Why Was My Workers Compensation Claim Denied?

You may be devastated to find out that your claim for worker’s compensation has been denied. You and your family now may be even more financially impacted because of mounting medical bills . Unfortunately, it happens–many claims, including valid claims–are denied for numerous reasons.

However, you still have legal options after your claim is denied. In most cases, you should hire a lawyer at the start when you begin to file. Having a lawyer’s assistance will reduce your chances of being denied by the insurance company in the beginning. Check out these details on common reasons for refusals and further steps for you to pursue legal action.

4 Common Reasons Your Claim May Be Denied

There are many reasons that your claim may be denied, here are four common reasons people usually don’t get their claims:

1. There were no witnesses to your accident at work. Usually insurance companies will use this information to claim that you are lying about the accident occurring.
2. Your injury sustained is similar to or the same as a pre-existing condition. An insurance company may claim that you sustained the injury in the past and that it is just flaring up.
3. You missed the deadline to file.
4. You did not pursue medical treatment or did not follow care instructions properly. An insurance company can say that your injury isn’t as serious as your claim because you failed to follow through seeking help, or that the worsening of the injury is your fault.

Filing For an Appeal

When your worker’s compensation claim is denied, then you should be provided information about an appeals process. The deadline could be a short window of time, so be sure to file before the date comes up.

If your reason for denial is easy to fix, like typos on paperwork, then you may be able to fix it with the proper information with the help of an attorney. Then you have a better chance at an appeal. You may also have to go to an administrative hearing where you will need to support your claim with supplemental evidence. You may be required to provide medical records and/or a testimony from a medical expert. An attorney will be able to gather the evidence for you and may have a contact that is a medical expert who can speak on your injuries suffered.

How a Worker’s Compensation Attorney Can Help

If your claim was denied for worker’s compensation, there is still hope! An attorney who has handled worker’s compensation such as the workers compensation lawyers Nassau County locals trust cases before can give you a consultation for free and help you decide how to best prepare for your appeal. It is highly recommended that you hire a lawyer from the very start to help you handle your affairs to offer you the best chance at receiving compensation for your injuries.

Thanks to authors at Polsky, Shouldice, & Rosen P.C. for their insight into Workers Compensation.

As a company valued at $18.2 billion, Uber has gotten something right. With their ease of use, affordability, and convenience, it’s no wonder that the ride-sharing company is doing as well as it is. However, there’s always the chance of a collision involving an Uber car. If that occurs, it becomes very important to determine just who can be held liable for your damages.

In this post, we’re going to explore who can be held liable for an injury that was sustained in an Uber accident.

Insurance Policies

In response to the high number of accidents that have happened in the course of Uber rides, the company established an enhanced insurance policy program. They now cover up to $50,000 per person and up to $25,000 for property damage from an Uber accident. This is on top of the coverage Uber already has of $1,000,000 for accidents when a trip is in progress.

If you were involved in an accident while in an Uber car or were struck by an Uber car, you have certain legal entitlements. A Personal Injury lawyer memphis TN relies on can provide you with more information about how the law applies in your particular situation.

Common Causes of Uber Accidents

Some of the most common causes of Uber accidents are as follows:

– Lack of sleep. Uber doesn’t require a set amount of breaks or sleep within a given time period. As a result, many drivers will work long hours to ensure they get paid more.
– Failing to maintain vehicles in a safe and working condition.
– Negligence when driving such as speeding or not paying attention to the road signs.
– Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Victims of accidents may be entitled to compensation when an accident is caused due to negligent driving on the part of the Uber driver. To see if you may qualify for damage compensation, talk to a qualified attorney.

Steps to Take If You’ve Been Injured in an Uber Accident

There are steps that should be taken immediately if one is injured in an accident involving an Uber car.

– Call 911 and request the responding police officer to file a police report.
– If you’ve been injured, seek medical attention as soon as you possibly can. If necessary, have an ambulance transport you to the hospital so you can get examined and treated.
– Get the Uber driver’s insurance information.
– Get the make and model and license plate number of the Uber vehicle and any other vehicles involved.
– Don’t speak with the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier about any injuries you might have sustained. Anything you say can and will be used against you in order to diminish your claim.
– Contact an auto accident attorney regarding your case.

Despite the advantages of using Uber, there’s always the chance of a collision involving an Uber car. Though the driver may be held liable, in certain situations Uber can be held liable as well. An experienced attorney can provide you with the proper legal guidance for filing a claim or lawsuit.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from Wiseman Bray for their insight into medical malpractice cases.

Slip and fall accidents deal with premises liability, meaning that the slip and fall took place on someone’s property. However, the owner of the property isn’t automatically held liable because sometimes slips and falls happen entirely by accident. In fact, the burden of proof is mainly on the person who slipped. They have to prove that they were injured as a result of the property owner’s carelessness and negligence.

Could It Have Been Prevented?

A key question is whether or not the property owner made every reasonable effort to ensure no one was likely to slip and fall on their property. This reflects the property owner’s obligation to fulfill their “duty of care” and make sure they provide a hazard-free environment. To determine if the slip and fall could have been avoided, the insurance company or jury will look at the circumstances of the accident.

• If there were uneven floorboards, a pothole, or other slip and fall hazards then they should have been addressed and marked in the meantime as dangerous.
• Was the slip and fall victim acting carelessly in some way which caused them to slip and fall, through no fault of the property owner?
• Did the injured party have a reasonable reason for being on the property at the time?
• Should the property owner have had a reasonable expectation that the slip and fall victim would be on the property?
• Did the property owner provide warning of the dangerous hazard or put up a barrier to keep people away from it?
• Would a reasonable person have noticed the dangerous condition and acted with reasonable care to avoid harm?
• Was the slip and fall accident victim engaging in any other activities that may have lead to their slip and fall? (Were they running, inebriated, or texting while walking?)

What Must Be Proven

To win a case against a property owner, an injured party must prove:

• The owner of the property created the harmful condition;

• The owner of the property knew of the harmful condition;

• The owner of the property did not properly fix it; and

• The hazardous condition existed long enough that the property owner had a reasonable time to discover it and address it.

What If The Slip and Fall Victim Was Just Clumsy?

This may be apparent if the property owner is one who takes pride in the upkeep of their property. If they have a reputation for keeping the property in optimum condition and can document this, it becomes more of a challenge for the slip and fall victim to prove the owner’s negligence. If the victim does not have photographs or video showing the hazard which caused the accident, it can be challenging to make a strong case against the property owner.

Talk to an Attorney

If a property owner can prove that they took reasonable care to correct the hazardous condition, or warned of it while waiting for it to be fixed, they will probably not be held liable. If you were involved in a slip and fall accident and believe the other party was negligent, contact a Personal Injury Lawyer Phoenix AZ relies on as soon as possible.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from Kamper Estrada LLP for their insight into truck accident case.

Loss is one of the hardest challenges one must face. Losing someone close to you can be very hard, and all too often the clients of personal injury and wrongful death lawyers are faced with this challenge.  But understanding a few things surrounding loss can make it easier to cope. Your body may physical respond to your grief, and that is to be expected from such a big event. You may experience the feeling of pressure in your chest, pain around your heart and a tightness in your throat when you try to speak. Upset stomach and headaches, as well as chills and dizziness is common as well. Many find themselves easily startled after losing a loved one, but it is common to dull out the world around you as well. Some find it hard to catch their breath, sleep, or even eat. You may sleep more than you used to, or wake up at odd hours and get only a few hours of rest a night. Some find themselves searching for their loved one in a crowd, or attach themselves to one of their loved one’s belongings. Others may avoid memories associated with them entirely. The main thing to understand is that every single person in the world deals with the loss of a loved one differently.

Begin to Move On

Grieving is an important process in order to overcome the feelings of hopelessness and and help you to continue to embrace the time you had with your loved one. Beginning to move on will seem tough at first, but talking about your loss with family or friend may help give you peace. Isolating yourself after loss or denying the death will only prolong your healing process and will push away those who love and support you.  Sometimes going out and doing  or eating something that you enjoy can help, but try not turn to excessive drinking or drug use to help fill the void. It is vital that you take care of yourself during your grieving and make sure that you eat, exercise and try your best to get a good amount of sleep each day. If you cannot take care of yourself, please reach out to those who surround you for help and remember always that it is okay for you to not be okay.

Seeking Further Help

If you cannot shake the guilt, anxiety or depression associated with your loss it is imperative that you reach out to a psychologist can help. Therapists, like those who practice individual therapy Sterling VA residents turn to, can give you guidance on developing strategies to overcome your sadness, build your resilience and manage your loss in healthier ways.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from Lindsey Hoskins & Associates for their insight into dealing with loss.

The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority has just kicked off the 2017 edition of Street Smart NJ, a campaign dedicated to raising the awareness of motorist and pedestrian laws in New Jersey to help curb pedestrian accidents over the busy summer season, as covered by the official website of New Jersey 101.5.

The summer start of the campaign across several Jersey Shore communities was held on June 28, with pedestrian safety advocate Joel Feldman in attendance. Feldman lost his 21-year-old daughter Casey in 2009, when she was hit and killed by a distracted driver while on an Ocean City crosswalk. The driver in that case was trying to place a drink in his cup holder and accelerated into an intersection without looking, striking the young college student.

According to Feldman, when people see a person stumbling out of bar with car keys, the keys get taken away. The way to solve the problem of distracted driving is to make it just as socially unacceptable as driving drunk. He now appears at businesses and schools across the country to reinforce the true dangers distracted driving poses.

Street Smart NJ urges pedestrians and drivers to “check vital signs” when on roads, and media associated with it will be displayed at bus terminals, train stations and buses that travel the coastline. Coasters and cup sleeves are being marked in stores and bars to get the message out, and real estate agents, police and volunteers will be handing out reminder cards to the driving, riding and walking public. Pedestrians are urged to wait for “WALK” signals and use crosswalks, while drivers are being reminded to stop for pedestrians and obey all speed limits. Heads up and phones down is recommended for both groups as cell phones continue to be a part of many distracted driving accidents across the country.

The campaign was started in 2013 in just five sites. After the 2016 campaign, safety groups discovered a 40 percent drop in drivers failing to yield to pedestrians in areas where the messages were distributed.

As part of this year’s kickoff, there was also a demonstration of the recently installed high-intensity activated crosswalk at the busy intersection of 25th Street and Long Beach Boulevard. The new signal is able to connect wirelessly with other intersection lights and also provides pedestrian voice commands.

According to Jack Casella, Surf City Police Chief, the city is instituting a zero-tolerance policy for distracted driving over the summer, and officers will be strongly enforcing a rule that bans parking within 25 feet of any intersection. Between 2011 and 2015, the city had five car-bicycle and car-pedestrian accidents, but that number jumps to over 30 when all of Long Beach Island is added in. Over that same period, 22,000 pedestrians were injured and 765 died in auto-related crashes throughout New Jersey, according to the state’s Division of Highway Traffic Safety.

Distracted driving remains a dangerous trend nationwide. If you have been in an accident caused by a distracted driver, speak to an experienced car accident lawyer Denver CO trusts.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from The Law Office of Richard J. Banta, P.C. for their insight into pedestrian accidents.

Sometimes, a dog bite can lead to something very serious, as illustrated in a report on the case of David Krall by the Chicago Tribune..

Fifty-year-old David Krall, a marathon runner, decided to take a run after work, and he took one of his two dogs with him. When he returned home, a neighbor’s dog got out of its collar and went for Krall’s dog. When Krall was trying to pull the two dogs apart, the neighbor’s dog bit into Krall’s thigh, creating a bloody wound. The marathoner washed the wound and applied antibacterial cream, and he also visited an urgent care center the next day. Other than having a splenectomy over three decades ago after a car accident, Krall was completely healthy. At the urgent care center, Krall received a tetanus shot and antibiotics as a precaution.

The next day, the 50-year-old began to feel unwell, so his wife Becky took him back to the urgent care clinic, thinking the bite was infected or that he had a reaction to the tetanus shot. He had a fever, so the nurse at the clinic directed the couple to go to a nearby hospital. The emergency room at the hospital was busy, so the couple waited for around five hours to see a doctor. They decided to go home and return the next day, but around 4 am, Becky Krall woke up and noticed her husband still had a fever and seemed even more ill, so they returned to the emergency room.

This time, they were seen immediately, as Krall became unresponsive in the waiting room. To Becky Krall’s shock, she learned her husband was seriously ill, with labored breathing, failing kidneys and other complications. While staff researched and ran tests to determine what was causing his illness, Becky Krall repeatedly told them about the dog bite, but they didn’t think the two were related.

Finally, on David Krall’s 51st day in the hospital, infectious disease specialist Derek Forster, who was acting on a hunch because of the similarities in Krall’s case to a case the doctor had six years earlier, was able to pinpoint what was making the otherwise healthy 50-year-old so ill. David Krall had capnocytophaga canimorsus, a bacteria sometimes found in dog saliva that can cause fatal infections, particularly in a person who doesn’t have a spleen.

Recovery for David Krall, who was in a coma that was medically induced for 11 days during treatment, was difficult and took months. Parts of three of his toes had to be amputated due to the infection, and he now has permanent and severe hearing loss. While Becky Krall says the couple is grateful that doctors saved David’s life, they do want their story to serve as a reminder of the importance of communication in emergency departments and the dangers people without spleens face.

A simple dog bite can turn into something much bigger, as illustrated by the story of David Krall. If you or someone you love has been injured by someone else’s dog, speak to an experienced dog bite lawyer Denver CO trusts today.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from Richard J. Banta, P.C. into personal injury practice.

Probate property may be a term you’ve heard a few times. But what does it really mean? Let’s break it down. To understand the term probate property, you must first understand probate.

What is Probate?

Probate is the court-supervised process of proving the validity of a Will. When someone dies and they leave a Will behind, the court must determine the Will is valid. Once it is verified, the desires and the instructions of the deceased may be carried out by an appointed Executor (also known as a Personal Representative).  This usually involves distributing the deceased’s property to the people specified to inherit it in the Will.

If someone dies without a Will, their properties and assets must still go through probate before it can be distributed to the heirs. This is called an Intestate Probate. There is no need to prove the validity of any estate planning documents, but there is a need to clarify the succession of heirs for the court. Each state has a different “intestate succession” laws, but usually the order is as follows:

Spouse -> children -> parents -> parent’s descendants (siblings) -> grandparents -> the state

Probate Property

Any property being distributed via the probate process is probate property. This can apply to both real and personal properties. This does not mean, however, that each of Grandma’s porcelain figurines will be go through probate. Most states have laws and dollar limits on what qualifies a property or asset to go through probate. Think big ticket items, like the following assets:

• Real property (homes, vacant land)
• Automobiles
• Bank Accounts

Exception: if the above assets are held jointly, for example with a spouse, then often that property passes directly to the spouse, no probate needed.

Non-Probate Property

Luckily, many assets are not subject to probate if precautionary steps are taken. For example, bank accounts, life insurance policies, and retirement accounts usually have Payable-On-Death (POD) beneficiary designations. This means that you can formally designate the beneficiary of that account while you are still alive. Upon your death, that asset will pass directly to the beneficiary you named, instead of being subject to probate.

Do you need Probate?

Probate gets a bad rap because it can be expensive, stressful, and time-consuming. The good news is that there are ways to set up your estate to avoid probate as much as possible. If a family member of yours has recently passed, or if you want to learn more about how your family can avoid probate upon your passing, consider meeting with an estate planning lawyer Phoenix AZ trusts.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from Kamper Estrada LLP for their insight into probate property.

Although it is something of a cliché, there is a great deal of truth to the mantra that the only things certain in life are death and taxes. With that in mind, estate planning represents a reality in the lives of many individuals. Despite estate planning being an important issue for many people, there can be a great deal of confusion of what is meant by estate planning.

For example, you may be like many people and wonder if the creation of a last will and testament is the same thing as estate planning. In reality, the answer to this question is both yes and no.

Overview of a Last Will and Testament

A last will and testament is a legal instrument designed to communicate your final wishes in regard to your possessions. If you have minor children, a last will and testament might also contain directions as to who you want to assume care of them. In addition, a will may also address your desires for a funeral or disposition of your mortal remains.

The Role of an Estate Planning Lawyer

The process of comprehensive estate planning commences with a consultation with a lawyer. A skilled, experienced estate planning lawyer can provide an objective evaluation of your situation as your legal counsel. Their informed opinion can be of great benefit in developing an estate plan that is best for your needs.

Power of Attorney and Living Wills

As noted a moment ago, writing a last will and testament can be part of the estate planning process, but it rarely is the only necessary component for a truly comprehensive estate plan. Your estate plan may also include a durable power of attorney for healthcare as well as a so-called living will. Although people oftentimes conclude that a durable power of attorney for health care and a living well are the same type of thing, they actually serve different purposes.

• A durable power of attorney for healthcare allows you to designate the person who will make medical decisions for you should you become unable to so do yourself.
• A living will sets the parameters for extraordinary measures that can be utilized should you experience a serious or end of life health issue.

Living Trusts

A last will and testament may not meet all of your needs when it comes to estate planning. Rather, because of the size and nature of your estate, you may need to consider establishing some type of trust. An experienced estate planning attorney can assist you in determining whether or not a trust is necessary, and if so, what type of trust would best serve your interests. Trusts also offer certain tax advantages for your heirs.

Talk to a Qualified Estate Planning Lawyer

The first step in the overall estate planning process is to schedule a consultation with a qualified lawyer. Contact our Living Will Lawyer Scottsdale AZ locals trust for a free initial consultation.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from Arizona Estate Planning Attorneys for their insight into Living Will & Trust.

HOW TEXTING AND DRIVING AFFECTS EVERYONE

There are several reasons people give for texting while driving: reporting arrival status; in a hurry; stuck in traffic; family or other relationship pressure. New smartphone technology has made texting easier, especially with the introduction of text swype and voice-to-text functions. Although we’ve all been warned, many drivers adopt a “not me” attitude and convince themselves that they are still in control when they text.

THE TRUTH