Q: I was hit by an uninsured motorist and hospitalized. Do I need a PI atty for a UIM claim, or should I do it myself?
The motorist turned into me (she said she had a green turn signal) while I had a green light to go straight through the intersection. There are no witnesses and the police report reflects both of our accounts of what happened (she was cited for no license or insurance but no fault was placed for the wreck, from what I can tell). I was badly injured, and my car was totaled. Would I be better off attempting to negotiate this myself? From what I understand this would be a contingency contract, and I can't afford to pay anything out of pocket.
A: You should talk to an attorney. There are several issues that make your case more complicated. 1. It is a uninsured motorist claim. 2. It sounds like there may be some contest as to liability by the defendant and the uninsured motorist carrier. 3. You mention you had significant injuries. There are likely medical providers including a health insurer who will claim rights in a recovery. 4. Issues pertaining to even a straight forward claim have been made more complicated by present and future rights of the government to assert that a person cannot later recover benefits because of a serious injury claim.
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