord to pay the medical bills and he refused. He said it wasn’t his responsibility and that we knew of the condition of the property when we moved in and didn’t complain then.

This is too small to take to an attorney but if we sued in small claims court do you think we could win?

Answer:

A lot of this depends on the rental contract you signed when you rented your house and the tenant/landlord laws in your area. Although if the home is not up to code (it may have been when it was build) you may have a case. If the home was up to code when it was built, in many places, it doesn’t have to be brought up to current code. Some cities require it brought up to code if there is a sale.

There are in many places lawyers that will give you a free consultation and then charge you a flat fee to advise you (not represent you) on your small claims case. You might want to see if there are attorneys in your area that do that. Sometimes the local Bar Association will know of such attorneys.

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I was in a car accident with my new car (less then 6 months old) that wasn’t my fault. The car was totaled and I was moderately injured.

The other driver’s insurance wants to pay me for my injuries and low blue book market value of my car. The problem is that with a new car they depreciate quickly the first year that you own them and I am going to lose money on this.

I don’t think it is fair that this accident wasn’t my fault and I am going to lose money.

What should I do?

Answer:

Unfortunately, many policies are written that they only pay the low blue book on the care, which means that you might lose a lot of money. Although, there are some companies that are starting to pay the retail market value of the car which means that sometimes even new car sales might be used to appraise the car.

The best thing to do is speak with a personal injury attorney to see if you have any recourse on the other driver’s insurance company. There might be some way to approach them about a better settlement that just makes you whole.

I don’t know if it will work, but I think it is worth a try. Most PI lawyers will give an initial consultation free to see if your case is worth pursuing.

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