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personal injury

Getting Your Rightful Dues: The Difference Between Personal Injury and Catastrophic Injury

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Nobody wants to deal with the aftermath of a personal injury, especially in the legal sense. But what may seem like a not-so-worthwhile attempt to seek damages for an injury may be substantially worth the injured’s time. This is especially the case if the personal injury is qualified as a catastrophic injury.

But what’s the difference? What makes an injury “catastrophic?”

If one has experienced a personal injury in Aurora, Colorado, one may probably wonder what their legal options are. The first step in seeking wrongful injury compensation is to distinguish whether the injury is personal or catastrophic.

The Difference Between Personal and Catastrophic Injury

The biggest difference between personal and catastrophic injuries is the range of damage and disability.

A personal injury can be defined as an animal bite or a broken ankle from a neglectful accident. A catastrophic injury could be defined as a spinal cord injury that requires lifelong special care.

While a personal injury can be traumatic and costly in the medical or emotional sense, a catastrophic injury is, no matter how one looks at it, substantially worse. A personal injury is a type of trauma that affects health in short term. A catastrophic injury is often lifelong, results in disability, and requires the injured to receive costly medical care for life.

Due to the severity between the two, there is quite a vast difference in legal action that one may take. A personal injury lawsuit can result in damages paid for medical costs accrued for the injury as well as compensation for mental trauma. A catastrophic injury lawsuit can result in damages paid for medical costs accrued, future medical costs for lifelong care, and additional compensation. Catastrophic injury lawsuits are difficult to win, but they are not impossible.

To make it clearer on the lines between personal and catastrophic injuries, let’s look at some of the common differences.

Common Personal Injuries

Car Accidents

This is probably the most common personal injury that people think of, and they are indeed the most common personal injury case in the United States. Since car accidents are often the result of one or more parties not driving carefully, it’s typically easy to hold the careless driver financially responsible for the injured person’s injuries.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or other health professional fails to provide a patient with adequate, skillful care and results in a patient’s injury.

Medical malpractice is not exclusive to personal injuries and can be the cause of catastrophic injuries as well. These cases are notoriously difficult to win, but certainly not impossible.

“Slip and Fall” Cases

In the case of slipping and falling on a particular property, one can seek damages for an injury caused by the recklessness and safety neglection of a property owner.

Animal Bites

In a vast majority of cases, an animal’s owner is held personally responsible for medical costs accrued for an injury resulting from an attack from said animal. Laws surrounding animal bites vary from state to state.

Common Catastrophic Injuries

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)

TBI can be caused by bike or pedestrian accidents, medical malpractice, and many other factors. TBI can result in debilitating cognitive and emotional problems that are lifelong.

Spinal Cord Injuries

This is the most common type of catastrophic injury and usually result from car accidents, falls, and trampoline accidents.

Amputations

This devastating catastrophic injury changes the patient’s physical and emotional life. Damages for such an injury could include proper prosthetics and long-term medical care.

Blindness or Deafness

Blindness and deafness as a catastrophic accident often occur as the result of medical or parental negligence. Loss of income and emotional distressed are just a few damages one could seek for such an injury.

Disfigurement

Disfigurement can be the result of medical malpractice or an intentional attack, and damages will likely include emotional distress.

Severe Burn Injuries

A severe burn injury could require long-term care as well as additional surgeries. Skin graft operations for severe burns often result in disfigurement catastrophic injuries as well. Many burn injuries are caused by the negligence of another party.

Organ Damage

Organ damage often results from physical trauma, either from car accidents or internal bleeding caused by medical malpractice.

Multiple Bone Fractures

A common result of car accidents, multiple bone fractures will often require multiple surgeries and result in loss of income.

Exposure to Toxic or Hazardous Chemicals and Substances

Exposure to dangerous chemical is often the result of workplace negligence in factories.

Personal injury and catastrophic injury are both very serious and undesirable positions to be in. You have the right to seek compensation and justice for the trauma you experienced, and the talented attorneys at Alhasoon, Glidden & Glidden are available to take on your case. You don’t have to go it alone, contact us today!

colorado springs car accident

Has your Automobile Been Damaged in an Accident?

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Being involved in an auto accident can lead to many issues few are equipped to deal with. To name a few, the trauma of the experience, the potential medical issues that can last for months or even years, and of course, the damage your vehicle suffers. A damaged vehicle is no small issue for individuals who rely on their vehicle to get to work every day, or who use it for work. Although property damage insurance covers the costs associated with damage to your vehicle, the amount of coverage you’ll receive to repair or replace your vehicle depends on the automobile policy you have.

What you should do immediately following a car accident

Immediately following the accident, contact the police to report the accident and wait for them to arrive at the scene. Once the police arrive, they will take your statement, the other driver’s statement (if present), and any witnesses that were present during the accident. All this information will go into the police report that the attending officer will file. If the other party is still present at the scene, make sure to exchange contact and insurance information with them. If there is a witness that is willing to make a statement in your favor, take their contact information as well.

Second, document all evidence at the scene of the accident. This includes taking multiples picture of the damage to both vehicles from various angles, taking pictures of the stop lights or traffic signs, and pictures of the intersection. This type of documentation is extremely important, as it may be used in the future to prove fault to the insurance company or in the event the case is not settled, it can be used in court.

After the accident, you should expect to hear from the other driver’s insurance company. It is important to consult the experienced personal injury attorneys at Alhasoon, Glidden, and Glidden as soon as possible to discuss your options.

Demand Fair Compensation!

In Colorado, victims who are injured in an automobile accident can recover damages from the at-fault driver’s insurance company. If this is the case, you can file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company for compensation to repair the damage to your vehicle. Because Colorado drivers are required by law to carry liability insurance to cover physical injuries and property damage, you should make a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company for compensation.

If the other driver does not have insurance coverage and was at fault, then you may still recover from your insurance company for your bodily injuries if you have an uninsured motorist policy coverage. As an alternative, you can also take the driver to court to seek compensation for damages. If you have collision coverage and you were at fault, your insurance company should cover your vehicle damage, regardless of fault.

In Colorado, each driver is required to purchase an insurance policy with a minimum of $15,000 for damage coverage. Many drivers opt to purchase a higher policy limit as it provides huge benefits in the event of an accident.

Get the Care and Attention You Deserve!

Our attorneys have years of experience representing clients in a variety of personal injury and property damage cases and understand the severity and challenges you may be facing. You deserve to be compensated and made whole after an accident, contact the attorneys at the Denver-based firm of Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden to help you fight to recover every dollar you are owed.

Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Why You Need Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

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In Colorado, all drivers are required to carry auto insurance by law. However, having auto insurance does not guarantee that you will be compensated for your injuries and damages if you are involved in an auto accident, especially if the other driver is an uninsured or underinsured motorist. On January 1, 2018, Colorado adopted new laws regarding uninsured and underinsured insurance policies. The following describes what you should know about the Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage portion of your insurance policy.

What is Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage?

UM/UIM coverage is a supplemental insurance policy that kicks in when you are involved in an auto accident with someone who does not have insurance coverage, or who has insufficient auto insurance to cover any medical bills or costs of the accident. If the other driver is at-fault for the accident, your insurance company will step in and cover any medical or accident-related expenses that the driver at-fault is unable to cover.

UM/UIM coverage is offered in addition to your primary automobile insurance policy and is not a stand-alone policy. In Colorado, insurance companies are required to provide UM/UIM coverage that equals the limits of your bodily injury liability policy. For example, if your bodily injury liability coverage is $250,000.00, then your UM/UIM will also cover $250,000.00.

Another great advantage of UM/UIM coverage is that such policy covers injuries even if you are a pedestrian, cyclist, or passenger in another vehicle, and the at-fault party does not have insurance or does not have enough insurance to cover your expenses resulting from the accident.

So What’s Changed Since 2008?

The first change to the law is that “setoff” by your insurance company is no longer allowed. Let’s say your injuries and damages total $250,000.00. If your UM/UIM policy covers $200,000, and the underinsured motorist’s insurance only pays up to $50,000.00, then the total compensation of your policy and the other driver’s policy is the combination of both policies, or $250,000.00. The insurance company can no longer setoff the underinsured motorists sum from your policy coverage.

The second change to the law is that you are allowed to purchase more than one policy per household, and “stack” the policies to cover your damages. For example, if you own three insurance policies with UM/UIM coverage of $100,000.00 each, Colorado law will allow you to apply up to $300,000.00 of your UM/UIM coverage towards the expenses resulting from the accident.

How Long Do I Have to File a UM/UIM Claim?

In Colorado, an injured party has three years from the date of the injury to file an UM/UIM claim with their insurance company. If the injured party receives a payment for any of their injuries within three years, the injured party is granted an additional two years to file a claim for underinsured coverage with their insurance company, to cover any additional expenses the injured party may incur in the future as a result of the accident. Any injured party should ensure that underinsured claims are filed before the three years expire to be certain they will receive compensation for their claims.

Contact us if your claim has been denied

If you don’t have UM/UIM you should certainly consider adding it to your policy, as it can provide significant monetary coverage in the event of an accident.

If you have been injured in an automobile, truck, pedestrian/auto, or bicycle accident, contact the experienced Denver attorneys at Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden for a free consultation to evaluate your case.

Med Pay Coverage for Personal Injury

Why You Should Know What Med Pay Is and Why It Matters

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If you’ve never heard of “med pay” in the context of auto insurance, please read carefully, as this supplemental coverage for auto insurance policies provides major benefits if you are ever involved in an auto accident.

Med Pay is short for medical payment coverage and is supplemental insurance coverage that provides a certain level of reimbursement for medical expenses you and any passengers in your vehicle may suffer from because of an auto accident. Med pay provides medical coverage benefits regardless of fault and provides many other additional benefits.

Med pay coverage

Med pay allows you to submit your medical bills under the med pay provisions of your auto insurance policy to be paid directly by your insurance company. Most policies only cover up to $25,000.00 intended to cover immediate medical expenses.

Keep in mind, adding med pay coverage to your existing policy can be as inexpensive as a couple of extra dollars per month and can provide significant benefit if you are injured in an auto accident. Med pay should not be confused with health insurance. Whereas med pay does cover medical bills in most scenarios, health insurance should be your primary insurance policy should you need extensive medical care in connection with an auto accident. It is important to have a health insurance policy for your everyday medical care and not confuse the two types of policies.

Does Med Pay cover multiple vehicles?

No. Med pay is coverage that needs to be purchased for each vehicle. However, med pay does follow the policy holder, so regardless of whether you are involved in an accident as a passenger in another car, you will be covered by your policy. Med pay can also be beneficial for individuals driving for ride-sharing companies, as your med pay coverage can cover your passengers, if and when necessary.

How is Med Pay different than Personal Injury Protection (PIP)?

Med pay and PIP may seem to provide the same coverage, however, they are very distinct policies. Where med pay solely covers medical related expenses, PIP is a more comprehensive policy, and therefore costlier. PIP policies provide coverage for medical expenses, rehabilitative and psychiatric services, as well as documented losses such as lost wages. In “no-fault” states, PIP is mandatory. As of 2003, Colorado is no longer a no-fault state and therefore, PIP coverage is no longer mandatory.

The bottom line

If your auto insurance policy is not already equipped with med pay, consider contacting your auto insurance agent about adding this coverage to your policy. More importantly, if your policy does include med pay, and you’ve recently been injured in an auto accident, contact Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden top personal injury lawyers in Denver. Request a comprehensive review of your auto coverage and insurance benefits to make sure the insurance companies are paying you what you are owed!