Your liability coverage may include Personal Injury Protection ("PIP") or Medical Payments ("Med Pay") benefits. PIP provides a source of payment for YOUR medical bills and some of YOUR wage loss following an auto accident. Further, PIP is no-fault, meaning that it will begin paying on your injuries immediately, rather than waiting for liability to be determined. Similarly, Med Pay provides some coverage for YOUR medical bills. These are called "no-fault" coverages because they pay even if the accident is your fault.
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During the time of treatment, insurance may or may not be paying the bills, but medical providers still need to get paid. To protect their interests, these medical providers may request a “Letter of Protection” from the personal injury attorney to ensure that their bills get paid at the time of settlement.
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Increasingly, Oregon sees an increased number of pedestrian injuries or even deaths from being struck by motor vehicles. Every 88 minutes, a pedestrian dies in a car-related accident. Every year, roughly 6,000 pedestrians lose their lives or are injured in accidents where they are hit by motor vehicles. The most common location for these accidents is at intersections or crosswalks when motorists don't yield the right-of-way or stop for traffic devices like stoplights or stop signs.
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Valuing any personal injury case requires consideration of many factors, and Personal Injury cases are no exception. The first determination in valuing a Personal Injury is determining fault. Who is at fault for the accident? Sometimes the answer is not entirely clear. Even though you may share fault (comparative negligence), you still may be entitled to compensation.
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Oregon has created a law (ORS 20.080) which is intended to level the playing field for injured parties with smaller claims and to promote these injured parties’ ability to get legal counsel. Generally, the law accomplishes this by awarding lawyer fees to a party who successfully uses a attorney to represent them in recovering their damages (medical costs, property losses, and other expenses including as lost wages). These fees for your Lawyer are awarded if you make a demand for payment under $10,000.00, and the defendant (or their insurance company) declines the offer or offers less than you demand. If you subsequently are awarded more, you are also entitled to attorney fees under the law.
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Coping with the loss of a loved one after an accident can be a long, traumatic process. In addition to the emotional loss of the person, there are often ballooning, unexpected costs that appear after the initial event. Medical bills, emergency responder costs, and the costs of funerals add heartache at the most inopportune time. Speaking with an Oregon wrongful death lawyer at Pacific Injury Law Firm can help you understand what your rights to recovery are, and what the timelines to recover may entail.
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