JEFF S. KLEIN, P.C.'S WEBSITE

Be Sure Your Car
Insurance has the
Necessary Coverage

Beware Of Unsolicited
Referrals

The Time Right After An
Accident Can Be Vital
To Your Claim

Study Shows Top Causes
of Auto Crashes

JEFF S. KLEIN

My practice is now devoted almost exclu- sively to representing persons who sustained personal injuries.
I graduated from Emory University Law School in 1982 and spent the first years of my career as a defense attorney handling much of the civil litigation arising out of the operation of Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport and its Police, Fire and Corrections Departments.

My experiences as a trial attorney having represented both Plaintiffs & Defendants provides me with a unique perspective that is a valuable tool for my clients.

Please call me should you wish to discuss any legal mater. Initial consultations are FREE.

HAVE AN ATTORNEY REVIEW YOUR CASE:

Over the years my experience has been that when my clients inform me that they have “full coverage” they do not have all the coverage they really need. The term “full Coverage” is often used by insurance salespeople to indicate you have the full minimum liability coverage that Georgia law requires.

When you are involved in an automobile accident you want to have the best coverage you can afford so that you have the best protection. You do not want just the minimum coverage the state requires. I suggest that my clients have both uninsured motorist coverage and medical payments coverage on their car insurance policies in addition to the sate required liability coverage to be adequately protected in the event of a automobile accident.

Liability coverage protects your assets and provides payments for a person who sustained damages in an accident that was your fault. You should purchase enough to protect the value of your assets. Uninsured motorist coverage protects you by providing a source of recovery in the event that a person who causes an accident in witch you sustain damage is either uninsured or underinsured.

If the person who caused the accident in which you get hurt has only minimum coverage you can then use your own uninsured motorist coverage to seek additional compensation for your injuries if the limits you carry on your uninsured motorist coverage is above the $25,000 threshold. In order to properly protect themselves I now recommend that my clients have a minimum of $50,000 of uninsured motorist coverage per person an much more if the can afford it.

I also suggest that my clients add medical payments coverage to their car insurance. Medical payments coverage is very inexpensive. Because it is so inexpensive this coverage is worth having even if you have health insurance. Medical payments coverage will protest every family member of your household if they are hurt in a car wreck even if it is in a car wreck that does not involve the car that is being insured. It will also provide payment for medical expenses to the passengers in your vehicle.

All this coverage is available without reference to who was at fault for the accident. Additionally, unlike many health insurance policies no reimbursement need be made to the insurance company for expenses they paid. I suggest that $10,000 of medical payments coverage.

Both uninsured motorist coverage and medical payment coverage in Georgia are optional. This means that you must elect to choose this coverage for an additional charge when you purchase your automobile insurance. It will not be included automatically as part of your overall automobile coverage. These coverages are surprisingly inexpensive and making this change should not significantly effect the overall cost of your car insurance.

Individuals are now obtaining the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of persons involved in automobile accidents for the purpose of directing the accident victims to unethical doctors, chiropractors and lawyers who then make illicit and illegal payments to these individuals for the referrals. Beware of unsolicited calls referring you to a particular lawyer or doctor.

In recent months the people engaged in these dishonest activities have grown bolder and more sophisticated. Your personal information is being obtained from various sources including police reports, hospital admission documents and towing records.

Accident victims are often called within several hours of an accident by persons identifying themselves with official sounding titles designed to have you believe that they are from the local police department or from a branch of local or state government.

Often they leave a return phone number which is answered in a manner to enhance the charade. Legitimate representatives of the police and government are strictly prohibited from referring accident victims to doctors, chiropractors or lawyers. Do not be fooled by these scam artists.

The Time Right
After an Accident
Can Be Vital
to Your Claim

Many accident victims want to make a clam. But for one reason or another they delay getting legal help. Then, after months have passed and they finally start the claim process, they learn their financial recovery will be lower than if they had acted sooner.

A good way to obtain the maximum recovery after an accident is to get legal help right away. This is because the time immediately after the accident can be vital to your claim. Right after the accident, evidence is fresh, witnesses can more easily recall what happened, and investigators can more easily reconstruct the accident. As time passes, memories fade and evidence gets lost or degraded.

If you’re in an accident, you can control some aspects of you claim but not others. How soon you seek legal help is one thing you can control. It also is a key factor in how much compensation you recover. Take the right steps for you and your family by acting fast to get legal help after an accident.

Study Shows Top
Causes of
Auto Crashes

A study released by the government showing the top causes of car accidents is important for all drivers. Knowing the main causes of auto accidents alerts you to dangers to avoid.

The study found that about 80% of accidents and 65% of near accidents are caused by driver inattention within three seconds of the incident. The main forms of driver inattention are distracting activities, like using a cell phone, and drowsiness.

Key finding of the study are:

• People who drive while drowsy are about four times as likely to be in an accident or near accident.

• Dialing a phone increases the risk of an accident by three times, and talking or listening on a hone by almost twice.

• Looking at an object outside the vehicle increases the accident risk by nearly four rimes and applying makeup by three times.

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