Arizona Injury Lawyers Blog

You've done your part and obtained homeowner's insurance coverage or renter's insurance. Living the good life in Phoenix knowing your most expensive asset is protected by insurance. So if anything ever happens you're taken care of, right? Well, not necessarily, especially when it comes to personal property issues or questions regarding the condition of your house prior to a fire, flood or other event, especially if your house was completely devastated by a fire. While you may have coverage for personal property, it can become a monumental task to reconstruct all of your belongings. Maybe you have some documentation in a safe deposit box, or perhaps a retailer has information that you purchased that ring or television, but for the most part you will have to attempt to remember all of your property. At best, you may be able to remember half of what was actually lost. Think of all of the little items that you'll forget. Maybe it's something that was just worth a dollar, but there will be a lot of items worth a dollar, or five dollars that you will not get compensated for.

Unfortunately, this blog entry was prompted because of a current client's experience with a body shop. When your car is damaged in a crash, you get it repaired at a body shop. Sounds simple, but depending on your body shop and other factors, you could end up having a very unpleasant experience. It doesn't matter if you're in Phoenix, Mesa or Glendale, when it comes to body shops, there are good ones and bad ones. So it's vitally important to make sure that you choose a reputable shop that does very good work. (On a quick side note, you are under no obligation to use a shop recommended by an insurance company) The best way to locate a reputable shop is through a referral from friends and family. But even then, make sure that you like the shop. Does it look professional or is it a guy working out of his garage?

There is certainly a time and place for clients and/or claimants to play nice, but that time is definitely not during the handling of an injury claim. The problem might not just be claimants who play nice, but those that are unknowledgeable about insurance company tactics, are naïve, and handling their own claim without an attorney. Usual scenario: Soccer Mom on W. Bell Road (Sometimes called Hell Road...) just minding her own business. She's smart and observant enough to see that the traffic light is red and actually stops. However, then one of our many Phoenix drivers who isn't observant enough to not only see the red light, isn't observant enough to notice that, gee, there is a car stopped in front of me simply runs into the back of her car.

Well, I can almost guarantee you that the first words out of the at fault driver's mouth, will be, hey this is not that bad, no reason to call the police. And of course, the nice soccer Mom complies. Problem 1: No police report and of course, no citation for idiocy for the at fault driver. Now the at fault driver quickly writes down "contact information" and "insurance information" so this poor lady can get her car fixed. My insurance company will take care of everything. The at fault driver quickly speeds away as if the police are on his heels. I know you see where this is going. Yep, all bad information. There is no insurance, no good contact information. Now this nice soccer mom is left to deal with an uninsured motorist claim, assuming she has coverage.

So here comes yet another dust storm into the valley. Hopefully this one will be something less than 60 miles wide and less severe than predicted. I don't know about you, but when I hear about a dust storm on the way, I just think about what a mess it's going to cause around the house. While the dust can be just a nuisance, it can also be deadly. No, not valley fever, but car accidents caused by little to no visibility. During some of the dust storms over the summer, there were multi-car accidents and even fatalities. Officer Carrick Cook from DPS said that "With the events of the recent past with how many severe accidents we have had I think it is one of the most dynamic and dangerous events we have to deal with in this desert environment."

The key to not being the next crash statistic is to be aware of your surroundings and take precautions before you enter a dust storm. If you are driving and see it coming, find a safe place to park, preferably not on the side of the road if at all possible. But if you get caught in the storm, pull completely off the road and turn off ALL lights and brake lights. This may seem counter intuitive, but when other drivers have little to no visibility and they see car lights, they'll drive right to them!

At this point it appears that the worst hit areas might be on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson and from Phoenix to Quartsite and Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Yuma. We're supposed to get some rain as well, so hopefully that will help minimize the effects of the storm. Be vigilant and stay safe!

The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, is Arizona's Medicaid agency that provides healthcare programs to those in need. However, after it provides care, you may be on the receiving end of AHCCCS'S often questionable collection practices if you received a settlement from a third-party for injuries. It really seems like AHCCCS is attempting to fund the program on the backs of victims injured in car accidents etc., where AHCCCS may have a right to get reimbursed for some of the medical expenses they paid out. And there certainly is no shortage of car accidents in the valley. When I drive from Mesa to Glendale, I always wonder if I can make it across the valley intact.

Attorney Larry Coben has sued AHCCCS alleging that it has been illegally taking more money than it is entitled to from program recipients who have settled a third-party injury claim. The problem has been that AHCCCS sometimes demanded more money from injured parties than it was entitled to, which included pressuring them for money. Sort of like a collection agency gone bad, except it certainly appears it was trying to collect money for the "debt" than it was entitled to. Government at its best. AHCCCS has reported that it collected $21 million in one budget year alone. Not bad. I wonder how much of that actually belonged to the victims that were injured, and not AHCCCS. Hopefully Mr. Coben's lawsuit will shed some light on that.