Someone offered me money to see a lawyer and doctor after my accident. What’s up with that? Is that legit?

Is Taking Money to See a Personal Injury Lawyer or Doctor Legal?

No. Taking money to see a personal injury lawyer or doctor is illegal. You can be implicated in insurance fraud, ruin your case, and even be assaulted by the runner who paid you (we’ll go into details on that below).

Runners will pay you cash because they’re not foolish enough to leave a paper trail with a check.

Everyone involved with runners violates the law, including the runner, personal injury lawyer, doctor, and the person taking the money (you). Lawyers and doctors are periodically arrested.

What Is a Runner?

A person who offers to give you money to see a lawyer and a doctor is called a runner.

Runners illegally approach people at accident scenes or roam the halls in hospitals looking for injured people to refer them to a particular lawyer and a doctor or medical clinic. Both the lawyer and the doctor pay the runner.

A runner may try to send you to a lawyer and a doctor without offering you money, but if the runner senses any reluctance from you, the runner will offer you money. Keep reading to find out how much money a runner will pay you.

Runners aren’t the only ones who illegally get paid to send accident victims to lawyers and doctors. See how EMTs in the ambulance crew and people working in the hospital ER may also illegally refer you to doctors and lawyers.

What Is an Ambulance Chaser?

Ambulance chasers are personal injury lawyers and doctors who illegally pay money to a runner to get clients and patients.

Some people refer to personal injury lawyers as ambulance chasers, but only a very few personal injury lawyers illegally pay runners to get cases.

Many people are unaware, but there are a few doctors who are also ambulance chasers and illegally pay runners to get patients injured in accidents.

Reasons You Shouldn’t Take Money to See a Lawyer or a Doctor

You don’t want to be forced into being treated by a doctor willing to pay to get you as a patient, and you don’t want to be forced into being represented by a lawyer willing to pay to get you as a client.

It’s far more important to get good medical treatment and a good personal injury lawyer.

You May Get Unnecessary Surgery

Accident victims who are paid by a runner are referred to a medical clinic, where they often receive unnecessary surgery by an unscrupulous doctor. The doctor wants to make a lot of money for performing surgery on you that you don’t need.

New York No-Fault will either pay the doctor if you had a car accident or if you had another type of accident, the doctor will put a large lien against your personal injury settlement money.

Insurance Companies Know Which Lawyers and Doctors Are Ambulance Chasers

Insurance companies know who these lawyers and doctors are. If you are represented by a lawyer known to the insurance company, you will not get a good settlement.

Taking money from a runner may result in your lawyer settling your case for pennies on the dollar or completely ruining your case.

If you are treated by a doctor known to the insurance company, the insurance company will try to deny many of your medical bills.

If Your Doctor or Lawyer Is Arrested, Your Case Will Become Worthless

If your doctor is arrested, the insurance company will suspect your medical records are fraudulent and won’t settle your case. Your doctor will not be able to testify on your behalf at a trial if the insurance company won’t settle.

If your lawyer is arrested, the insurance company will suspect every case the lawyer had, and the insurance company will never settle your case. You will need a new lawyer, and you may not be able to find a new lawyer willing to take over your case.

Don’t Take Money to Change Your Lawyer

If you take money from someone who asks you to change your lawyer and see the accident lawyer they recommend, your case may be delayed for years and ruined.

After you realize you made a mistake, it will be difficult to find another new lawyer willing to take your case, and even if you do, your current lawyer will likely not back down easily and further delay your case.

A personal injury law firm filed a lawsuit against two competitor injury law firms, claiming they used runners at pain management medical clinics to convince accident clients to switch attorneys by offering Uber rides to the new lawyer’s office from a doctor’s office and cash money.

In a lawsuit against their law firm, lawyers Gonzalez and Levenson claimed that Steinger, Iscoe & Greene had a “no surgery, no case” policy, used nonlawyers to do work that is only allowed to be done by lawyers, and illegally paid money to runners to get cases. This is not the kind of law firm you want for your injury case.

Runners Are Dangerous

The people offering to pay you are dangerous scammers called “runners.” They are violating the law and can go to jail, so they won’t hesitate to be violent.

We have known accident victims who took money from a runner and were later violently assaulted by the runner when the lawyer dropped the case, and the runner wanted the money back.

Why Is Someone Offering to Pay Me When I Had an Accident?

Runners will offer you money because they get paid a lot of money by both an ambulance-chasing lawyer and an ambulance-chasing doctor.

Runners will offer you money after an accident only if you use their personal injury lawyer and are treated by their doctor.

The runner may send you directly to a lawyer who will send you to a doctor, but runners will often send you to a medical office first, where you will be given a retainer from a personal injury lawyer to sign.

Find out how you can ruin your case if you go to a medical office recommended by a runner or a medical office that calls you after you go to the emergency room.

How Much Will I Be Paid When I Have an Accident?

A runner will usually pay you up to $1,500 cash. The runner will then get $1,500 from the lawyer and $1,500 from the doctor. The runner will pocket $1,500 or even more if they pay you less.

But you could have to pay the money out of your pocket later if the lawyer drops your case and the runner demands his money back!

Why Are Personal Injury Lawyers and Doctors Paying for My Case?

Lawyers who pay for accident cases are willing to risk getting caught for doing so illegally because the legal fee of 1/3 of your settlement is a lot of money. If your case is settled for $450,000, your personal injury lawyer will earn $150,000. That kind of money sometimes makes people do illegal things.

Doctors who pay runners to steer patients to their offices do so for the same reason. They can fraudulently bill no-fault insurance, another insurance company, or Medicare for tens of thousands of dollars. These doctors may even get paid by MRI facilities.

If there is no insurance to pay the doctor, the doctor will place a lien on your personal injury settlement for a lot of money.

Will I Get a Good Lawyer?

It’s impossible to know if the accident lawyer will be a good lawyer because we don’t know which lawyer the runner works with.

We can say that an accident attorney willing to do something illegal, risk his or her lawyer’s license, and go to prison is likely to be desperate and probably not a good lawyer.

We know that it’s not a lawyer you can trust, either to settle your case for what it’s worth or that the lawyer won’t send you for unnecessary surgery that could ruin your life.

A personal injury lawyer, George Constantine, was convicted of fraud against insurance companies in a scheme set up by a doctor involving several lawyers and doctors. The lawyer sent his clients to orthopedic surgeons for unnecessary surgeries. This is another lawyer, convicted in the same scheme, who also sent his clients to orthopedic surgeons for unnecessary surgeries.

That personal injury lawyer was working with a doctor, Peter Kalkanis. I was introduced to Dr. Kalkanis at a Barbara Streisand concert. At the end of the concert, Dr. Kalkanis was locked out of his car, and I let him and his wife sit in my car while he waited for someone. He invited me to dinner and offered to send me 50-100 personal injury cases per month! While I could have made millions of dollars, it sounded very suspicious. He then hinted at how much he wanted. I declined, and I never saw him again. He was later arrested.

What If I Don’t Like the Lawyer I Get?

This can be a big problem. Legally, you can change your personal injury lawyer anytime you want to.

But if you don’t like the personal injury lawyer used by the runner who paid you money and you change to a new personal injury attorney, you may get a visit from the runner who wants his money back. We had a client who was assaulted when she could not pay the money back.

You can also have a problem if the lawyer recommended by the runner decides that he or she doesn’t want to represent you any longer. That happens a lot when you get a lawyer through a runner. The lawyer may drop your case, but the runner will want the money back.

What Happens If I Don’t Use the Runner’s Lawyer or Doctor?

If you take the money and don’t use the runner’s lawyer or doctor, you can have some big problems, as seen in these examples.

Example 1 — Her case was delayed, and she was assaulted

We represented a client who took money from two different runners just before we received a settlement offer on the case. Before we could settle the case, we received substitution letters from two different personal injury lawyers, both trying to take the case at the same time.

We ended up fighting with the other two lawyers, and the case was delayed. Finally, the other two lawyers gave up, and we settled the case. Approximately one year later, our client called to say that she was assaulted by a runner who demanded that she pay the money back.

Not only was our client’s case delayed preventing her from receiving the money she badly needed, but she was also physically assaulted and feared for her life.

Example 2 — She was probably threatened or assaulted

We received a call from a woman who said she was on a New York City bus that had an accident, but we were not interested in representing her.

Before calling us, she spoke with another lawyer who did not want to represent her. We believe she was sent to that lawyer by a runner because a week after we spoke with her, she called Rob Plevy. The transcript of that call is below, and you can listen to the recording.

We believe she called us by mistake, thinking we were the first lawyer she spoke with. She likely just clicked on our phone number on her cell phone, thinking it was the phone number of the other lawyer.

She was probably threatened by a runner who paid her money. The runner obviously wanted his money back because the personal injury lawyer he was working with did not want the case.

The call was recorded, and you can listen to it here:

This is a transcript of the call:

Rob Plevy: Attorney Rob Plevy, can I help you?
Caller: Yes, is this an attorney?
Rob Plevy: Yes.
Caller: Is this microphone on? I’m trying to record for quality assurance, is your microphone on sir?
Rob Plevy:  I think it might be.
Caller: Oh, no problem. That’s beautiful.
Caller: I’m just calling because we owe you some money.
Rob Plevy: Who’s this?
Caller: I wanted to pay you back. How’s that sound?
Rob Plevy: I don’t know who this is.
Caller: You said you don’t want the money back?
Rob Plevy: I don’t know who this is.
Caller: When you find out, give me a F’kin call back.

Example 3 — Our client could have ruined her $1 million-dollar case, twice!

We represented a woman who had neck surgery when she fell in a warehouse store when she was knocked over by a forklift. The warehouse store which went out of business had a $1 million insurance policy.

Before she had surgery on her neck, she had a car accident in which she damaged a dental implant and injured her breast. While she was still sitting in her car in the intersection at the accident scene, two runners, working for two different accident lawyers, came up to her offering her money. She told them that she had a lawyer and wasn’t interested.

If she had taken the money, she would have been sent straight to their medical clinic, where she would have been treated for neck and back pain which would have ruined her warehouse case.

She was taken to the hospital by ambulance, where her name and phone number were sold to a medical clinic. Again, this could have ruined her case! Read about why you should hang up if you get a call from a medical clinic and how it can ruin your case.

Fortunately, she never did get medical treatment for her neck, and we settled her warehouse case for the entire $1 million insurance policy.

Runners are dangerous criminals!  Signing with them will not only hurt your personal injury case, but if the runner’s accident lawyer ever decides to stop representing you, the runner will want the money back, and you could be assaulted!

Don’t take money from anyone when you have an accident. If you need money, we can get you a settlement cash advance loan which you don’t have to pay back until the end of your case, and you don’t have to pay anything if we don’t get money for you. We can even get you a cash advance loan on your case, which is paid to you monthly on a debit card.

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Comments About What happens When Someone Offers Me Money to Hire Their Lawyer?

Cellino and Barnes injury attorneys advertise that their best attorney will work on your case!

The title of this Cellino and Barnes advertisement says “Our Best Attorney” but then says “we’ll put our best attorneys on your case.”

Will Cellino and Barnes Really Put Their Best Attorney on Your Case?

Who are the best attorneys at Cellino and Barnes? We’re sure that Stephen Barnes and Ross Cellino won’t be working on your case!

Cellino and Barnes have a lot of attorneys, but their best attorneys can only work on a few cases, and they probably have tens of thousands of cases.

At 1-800-HURT-911® Injury Attorneys, Two Partners Will Work on Your Case!

We have a different system for working on cases. in addition to assigning cases to particular personal injury lawyers, partners Philip L. Franckel, Esq. and Robert T. Plevy, Esq. work on the most important aspects of every case.

When your injury case goes to trial, you get at least 3 or 4 partners working on your case. We call this the personal injury dream team!

Our clients love us because we give them personal attention which you can’t get with any other large law firm. Our clients can always call us 7 days/nights/weekends!

That’s why we were named the 44th fastest-growing law firm in the US!

Cellino and Barnes say they have gotten some clients many times more than what the insurance company offered. But that’s not unusual for a personal injury lawyer. We almost always get more than the insurance company settlement offer! Take a look at some of our results.

Did Cellino and Barnes Split Up? Are Cellino and Barnes Still in Business?

Yes. Ross Cellino, Jr. and Stephen E. Barnes began fighting and suing each other years ago. Eventually, the Cellino and Barnes injury law firm officially split up and dissolved. See this article for the full story about Cellino and Barnes.

Cellino and Barnes Phone Number

There were a couple of lawsuits against each other including one lawsuit over the original phone number Cellino and Barnes was advertising on TV.

It appears that Cellino and Barnes had three phone numbers each purchased for around $1M after I wrote about their billboards that didn’t advertise a vanity phone number. In 2005, I wrote about why Cellino and Barnes should invest in a vanity phone number.

The other two vanity phone numbers owned by Cellino and Barnes were not being used until Steve Barnes moved to LA and took one of the phone numbers which he started advertising there. Ross Cellino sued Barnes claiming that Barnes took a phone number that was purchased with money belonging to the Cellino and Barnes partnership. Basically, that’s theft.

As part of the settlement between Ross Cellino and Steve Barnes, the original phone number will no longer be advertised, and they would each begin using one of the other two numbers.

What Happened to Cellino and Barnes?

The Cellino and Barnes injury law firm no longer exists. The Cellino and Barnes injury law firm split up into two law firms, one owned by Ross Cellino, Jr. called Cellino Law and the other by Stephen E. Barnes called The Barnes Firm. But soon after the lawsuits were settled, Steve Barnes passed away (see below, What Happened to Steve Barnes?).

The Barnes Firm is now owned by his brother Richard Barnes.

What Happened to Steve Barnes?

Unfortunately, Steve Barnes passed away in a tragic plane crash soon after the Cellino and Barnes lawsuits were settled. Steve Barnes was piloting his single-engine plane, a 2009 Socata TBM 700, with his niece on board when it crashed on the return trip to Buffalo, NY.

The TBM 700 is an expensive, hot single-engine airplane requiring an experienced pilot. I believe Steve Barnes had been flying for 10 years, but I don’t know how many hours he had.

As a personal injury lawyer who was in a professional flight training program in college, I was particularly sad about his passing.

After the death of Steve Barnes, his new personal injury law firm was taken over by his brother Richard Barnes.

Find out if your injury is a serious injury — Call the HURT911® Personal Injury Dream Team™ Attorneys Rob Plevy & Phil Franckel right now for a free consultation! We’ll speak to you Days/Nights/Weekends!
1-800-HURT-911
1-800-487-8911

   

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Comments About What Happened to Cellino and Barnes?

You may have seen accident attorneys Rubenstein & Rynecki advertise 800-XXX-HURT on TV, but you may be looking for New York personal injury lawyers, FRANCKEL & PLEVY at 1-800-HURT-911®.

Sanford Rubenstein Loved 1-800-HURT-911®

In late 2005, I was speaking with Sanford Rubenstein at a Party at my friend, Dennis Shield’s (Founder of 800-LawCash and Esquire Bank), house. During our conversation, Sanford Rubenstein said he loved our phone number 1-800-HURT-911®. Actually, he went crazy over it.

Then Sanford Rubenstein Got a 1-800 number With HURT

Within a few months, I saw Rubenstein & Rynecki advertise 800-XXX-HURT.

It’s important to have a good personal injury lawyer who knows how to tackle difficult cases as well as easy ones, but that’s not enough. You want a good personal injury lawyer who you can get on the phone after the first meeting when they take your case.

Personal Service at 1-800-HURT-911®

When we represent you, you’ll always be able to reach New York accident lawyers Rob Plevy, Esq. and Phil Franckel, Esq. directly without having to go through a secretary. Just call 1-800-HURT-911 right now, and Attorney Rob Plevy will answer!

When you have been hurt in an accident, the personal injury legal fee is a large amount since it’s 1/3 of a large settlement. That makes you as important as the President of a big corporation to a corporate lawyer.

Whether you have money, you’re just paying the bills, or you’re homeless, you’re important to us, and we will treat you that way. See what our “customers” say about us.

 

If you have been HURT in an accident and you want personal service where accident victims are not clients but customers, and the customer is king, call the original HURT911® Personal Injury Dream Team™ right now 7 days/nights for a free consultation with no obligation at 1-800-HURT-911 >> 1-800-487-8911

Q. I received a call from the hospital after my accident telling me to come in for a follow-up appointment. Is this legit?

A. No. Just hang up and don’t go in because you’re about to get involved in medical insurance fraud.

After your car accident or another type of accident, you may receive a call from someone claiming to be from the hospital, doctor’s office, or lawyer.

The caller will usually make you think they are calling from the hospital and say something like, “You were in the hospital yesterday, and I am calling to set up your follow-up appointment.”

These calls frequently occur in the New York City area, especially in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.

If You Receive a Call from the Hospital After Your Accident, You Are Being Scammed!

If you receive a call after your accident to set up a follow-up appointment or asking you to come into anyone’s office, you are being scammed. The hospital will never call you to set up a follow-up appointment.

The best scam I heard was from a client who said he received a call from Mr. Goldberg at the Department of Social Concern Division of Rights! Mr. Goldberg sent him to their doctor who was certified. We immediately sent our client to another doctor.

What Should You Do If You Receive a Call from the Hospital after Your Accident?

Immediately hang up the phone and do not say anything. If you say anything, just say I already have a doctor and a lawyer and hang up. Then call an accident lawyer in New York who doesn’t pay for your information.

How Did The Doctor Get My Name and Phone Number?

Your name and telephone number were sold to a medical clinic or a “runner” by EMS on the ambulance or by someone working in the hospital emergency room.  What is a runner?

Then you get a call from the doctor’s office / medical clinic asking you to come in for your “follow-up” appointment.

When you go for your “follow-up” appointment, you will be seen by several doctors including an orthopedic surgeon, chiropractor, and psychologist. These doctors are not interested in treating you for your injuries, but they are interested in billing insurance companies or Medicare.

You may also be asked to sign a retainer with a particular accident lawyer. Lawyers also illegally pay ambulance and hospital employees for your information. If you receive a call from a lawyer after your accident, hang up quickly!

A lawsuit by one personal injury lawyer against other personal injury attorneys states that an attorney, William R. Hamel, (paragraphs 22-23) was convicted upon his guilty plea to the reduced charge of criminal solicitation in the fourth degree for paying an employee at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. The complaint also states Mr. Hamel testified that while working for the Schwitzer Law Firm attorney William Dinkes was involved in a scheme paying hospital employees $500 for referring personal injury clients.

What Can Happen to You?

This entire scheme is illegal. Everyone who participates in this scheme to defraud insurance companies has committed a crime, except for you unless you have also been paid money.

Almost every year, doctors and accident lawyers are arrested. Attorney William R. Hamel, (paragraphs 22-23) was convicted upon his guilty plea to the reduced charge of criminal solicitation in the fourth degree.

It’s not good for your case if your doctor or lawyer gets arrested!

What Can Happen to Your Accident Case?

While it is not a crime to be caught up in insurance fraud if you are not a willing participant, the downside for you is that these medical clinics can seriously hurt your case if you have a real injury.

The insurance companies know which medical offices are engaged in fraud and if you are treated at any of these medical offices, it will be very difficult to settle your case and the insurance company will offer very little.

If you have an existing accident case when you go to one of these medical clinics, you could easily ruin your existing personal injury case.

Real Example #1

We were asked by a chiropractor in Queens to have dinner. At dinner, the chiropractor said he managed a medical clinic and offered to send us cases in Queens and the Bronx because he heard we are good personal injury lawyers. We were suspicious and declined to accept cases from the chiropractor.

It turned out we were right. A couple of years later, the chiropractor was arrested by the FBI. It’s a good thing we never got involved with those cases. Although many of the cases were fraudulent, some of them were probably legitimate, but it would be impossible to settle them once the doctor was arrested.

If you had been to one of the doctors in his medical clinics for a legitimate accident, your case would likely not have been settled, or it would have been settled for a small amount of money, and the insurance company would be coming after you to get it back.

The NY Times wrote, “…a lawyer whose firm mainly represents insurers, said he found at least eight cases that seem suspicious because of the lawyers and doctors involved.”

“…another lawyer who represents plaintiffs, said his firm was trying to get out of a number of cases it had recently taken on from one of the lawyers identified by prosecutors.”

If you had a real accident with real injuries, don’t let this happen to you. Be careful which doctors you see and who your personal injury lawyer is.

Real Example #2

We represented a woman who injured her neck when she fell in a warehouse store. Her doctor scheduled surgery for her neck. But before her surgery, she had a car accident which only caused a minor injury.

From the scene of the car accident, she was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Her name and phone number were sold to a medical clinic. The next morning, she received a call from the medical clinic saying she needed to come in for her follow-up visit after the emergency room.

When she went to the medical clinic, an orthopedic surgeon and chiropractor wanted to treat her for neck and back pain which she did not have. They also wanted her to be seen by their psychologist. Fortunately, she refused treatment and ran out of there.

We settled her case for the entire $1 million insurance policy, but if she allowed the clinic doctors to treat her for neck pain, the insurance company for the warehouse would have argued that her neck was injured in the car accident and that the surgery was needed because of the car accident.

Real Example #3

We represented two clients who were injured in a car accident. After going to Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, they received a call from a medical clinic where they began treatment. Several weeks later they looked for an accident lawyer and called us.

We told our clients to immediately stop treatment at the medical clinic, and we gave them the name of a well-known orthopedic surgeon. Within a few months, we received a letter from State Farm Insurance SIU (Special Investigations Unit) stating that the medical clinic was being investigated for fraud.

Fortunately, they only had a few visits at the medical clinic and switched to a legitimate orthopedic surgeon. Both cases were settled for the entire $100,000 insurance policy.

Why Is This Happening?

The answer is simple, money! The ambulance and emergency room people who sell your information do it to make extra money. The runner who sells your information to the doctor and accident lawyer makes a lot of money. Runners typically sell your information to the doctor for $1,500 and to the accident lawyer for $1,500 for a total of $3,000!

The doctor buys your information so he or she can give you all kinds of useless medical treatment and x-rays, giving you unneeded harmful radiation, just so they can bill your insurance company for a lot of money.

The accident lawyer pays for your information because accident lawyers make a lot of money on each case.

Legitimate accident claims do not raise insurance rates, but fraudulent medical billing has a big effect on raising everybody’s insurance premiums.

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Comments About Did a Medical Clinic Call You After Your Accident?

We often get a ridiculously low settlement offer from an insurance company that forces us to take the case to trial, where we may get many times more money. But why do insurance companies make low settlement offers?

Does a Low Settlement Offer Mean I Don’t Have a Good Lawyer?

Insurance companies frequently make a low settlement offer, and sometimes even a ridiculously low settlement offer. But it doesn’t mean you have a bad lawyer.

While a low settlement offer may be made because your lawyer is known for settling cheaply or because your lawyer did not provide all of your medical records, it is more often because that’s what insurance companies do.

The amount of an insurance settlement offer usually has nothing to do with your personal injury lawyer. It just means that the insurance company doesn’t want to settle, or at least not now. Even the best personal injury lawyers get low settlement offers all the time.

A Low Settlement Offer May Be Made for Many Different Reasons

A low-ball settlement offer from an insurance company may mean that the company does not believe the claim is worth much or that the claims representative believes there are serious questions about their insured’s liability or the alleged injury.

Frequently, the insurance claims representative doesn’t understand the legal aspects of their insured’s negligence and liability.

Also, the insurance claims rep frequently doesn’t understand the seriousness of the plaintiff’s injury. Claims reps are not doctors, but they often think they know a lot more than they do.

Sometimes, a new or inexperienced claims representative is trying to resolve the claim quickly and cheaply for reasons known only to the insurance company.

Insurance companies will look at the financial background of the injured claimant and will sometimes make a lowball settlement offer because they think the injured claimant needs the money.

When we get a low insurance settlement offer, we immediately file a lawsuit which results in a new claims representative being assigned to the case.

Sometimes, a client gets caught on video doing something that will result in the insurance company making a low offer, even if the video may not affect the trial.

We had a client who was followed by an insurance investigator and caught on video surveillance quickly walking up a long escalator in a New York City subway. She walked up past other people standing on the escalator, and she was then seen on video running from the top of the escalator to catch a taxi.

She could have testified at trial that she has good days and bad days, and that was one of her good days. That when she feels good and overextends herself, she has a really bad day the next day. Although a jury may have accepted that, the insurance company thinks it has an Aha! moment and made a low offer which they refused to increase.

Does My Lawyer Have to Tell Me About a Settlement Offer?

Your personal injury lawyer must tell you about every settlement offer an insurance company offers, even a ridiculously low settlement offer, even if only $1.00.

Do I Have to Accept a Low Settlement Offer?

No, you never have to accept a low insurance settlement offer or any settlement offer.

What Can I Do When an Insurance Company Makes a Low Settlement Offer

When the insurance company makes a low settlement offer, you can choose to:

1. Accept the settlement offer.
2. Negotiate for a higher amount at the time the low settlement offer is made.
3. Wait to negotiate a higher amount after you get more medical treatment.
4. Wait to negotiate a higher amount after your deposition and defense medical exam.
5. Wait to settle a couple of months, weeks, or days before a trial when you will usually get the highest settlement offer, or
6. Have your personal injury case heard by a jury at a trial.

Most of the time, when an insurance company makes a low settlement offer, they will increase their offer later during the case. Often, an insurance company will increase its offer many times.

Read how long it can take for a personal injury case to get to trial in New York. You can also see a visual timeline of a personal injury case in New York.

If you can’t wait for a better insurance settlement offer because you need money, you can get money up-front from a lawsuit cash advance company, so you can wait for a better insurance settlement offer. You can even get money automatically every month to pay bills.

How a Cash Advance on Your Settlement Can Get You a Lot More Money

We had a client who was out of work when he broke his thumb in a construction accident.

He couldn’t wait for us to get a better settlement offer because he didn’t have the money to pay his rent. Instead of taking a low settlement offer, we got him several cash advances over the course of his case, so he could pay his rent and other bills.

The cash advances allowed him to give us the time to settle his case for $1,200,000.

When you get a large settlement like that, you need to plan for the future so you’ll have money for the rest of your life. See how you can make a large personal injury settlement last a lifetime.

GEICO Forced Us to Trial By Making a Low Settlement Offer, and They Got Clobbered

GEICO’s settlement offer was only $10,000 for our client’s torn meniscus with arthroscopic surgery. GEICO never increased its settlement offer for four years and then offered an equally ridiculous settlement offer of only $20,000.

Because of GEICO’s ridiculously low settlement offer, we took the case to trial in Nassau County Supreme Court in New York.

Just before the trial started, in the hallway in front of the courtroom, the GEICO claims representative increased the settlement offer to $100,000. We declined the offer and proceeded with the trial.

The jury awarded our client $465,000 for his serious injury.

GEICO Was Found to Have Acted in Bad Faith

A few weeks before writing this, GEICO was ordered to pay over $2 million because of their bad faith refusal to settle a case fairly.

A motorist, whose car “flipped up in the air into a power pole” when struck by a car insured by GEICO, had $10,000 in medical bills. The motorist’s lawyer offered to settle with GEICO for the $30,000 insurance policy, but GEICO refused and offered only $12,409.

A judge issued a judgment in the amount of $2,916,000, and the defendant filed for involuntary bankruptcy. But GEICO hired a lawyer to fight the bankruptcy petition!

Since GEICO’s insured would obviously benefit from the bankruptcy, GEICO’s motivation to fight the bankruptcy could only have been to protect itself so GEICO could not be sued by the trustee in bankruptcy for their bad faith failure to settle the injury claim if the involuntary bankruptcy proceeded.

GEICO’s lawyer was not successful in stopping the bankruptcy, and the trustee in bankruptcy sued GEICO in US District Court. The federal jury found GEICO liable for $2,020,342

GEICO will likely appeal the order, but it’s going to cost GEICO a lot of money. I hope the attorneys don’t settle and let it go to appeal.

This case illustrates the frustration that personal injury lawyers frequently have with insurance companies.

Bad faith claims are difficult in New York State, but we have made insurance companies pay above the insurance policy.

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You Don’t Need to Stay Out of Work for Your Personal Injury Case

Q. I was injured in an accident, and a lawyer told me I would have to stay out of work even though I can go back to work. Do I really need to stay out of work?

A. No, we never tell our clients to stay out of work! We leave that to you and your doctor.

We had a motorcycle accident client who said he wanted to go back to work as soon as he could and asked if that was okay with us. We said, of course. After a broken leg, the police surgeon let him go back to work as a motorcycle police officer six months later. The insurance company offered $100,000 to settle, but we got $425,000 at a jury trial.

3 Reasons Why Accident Lawyers Want Their Clients to Stay Out of Work

1. Lost wages will increase the value of your case if you settle with the insurance company claims representative. However, it can reduce the value of your case at trial.
2. If you had a car accident and you do not have a fracture or broken bone, it is probable that your case will not be dismissed if you stay out of work completely (not even restricted duty) and are totally disabled without being able to leave your home except for doctor visits.
3. An accident attorney may want to present your lost wages to a jury if your case goes to trial.

Why Should I Go Back to Work?

1. You need to make money to pay your bills!
2. The true cost of your lost income is far more than you realize (see below).
3. If you claim lost income and are self-employed, the defense will have a forensic accountant go through your tax returns with a fine-tooth comb and find little problems to make you look like a cheater at the time of your trial.
4. If you are a salaried employee, in most cases, claiming lost wages will diminish the perceived value of your injury unless your lost wages are significant and long-term (it doesn’t look good to claim $8,000 in lost wages when we’re claiming your injury is worth $1 million). If you have a fracture, broken bone, or surgery, lost wages won’t help you get more money unless they are significant and the defendant’s insurance policy is huge.
5. It’s psychologically and physically important for you to go back to work after an injury.
6. If your case goes to trial, going back to work will show the jury that you’re not trying to milk the system and that, like everyone else, you need to work even if you’re suffering from pain.

What Will I Lose If I Do Not Go Back to Work?

1. Of course, the amount of money you would have made while you are out of work.
2. If you contribute money to a retirement plan, the small loss of your contributions while you’re out of work can add up to a lot over the remainder of your lifetime.
3. Your Social Security benefits may be affected.
4. Your career earning power may decrease.

What Can I Do for Money If I Can’t Go Back to Work?

If you cannot go back to work because of the injuries from your accident and you still haven’t gone back to work by the time we settle your case or the time of trial, we can use your lost wages to increase the value of your case.

If you need money to pay your living expenses when you are unable to work because of the injuries you suffered in an accident, there are a few things you may be able to do:

• If you were injured in a car accident, No-Fault insurance will pay you disability payments when you cannot work.
• If you were employed at the time of your accident, you might have disability insurance coverage through your employer, which will pay you while you are unable to work.
• If you are self-employed, you might have purchased disability insurance coverage which will pay you while you are unable to work.
• You could “borrow” money as a “loan” on your accident case. This is not really a loan but in advance on your case and carries a hefty interest rate which is paid at the end of your case.

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Should I pay money to my personal injury lawyer if I have an accident in New York? No. Your personal injury lawyer should never ask you for money!

Some Personal Injury Lawyers Will Ask You to Pay Money

“I just had an accident and called a lawyer. I signed some papers, and now my personal injury lawyer is asking me for money. Do I need to pay money?”

That is the question we were asked by a new client who had a broken hip in a motorcycle accident in the Bronx.

He went to see an accident lawyer, but the lawyer wanted money upfront for medical records and a medical report. This isn’t the first time someone told us that an accident lawyer wanted money upfront!

The injury lawyer also told him he would have to stay out of work for three months! He was lucky that a friend told him to call us.

We told him that we would never charge him any money upfront, not unless we settled his case, and it would be paid out of his settlement money. We also told him that we did not care if he went back to work. He went back to work, and we settled his case for the entire insurance policy.

I got my first car accident case when my client’s prior lawyer switched to me because the lawyer wanted him to pay $1,500 for a medical report from his orthopedic surgeon. The client switched to me, and I settled the case for enough money that my client was able to buy a house, and the legal fee paid a substantial deposit for my new house.

When Should My Lawyer Charge Me for Case Expenses?

We will never ask you to pay money for anything, either upfront or during your case. We will deduct the expenses for your accident case at the end of your case from your settlement money.

New York Personal Injury lawyers are required, as of April 1, 2014, by the Appellate Divisions of the New York State Supreme Court to include two options in the retainer regarding your payment of case expenses.

One option requires the personal injury lawyer to pay in advance and be responsible for all case expenses in the event the case is lost.

The other option allows you to pay the case expenses in advance. If you choose to pay the case expenses in advance, you will lose your money in the event your case is lost, or your lawyer no longer wants to represent you for your accident, and you cannot find another lawyer.

Why would you want to advance the expenses for your accident case? Because if you choose to pay the case expenses in advance, your legal fee will be lowered by 1/3 of the amount of your expenses.

Example of the two options, if your case settles for $100,000 and expenses are $1,000

If your lawyer pays the case expenses in advance:
$100,000.00      Total settlement
-$33,333.33 33 1/3 legal fee
-$1,000.00         Expenses (paid back at end of the case)
$65,666.67        Amount to you (no income tax on money for pain and suffering)

If you pay the case expenses in advance:
$100,000.00      Total settlement
-$1,000.00         Expenses paid back at end of the case
-$33,000.00       1/3 legal fee
$66,000.00        Amount to you (no income tax on money for pain and suffering)

We have not had any clients who wanted to advance case expenses, and we prefer to advance the case expenses because it makes it much easier for us.

Why Would My Accident Lawyer Ask Me for Money?

If your accident lawyer is asking for any money upfront or during the case, it either means:

1. The lawyer doesn’t have confidence in your case or
2. The lawyer has money problems.

Why Shouldn’t I pay Money to My Accident Lawyer?

1. If your personal injury lawyer doesn’t have confidence in your case, you could lose your money if you pay upfront.
2. If your personal injury attorney is asking you for money now, it’s highly likely that your attorney will ask you for money later again during your case! What will you do when you’re lawyer calls you 8 months from now and asks you to pay $1,500 for a doctor’s report?

If you are injured in an accident, your personal injury lawyer should never ask you for any money!

We charge a 1/3 legal fee which is also paid at the end of your case and only if we are successful.

See our SIMPLE FEE GUARANTEE™ and detailed but easy-to-read article about how much it costs to hire a personal injury attorney and the difference between other accident attorneys and us.

See what is included in our legal fee and what expenses we do not charge you.

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What Is a High/Low Agreement?

A High/Low agreement is a form of settlement between the plaintiff and the defendant’s insurance company to create a range with upper and lower limits that the plaintiff can receive at either arbitration or trial.

It guarantees the minimum the plaintiff can receive and the maximum the defendant will have to pay.

When an offer of a High/Low agreement is made by the defense, your attorney has an ethical obligation to communicate the offer with his/her client because it is a settlement offer. A lawyer cannot decline or enter into a High/Low agreement without the client’s consent.

How Does a High/Low Agreement Work?

The “Low” provides a minimum amount of money the insurance company will pay if you lose your case or a decision, judgment, or verdict is less than the “Low.”

The “High” is a cap or maximum amount of money the insurance company will pay even if you obtain a decision, judgment, or verdict for more than the agreed amount.

The details of a High/Low agreement should be written on paper since many aspects of this type of settlement are complicated.

The details of a High/Low agreement are usually not disclosed to a jury but may be disclosed to an arbitrator or judge at trial.

Example High/Low Agreement Result

The defendant’s insurance policy has a liability limit of $300,000. The insurance company enters into a High/Low agreement of $40,000/$200,000 with the injured plaintiff.

If the jury or arbitrator awards $0, the plaintiff receives $40,000
If the jury or arbitrator awards $475,000, the plaintiff receives $200,000
If the jury or arbitrator awards $150,000, the plaintiff receives $150,000

High/Low Agreement at Arbitration

Both the plaintiff and the insurance company must consent if arbitration is desired. Insurance companies will often try to get a Hi/Low agreement and may decline to arbitrate without it.

Insurance companies usually will not agree to arbitrate without a High/Low agreement if the insurance policy’s upper limit is substantially more than the case is worth such as a $500,000 insurance policy and a case worth approximately $25,000.

When there is an umbrella insurance policy, the insurance company will try to get an agreement to prevent any money from being paid by the umbrella policy.

A decision at a binding arbitration usually cannot be appealed. Additionally, since a High/Low agreement is a settlement, the arbitration decision usually cannot be appealed.

Subject to our client’s approval, we do not agree to High/Low agreements at arbitration unless the insurance policy is much more than the case is worth. If the insurance company is afraid that an arbitrator will award more money, then it’s likely a jury will also. It’s our position that since we can take the case to trial with a jury without a High/Low agreement, why should we agree to it at arbitration?

What Is Arbitration?

At a typical arbitration in New York, your case is heard by an arbitrator, instead of a jury, who provides a final decision that is binding on both sides. The arbitrator is employed by a private company which is paid by both sides.

Arbitration will usually speed up a case, take 2 hours instead of a week or more at trial, and can cost $1,500 instead of $15,000-$25,000 for a trial.

See more information about arbitrations and Why We No Longer Agree to Arbitrate Personal Injury Cases.

High/Low Agreement at Trial

Although you don’t need the insurance company to agree to a trial, they frequently try hard to convince the plaintiff’s attorneys to agree to a High/Low at trial. A lot of attorneys agree.

If you agree to a High/Low agreement at trial, the insurance company has no incentive to make a settlement offer of a specific amount, and your case will go all the way to the jury at trial and will not be settled on the “doorstep” of the court.

Because a High/Low agreement is a settlement, the jury verdict usually cannot be appealed, although appellant rights can be retained in a written High/Low agreement.

In a New York motorcycle collision (not our case), the parties orally entered into the court record a high-low agreement in which the plaintiff would receive “anything the jury comes back with” between $150,000 and $900,000.

The jury returned a verdict of $225,000 but attributed 75 percent of the fault to the plaintiff, thus reducing his amount to $150,000. The plaintiff appealed, claiming he should receive $225,000, the full amount of “anything the jury comes back with” between $150,000 and $900,000, and it should not be reduced for comparative negligence, but the state appeals court rejected the appeal because the high-low agreement didn’t address the issue of comparative negligence. Batista v. Elite Ambulette Service Inc., 281 A.D.2d 196 (N.Y. App. Div. 2001).

Some of the items to be considered in a written High/Low agreement include the right to collect prejudgment interest, the right to appeal comparative negligence, and the question of whether a high-low agreement reached during a retrial would cover the costs of an earlier mistrial.

Preserving some appellate rights, other than the damage amount, in a high-low agreement keeps both sides honest and can alleviate fears that a less scrupulous lawyer might try to introduce improper evidence or statements. Without the threat of appeal, there is little incentive to keep all sides above board.

Unless there is an additional and substantial advantage or our client wants it, we never agree to a High/Low agreement at trial because it usually only benefits the plaintiff’s attorneys by ensuring we get our money back for the trial expenses.

High/Low Agreements When There Is More Than One Defendant

Since the decision of the Court of Appeals on June 27, 2007, in Matter of Eighth Judicial District Asbestos Litigation, the disclosure of High-Low agreements to the court and to all parties is required. Failure to disclose the high-low agreement could result in appeals and a new trial.

In that case, the plaintiff with mesothelioma entered into a high-low agreement with only one of the two defendants consisting of $155,000 low and $185,000 high (I think a high-low agreement with a $30,000 spread is insane).

Surprise, surprise! The jury awarded $3,750,000. The jury apportioned 40% of the award to defendant Niagara and 60% to defendant, Garlock. Defendant Niagara, who entered into the agreement, had to pay only $185,000! But Garlock was supposed to pay $2,250,000. After the trial, Garlock found out about the high-low agreement with the other defendants and was understandably upset.

Garlock moved to set aside the verdict and for a new trial, but the trial judge denied the motion and entered judgment against the defendants. Garlock appealed to the Appellate Division, which confirmed. Garlock then appealed to the New York State Court of Appeals, which reversed, ruling in favor of Garlock.

The NYS Court of Appeals did not rule on whether the high-low agreement or its terms should be disclosed to the jury. This is a matter that should be discussed with the trial judge, but I do not believe there is any necessity to disclose the agreement to the jury. In fact, if I were to enter into a high-low agreement, I would do so with the condition that the agreement is canceled if the judge rules that the agreement must be disclosed to the jury.

Why Do Insurance Companies Want High/Low Agreements?

The High limit or cap has extreme value to the insurance company because it:

• Guarantees their insured will not be personally liable for any money from their personal assets if the verdict is above the insurance policy;
• Guarantees the insurance company won’t become liable to pay a verdict above the insurance policy. A verdict above the insurance policy can subject the insurance company to “bad faith,” making the insurance company responsible to pay the amount above the insurance policy;
• If the “High” limit is lower than the insurance policy limit, it can save the insurance company money;
• If the plaintiff won summary judgment on liability, the insurance company would have had to pay 9% interest. A High/Low agreement will allow the insurance company to escape liability to pay 9% interest unless it’s included in a written agreement or on the record; and
• If the insurance company has to pay money above the insurance policy, it is paid from corporate profits, and someone will be fired. Claims representatives and defense attorneys have been fired on some of our cases.
• If there is an umbrella insurance policy, there is a very substantial benefit to the insurance company with the underlying insurance policy because, without a High/Low agreement, the underlying insurance company could be subject to a bad faith action from the umbrella insurance company.

When Should You Never Agree to a High/Low Agreement?

• When you have a case that you think will evoke extreme sympathy.
• If the Low limit of the agreement does not leave you enough money after the deduction of attorney fees, trial expenses, and other case expenses.
• When the High limit is substantially lower than the value of your case.

An example of why we don’t like High/Low agreements is a wrongful death case where the family of a woman who died agreed to cap the jury verdict at $2.9 million. The jury gave a verdict of $31 million against a hospital, but the family could only receive $2.9 million. The family was represented by a well-known attorney-partner at a well-known law firm.

When Should You Agree to a High/Low Agreement?

High/Low settlement agreements typically, the insurance company more than the plaintiff. However, there are benefits to the plaintiff.

It is often argued that High/Low agreements help to improve the image of lawyers, making plaintiff’s lawyers seem less greedy and defense lawyers more reasonable. If you’re concerned about the image of lawyers, you might be inclined to enter into a High/Low agreement.

The most obvious advantage to a plaintiff is the secure feeling of knowing that if you lose or the jury returns a very low verdict, lower than the High/Low agreement, at least you’ll walk away with some money.

We generally dislike the idea of trying personal injury cases with a High/Low agreement. It’s our position that if the insurance company is going to force us to trial, we prefer to prove our case and the chance of a high verdict in the amount we feel our case is worth.

However, we have many cases and can easily afford the loss of the case, including the cost of case expenses and trial expenses. Our client has only one case, and the money is likely much more important to our client than it is to us.

When you’re worried about the costs and increased legal fees of an appeal.

Both the low amount and the high amount are negotiable.

Other items are also negotiable for the High/Low settlement agreement. For instance, the plaintiff could demand a summary jury trial in which the contents of the medical records are argued to the jury instead of paying doctors to testify. Not only does it save money for the plaintiff, but the insurance company also saves money.

Items to Consider Including in a Written High/Low Agreement

• Factor into the range, the attorneys’ fees, and case expenses;
• That there will be no disclosure of the agreement to the jury.
• Whether any disputes regarding the agreement will be decided by the trial judge or how else resolved.
• Whether the agreement will include prejudgment or post-judgment interest, costs, and disbursements;
• Whether the agreement will include collateral source deductions;
• Whether to preserve or waive appeal rights, such as the right to appeal a decision of comparative negligence;
• Whether to preserve or waive appeal rights, such as the right to appeal a judge’s order or dismissal;
• Whether to preserve or waive the right to make any motions at the close of the other party’s case.
• Whether to preserve or waive the right to post-trial motion practice.
• Whether a deadlocked jury constitutes a “verdict”;
• Whether a mistrial constitutes a “verdict”;
• Decide who pays for the cost of a mistrial;
• Whether the agreement will continue with a retrial when there has been a mistrial;
• Whether the agreement will contain a “covenant not to collect” in excess of the verdict;
• Whether the agreement will deal with confidentiality and non-disparagement;
• Whether the agreement will contain an integration clause;
• Whether the agreement will provide that the plaintiff is to satisfy all liens and hold the settling defendant harmless from those liens;
• Provide a date before which payment must be made;
• Take into consideration special interrogatories and post-trial motions and their effect on the agreement;
• Advise all parties of the High/Low settlement agreement and obtain consent from the client;
• If the plaintiff is an infant, obtain a court order approving the High/Low settlement;
• If there are multiple parties to the litigation, advise them of the agreement;
• If at trial, advise the judge and state the agreement on the record with the client agreeing, on the record, to the terms of the agreement.

Sample Form for Informed Consent for High-Low Agreement

Download a free sample form for attorneys for clients to sign their informed consent to participate in a High-Low Agreement.

Disclaimer

The advice here is general advice for our clients to review and discuss with us. We are not your attorneys unless you sign a retainer with us, and without a retainer, we cannot provide you with advice so the information here is not advice about your case but only general information. Unfortunately, every case is wildly different, so it’s not possible to provide advice for your particular case. The decision as to whether or not to offer, accept or enter into a High/Low agreement is a complicated decision that requires knowledge of many facts of the particular case. Also of importance is the attorney’s experience and ability to negotiate and prepare for trial.

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Injured in an accident and now you need to borrow money on your case? Accident lawyers are not allowed to loan money to their clients, but you can get a “loan,” called a lawsuit cash advance, from a lawsuit settlement advance funding company.

What Is a Lawsuit Pre-Settlement Loan?

The money you receive from a lawsuit funding company is not a loan!

Loans are usually repaid monthly and have to be paid back no matter what. A cash advance from a lawsuit funding company is only paid back at the end of your case and does not have to be paid back at all if your case loses.

The money that a lawsuit funding company provides is a cash advance of a portion of your settlement. The technical name for a lawsuit cash advance “loan” is a non-recourse note.

The lawsuit funding company pays you to purchase your right to a portion of the lawsuit award or settlement in the future.

This allows lawsuit funding companies to charge very high-interest rates which they need to get to offset the times when they lose their money. Sometimes cases are lost. Sometimes clients pass away before settlement, and the case value decreases substantially. Remember, the funding company only gets paid back if your case settles for enough money to pay them back.

 

 

When Can I Borrow Money On My Accident Case?

You can borrow money any time after you retain a lawyer for your accident, even before a lawsuit is filed. However, your lawyer will first have to obtain medical records showing your injury and some other records to provide to the lawsuit loan company.

How fast you can borrow money on your accident case depends on how fast you call a personal injury lawyer, how much of your medical treatment you have had, and how fast your lawyer can get your medical records and investigative reports.

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Why Doesn’t My Personal Injury Lawyer Want Me to Get a Lawsuit Loan?

Many lawyers do not want a client getting a lawsuit loan because if the client owes too much money it can cause the client to demand a bigger settlement and decline a reasonable settlement offer.

We will gladly get you a lawsuit loan if you need it.

How Can I Get a Lawsuit Loan Without an Attorney?

Unfortunately, you cannot get a lawsuit loan (cash advance) without an attorney. There are three reasons why you need a lawyer to get a lawsuit loan (cash advance):

1. Without a lawyer, you will never get a reasonable settlement. A lawsuit loan company will not advance money to you unless they believe the company will be paid back. They know you will not be able to settle your case for enough money to repay the cash advance if you are not represented by a lawyer.
2. A lawsuit loan company needs your lawyer to provide a copy of the following: police report, insurance information, a letter from the insurance company acknowledging the claim, hospital records, and medical records to determine if they want to give you money. In some cases a lawsuit loan company may require additional documents, and
3. A lawsuit loan company needs your lawyer to guarantee repayment if your case is settled.

What Can I Do If My Personal Injury Lawyer Can’t Get a Cash Advance?

If your lawyer cannot get a lawsuit loan company to give you a cash advance, you can call lawsuit loan companies directly.

Most personal injury lawyers deal with only one or two lawsuit loan companies, but there are many. If you look on Google and call several lawsuit loan companies you may find one willing to give you a cash advance. They will then call your personal injury lawyer.

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How Much Money Can I Borrow On My Accident Case?

You cannot borrow as much as you want or as often as you want.

The lawsuit cash advance company we use for most personal injury cases will loan or advance up to 10% of the amount they believe your personal injury case is worth.

One lawsuit cash advance company, Law Cash, will loan or advance up to 10% of the amount of the insurance policy or up to 10% of the amount they believe your personal injury case is worth, whichever is less. A lawsuit cash advance company will use a conservative settlement value for your personal injury case.

Some lawsuit cash advance companies are more conservative and will advance a little less than 10%, and some companies will advance a little more than 10% of the estimated value of your personal injury case. Additionally, different lawsuit cash advance companies will estimate the value of your personal injury case at different amounts.

Lawsuit cash advance companies will evaluate the value of your personal injury case and not give you any amount you or your personal injury lawyer wants. The lawsuit cash advance company we use has an underwriting department headed by a former personal injury lawyer.

How much is your personal injury case worth? To find out what your personal injury case is worth and how much you can borrow from a lawsuit cash advance company, you’ll have to decide how much you need and ask your personal injury lawyer to request a cash advance. This is because there are no good personal injury settlement calculators available. They are all designed only to get your personal information. Read more about personal injury settlement calculators.

You can also use our lawsuit loan calculator, below.

Example of How Much You Can Borrow On Your Accident Case

These examples are given for illustrative purposes and may not be accurate because I never worked for a lawsuit cash advance company and every lawsuit cash advance company operates differently.

Example 1: Assume the lawsuit cash advance company evaluates your injury to be worth $50,000 and the insurance policy is $100,000, you will be able to receive a maximum of $5,000.

Example 2:  Assume you are injured in an accident, and your personal injury attorney believes your case is worth $500,000 and there is enough insurance to pay that amount. The lawsuit cash advance company may put a value of $250,000 on your case for the purpose of the cash advance.

You ask for and receive a $15,000 cash advance on your personal injury case 2 months after your accident.

6 months later, you ask for and receive another cash advance in the amount of $5,000. You have now received a total of $20,000.

6 months later, you ask for another cash advance in the amount of $15,000.

It is likely that you would only be able to receive another $5,000 which brings the total advanced to $25,000 which is 10% of the $250,000 value estimated by the lawsuit cash advance company

How Many Times Can I Borrow Money Again Against My Accident Settlement?

After you have borrowed money against your personal injury settlement once, you may be able to get more money from cash advances if your case is worth enough to settle. We have had clients who borrowed money multiple times.

While additional loans can be made, the total of those loans and interest will still be subject to the maximum amount that the lawsuit cash advance company is willing to loan.

Can I Get Money in a Lump Sum or Monthly?

If you want money all at once, you can get that. If you want the money paid to you monthly over a period of months, it can be sent to you monthly over 6-12 months. After that, you can request another cash advance.

You might want the money paid to you monthly so you can pay rent, car payments, and/or health insurance premiums to pay for surgery.

When Can I Be Denied By a Lawsuit Funding Company?

Three reasons you could be denied a lawsuit loan:

When It’s Too Early

Your personal injury case isn’t ready yet. if the documents required by the lawsuit loan company are not yet available, you may be temporarily denied.

For instance, your personal injury lawyer may not have been able to get a police report yet or your hospital or medical records yet.

If You Don’t Have a Good Personal Injury Case

If your personal injury case doesn’t meet the criteria required by the lawsuit loan company, you will be denied. However, this is not common. If your case is good enough for a personal injury lawyer to represent you, then a lawsuit loan company will likely agree that you have a good case and will advance you some money.

We have had personal injury cases that were turned down by three other lawyers, like when our client ran a red light or admitted he ran a stop sign. We settled those cases for the entire insurance policy of $100,000, but it’s unlikely you would get settlement advance money on a case like that.

If You Already Borrowed Too Much on Your Personal Injury Case

It’s not likely that you will be declined a cash advance If you haven’t yet borrowed money on your accident case.

If you were declined additional cash advances because your lawsuit cash advance company says you owe too much, another lawsuit advance company might loan you money at a higher rate, but they will have to pay off your first loan, and all the money you borrowed will now be at the higher rate. At some point, you won’t be able to borrow any more money.

You cannot go to another lawsuit cash advance company and borrow money from them without telling them you already have a previous cash advance. That won’t work because:

1. you would be committing fraud;
2. your lawyer cannot hide that fact; and
3. the cash advance company will find out anyway.

Lawsuit cash advance companies use a nationwide clearing association to check if you have already obtained money against your lawsuit.

When you request a cash advance, they will run a “credit report” to see if you have received money from any other lawsuit cash advance company. They will even look at previous cases where you received money to see if there were any problems.

This image shows an email sent to our law firm from a lawsuit cash advance company when they denied a cash advance to our client. They emailed us a copy of the “ALPHA IMS ALERT” which indicates what was reported to the nationwide clearing association about the client’s previous lawsuit funding.

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How Long Does It Take to Borrow Money On My Accident Case?

We can usually get approval in 2 hours and money for you within one day. We are a LawCash (Cartiga) VIP personal injury law firm that allows us to get your money faster and at a preferred lower rate!

Call the HURT911® Personal Injury Dream Team™ right now 7 days/nights for a free consultation with no obligation at
1-800-HURT-911
1-800-487-8911

You can change your personal injury lawyer anytime.

Why Is It Taking So Long for My Lawsuit Loan to Get Approved?

If there is a delay of more than one day to get your lawsuit loan approved, it is likely because the required documents weren’t yet available or you have a personal injury attorney who does not like lawsuit loans.

What Is Needed for a Lawsuit Loan?

You will need the following to get a lawsuit loan (lawsuit cash advance):

1. Be represented by a personal injury lawyer willing to cooperate with the lawsuit cash advance company.
2. Document showing the accident happened and how, such as a police report, ambulance report, incident report, urgent care record, hospital record, or doctor record.
3. Proof that the person or company responsible has insurance and policy information.
4. Medical record showing what your injury is.

Can I Get Money Every Month?

Yes. We can arrange for you to get a lawsuit settlement advance payment every month for up to 12 months. After 12 months, if you still need money, you will have to reapply.

Can I Get Cash or Do I Have to Get a Check?

No. With at least one lawsuit cash advance funding company we use, you can get your money by any of the following:

• Debit card
• Check or
• Cash

Esquire Bank, located in Brooklyn on Court St, can give you use their MasterCard debit card and deposit all of the money to your debit card or deposit money every month to your debit card.

If you want cash, you can cash the check they give you at Esquire Bank in Brooklyn. You would pick up a check at their office and cash it at Esquire Bank in the same building.

Is It a Good Idea to Borrow Money Against My Accident Case?

It may be a good idea to get a lawsuit cash advance when you need money to pay:

• Medical treatment
• Rent
• Mortgage payments
• Car payments
• Other living expenses

If you’re considering borrowing against your 401(k) account, you should instead consider borrowing against your lawsuit.

If you’re considering borrowing against the equity in your house, you might instead want to consider borrowing against your lawsuit.

Borrowing money for medical treatment, especially surgery can make sense when you need medical treatment. The additional medical treatment will likely make your case worth more money than what you have to pay back.

A lawsuit loan makes sense when you want to accept a low settlement offer because you need money. A lawsuit loan can allow you the additional time your lawyer needs to get a larger settlement offer.

Example: The insurance company offers you a settlement of $60,000 for your torn meniscus with arthroscopic surgery. You need $5,000 now, so you want to settle. Instead, you can borrow $5,000 and take your case to trial.  Even if you have to pay back $17,500 for your lawsuit loan, you’re still way ahead if we can get you a lot more money.

Real-life example: GEICO offered our client a settlement of $10,000 for a torn meniscus with arthroscopic surgery. Our client borrowed $5,000 from LawCash to help pay the bills while he was recuperating from knee surgery. When the trial was finished five years later, $17,500 was paid back to LawCash. Because he did not have health insurance, his surgery and therapy were done on a medical lien, and $8,400 was paid back to the doctors for medical treatment from the money awarded at trial. We obtained a jury verdict of $465,000 for his knee injury so even though he had to pay back $25,900 on his lawsuit loan, he was still way ahead.

However, the interest rate charged on lawsuit funding loans is substantial, and it doesn’t make sense to borrow money unless it’s an emergency. But almost everyone has emergencies, and after an accident, things just get worse!

What Can I Use the Money From My Lawsuit Advance For?

You can use the money for anything you want, but it’s best not to borrow money if you can avoid it because it will cost you 2-4 times more money to pay back by the time your case is finished.

If you need to borrow money, we recommend using it to pay for the following:

• • Rent
  • Mortgage payments
  • Car payments
  • Health insurance
  • Medical treatment
  • Surgery
  • Veterinary bills (I include this because my pets are more important than me!)
  • Avoiding bankruptcy

If you use the money to pay for medical treatment or surgery related to your accident or health insurance that you use for medical treatment of your injuries, it can increase the value of your case many times more than the cost of interest when you have to pay back your cash advance.

Can I Use Money From a Lawsuit Loan to Pay off Credit Cards?

It’s not a good idea to use the money from a lawsuit loan to pay off your credit cards unless you want to avoid ruining your credit which has a credit score of 675. Credit cards usually have a lower interest rate and can be settled for a lot less money later when you have money after your personal injury case settles.

Can I Use Money From a Lawsuit Loan to Avoid Filing for Bankruptcy?

Yes. It can be a good idea to use the money from a lawsuit loan to avoid filing for bankruptcy.

If you file for bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court will appoint a trustee in bankruptcy who will take over your case. The bankruptcy trustee has the right to hire a new lawyer for your case and can even settle your case without your permission and take your money!

The trustee doesn’t care how much money you receive. The trustee will only care about getting money from your settlement to pay back your creditors. Basically, your case is an asset that can be used to satisfy creditors to whom you owe money.

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What Is the Maximum Interest Rate Allowed to Be Charged for a Lawsuit Loan Advance?

Loans are subject to maximum interest rates regulated by the state. However, the maximum interest charged for a cash advance lawsuit “loan” is not regulated in New York because it is not a loan (see above).

Since a cash advance is not a loan, lawsuit funding companies typically charge interest rates of 3%-4% per month which equals 36%-48% annually.

We are a LawCash VIP personal injury law firm that allows us to get your money faster and at a preferred lower rate usually 2.5% monthly interest. We can often get approval in 2 hours and money for you within 1 day. For a free consultation, call us 7 Days/Nights at 1-800-HURT-911 > 1-800-487-8911.

Lawsuit funding companies can charge whatever interest rate they want which is why you should compare lawsuit funding companies carefully.

Rates change from company to company, and even within the same lawsuit funding company, there will be different rates depending upon the risk involved with your case, your injury, the amount of available insurance, and who your accident attorney is.

Besides the interest rate, there are other factors that will increase the cost or the amount you have to pay back.

How Much Will It Cost Me to Pay Back if I Borrow Money on My Lawsuit?

As a general rule, you will probably pay back 2-5 times the amount you borrow, depending on how long it takes to settle your case.

Even if your case is settled soon after your cash advance, funding companies will charge a minimum period of interest, usually 6 months interest even if you pay a month after you borrow the money.

Some cases can be settled within a few months. For instance, if you have a broken leg in a car accident, bicycle accident, or motorcycle accident and the other car has a $100,000 insurance policy, your case could probably be settled within 2-3 months, and you won’t need a lawsuit loan.

New York personal injury cases that can’t be settled typically take 3-5 years to reach a trial. While it’s possible that a case could be settled in the first year or two, in the last few years, insurance companies have frequently refused to make any settlement offer until the case is near trial.

Personal injury cases against New York City and New York City government agencies typically take 4-7 years to reach a trial.

It often takes approximately 1.5-3 years for your lawyers to finish working on a New York accident case. When you’re attorney notifies the NYS Supreme Court that your case is finished, your case then goes on a “line” waiting for the court to have a judge available for trial. It’s like waiting at the DMV, only much longer! The waiting period for a trial is typically 1.5-2 years.

The total time to reach a trial, after first seeing an attorney for your accident, is approximately 3-5 years.

One of our clients insisted on borrowing $15,000 to buy a motorcycle. By the time the case was settled for the entire $250,000 insurance policy, the repayment amount was $52,000. We got it reduced to $42,000, but that could’ve bought a really nice motorcycle.

Before you sign the final papers to borrow money against your settlement, be sure to review the payback schedule that the lawsuit funding company provides you. The payback schedule will show you the amount you will have to pay back on different dates.

This payback schedule shows the amounts due at 4-month intervals. $10,000 was borrowed on 10/27/2016 at 2.5% per month for a total of 30% annually. If the loan is paid back any time within the first 12 months or before 10/27/2017, 12 months of interest is due. If the loan is paid back three years after borrowing, the payoff amount is $22,958.37.

We have had many clients who said they would pay the money back before their case settles, but no one ever has. If you need to borrow money on your case, just be prepared to have a lot of money deducted from your settlement to pay back your loan.

Lawsuit Loan Calculator — Calculate What a Lawsuit Loan Will Cost

It is often worth borrowing money on your accident case if you don’t need a lot; you could get a lot more money by settling later, and you’re borrowing the money for a good reason, not for a new TV.

If you’re borrowing money to pay for surgery, that will increase the value of your case probably more than the amount you have to pay back. Your lawyer can help you determine if it is good for you.

Use our lawsuit loan calculator to find out what one or multiple lawsuit cash advances will cost you and to compare one lawsuit loan vs another lawsuit loan. Factors computed by this calculator include how often the rate is compounding, origination or underwriting fee, monitoring fee, compounding method, and rates.

We often obtain lawsuit funding for 30% annually, but many law firms work with lawsuit cash advance companies that charge 36%-50% annually. Some law firms refuse to work with lawsuit cash advance companies. If your lawyer refuses to work with a lawsuit cash advance company, your only option is not to borrow money or retain a new lawyer.

This screenshot of a lawsuit funding company’s calculator shows an example of borrowing $5,000 over 36 months at 42% interest for an accident case with an early settlement offer of $35,000 versus a $100,000 settlement value just before trial. This assumes that the trial of the case is 3 years after borrowing the money. Without including fees, you would get an additional $37,250 by borrowing $5,000 so you could settle 3 years later.

How to Compare Lawsuit Cash Advance Funding Companies?

Use our lawsuit loan calculator to compare one lawsuit loan vs another lawsuit loan.

Look At The Following To Compare Lawsuit Loans:

• • • Monthly interest rate
    • Interest rate period
    • Compounding
    • Underwriting fee
    • Annual monitoring fee

Monthly Interest Rate —

The monthly interest rate is just that. Lower is better. A monthly interest rate of 3.0% instead of 3.5% equals a 6% lower annual rate.

Interest Rate Period —

This refers to the period of time the interest will be charged. For instance, if your loan is paid back 12 months and one day after you receive the money, you may have to pay 18 or 24 months of interest.

There will be a minimum amount of interest time charged. Most lawsuit funding companies charge a minimum of 12 months of interest after which the minimum period of time could be 6 or 12 months.

For instance, if you pay back your loan two months later you may still have to pay 12 months of interest. If your lawsuit loan company charges a minimum of 12 months of interest and a minimum of 6 months after that, you will pay 24 months of interest if your loan is paid back more than 18 months after you receive the money.

Compounding —

Compounding is the interest calculated on the initial principal and also on the accumulated interest of the previous periods. You will want to know if the interest is compounded monthly, bi-annually, or annually.

The more frequently the interest rate is compounded, the more it will cost you. In other words, annually is best.

Underwriting Fee —

The underwriting fee is a one-time charge, usually $250-$750, to review your file including investigative materials such as a police report, medical records, and other records to determine how much the lawsuit funding company will loan you.

Annual Monitoring Fee —

This is usually a small one-time or annual fee to monitor your case and contact your attorney to determine the progression of your case and make sure that the lawsuit funding company gets paid back.

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Reasons Not to Borrow Money From a Lawsuit Funding Company

• • • You want to borrow money for a new motorcycle. One of our clients insisted on borrowing $15,000 for a new motorcycle that cost $45,000 at the end of her motorcycle accident case.
    • The interest rate charged is higher than credit card interest rates.
    • By the time you decide to accept a fair settlement offer from the insurance company, which could be the entire insurance policy, you may find that you’re not getting much money after all the interest is paid on your lawsuit “loan.”
    • Because the interest owed accrues so quickly, you may feel pressured to settle your case prematurely for much less than it’s worth.
    • When the insurance company offers a realistic settlement offer, which is usually at the time of trial, the interest owed may be so much that you don’t want to settle and make risky decisions because of the amount you owe.
    • The lawsuit funding company requires confidential information about you and your accident, such as your medical records and other records so they can evaluate your case. This waves the attorney-client privilege and may waive the work product privilege which means the defense may be allowed to obtain copies of the records. The lawsuit funding company may even provide the defense with their written evaluation of the case showing an amount much less than your case is really worth, thereby making it more difficult to settle.

Medical Financing

Medical financing is a loan you obtain to pay for medical treatment or surgery. Medical loans may be obtained from a medical financing company through your doctor or by a lawsuit financing company.

Should You Borrow Money Against Your Lawsuit to Finance Medical Treatment or Surgery?

If you have medical insurance, it will always cost you less to go through your insurance.

Sometimes, an accident victim may not have health insurance or prefers to receive surgery from a particular doctor who doesn’t accept your health insurance. In this instance, medical financing can be appropriate. Surgery will increase the value of your case.

What Is the Difference Between a Lien and a Loan?

Another choice is to ask your doctor to provide treatment on a lien. A lien is an agreement signed by you and your lawyer which promises to pay your doctor at the end of your case.

With a lien, usually, no interest will be paid. Only the principal will be paid to your doctor at the end of your case. With a loan or medical financing, you will have to repay the principal with interest.

Usually, a lien is contingent upon the settlement of your case. If it is contingent upon settling your case, you will not have to pay it back if your case doesn’t settle. We just received a lien from a doctor who is going to do surgery, and the lien is not contingent which means our client will have to pay it back whether his case settles are not.

Your doctor may agree to provide medical treatment on a lien or when surgery is needed may agree to a partial lien with partial medical financing.

Difference Between a Loan From a Medical Financing Company Versus a Loan From a Lawsuit Funding Company

A loan from a medical financing company will not be repaid from the settlement of your lawsuit. This type of loan is called a recourse loan and is a real loan. The interest rate will be subject to usury laws and will, therefore, have a lower interest rate. It will have to be paid back if you lose your lawsuit.

A medical loan from a lawsuit funding company will be repaid from the settlement of your lawsuit. This is the same as the lawsuit funding for personal reasons and will be at a higher rate of interest but will not have to be paid back if your lawsuit is not successful.

How to Create a Budget, Know How Much You Need to Borrow and Borrow Less

Use a budget template to see how much money you need to live, where you can reduce your expenses, and how much money you will need to borrow on your accident case.

This article at the Huffington Post reviews 5 household budget templates. The templates use Excel spreadsheets. If you don’t have Microsoft Excel, you can download the entire Office Suite for free.

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