Bike Crash Case – "IOUs" on Settlement or Verdict

No one advertises the fact that there can be substantial "IOUs" on the money an innocent car, motorcycle or bike crash victim may recover at trial or in compromise settlement. After a bike crash, the main focus of the biker's attention should be getting well. However, medical bills and other expenses add up in serious in jury cases. Many Landau Law Shop clients have health, workers compensation and other insurance coverage for these bills. Under many states' laws, government and some private insurance plans have the right to be paid back at the end of the case. These "subrogation interests" or "liens" are like "IOUs" on the innocent victim's case. The good news is that these insurance plans often negotiate a discount on the hospital, doctor, therapy or surgical bills. The not so good news is that they want to be paid out of the injured bicyclist's gross settlement or verdict. Failure to repay this debt can lead to cessation of any further comp benefits, a lawsuit for fraud and/or loss of future insurance coverage and benefits.

At ABRAMS LANDAU, we recently settled the case of a biker who was struck during an Alexandria Virginia training ride. The rider was required to keep fit for his federal government job. The bicycle rider sustained severe orthopedic injuries. The Department of Labor paid for his medical bills and lost wages as the result of the broken bones. When it came time to settle the case with the unsafe driver who had been convicted in Traffic Court, the labor Department wanted their "IOU" paid. We used the Federal work sheet to calculate the payment to the government and our client was not out of pocket any money for medical care, prescription medication or his several surgeries. He is also able to seek future workers compensation benefits for his permanent injuries. "Bicycling Barrister" Doug Landau is pleased to report the biker is back to work and getting back into shape ! If you or someone you know or care for has been injured as the result of a car, truck, bicycle. moped or motorcycle crash and there are questions about what laws apply, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555) at once.

BUCKFIRE & BUCKFIRE, P.C. is a Michigan personal injury law firm and is not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time of the posting of the article. The information contained in this article is from online news sources and any perceived misstatements should be attributed to those sources as we did not complete any investigation of the accident. If you believe that the information is inaccurate and would like it changed or would like this post completely removed from the site, please let us know and we will do our best to promptly accommodate your request. We are very sensitive to these requests.

If you were involved in this accident or a similar accident and have questions about your legal rights and options, it is important that you contact a reputable law firm. Please make sure that any Michigan law firm that you contact has significant experience in handling these types of accident and injury cases and has an excellent track record of successful settlements and jury verdicts. We also suggest that the attorney you contact provides you with a free initial consultation.