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Lyft Accident Settlement Amounts and Claims - YouTube
Channel: JZ helps (a Florida injury law firm)
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- In this video, I'm going
to talk about Lyft passenger
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injury claims.
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I may touch on the claims
of an injured Lyft driver
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as well, but the focus is
going to be on Lyft passenger
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injury claims.
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I'm going to talk about
how insurance works,
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an actual $70,000 settlement
I had for a Lyft passenger
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and everything in between.
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Stay tuned and watch the whole
video so you get a better
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understanding how Lyft injury claims work.
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JZ Helps a Florida injury law firm.
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I'm injury attorney Justin Ziegler.
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I represented a gentleman
who was a Lyft passenger
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and we settled his injury
claim for $70,000 in total,
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$45,000 of that was paid by
Lyft's insurer at the time,
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Zurich American Insurance Company.
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$25,000 was paid by the at
fault driver's insurance.
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They were insured by Geico.
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My client claimed that his
neck, his foot, and his hand
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were injured in the crash.
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We claimed that cartilage was
either torn from the accident
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in both his foot and his hand,
or the accident aggravated,
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meaning it worsened a tear
that he had in his foot
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and his hand.
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One important thing to
note is Lyft's insurer,
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Zurich American Insurance
Company, their first offer
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may be a lot lower than the
final offer that you end up
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settling for.
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Now Lyft really isn't
involved with the claim.
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What happens is the vehicles,
the Lyft vehicles are
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insured with Zurich American
Insurance Company and
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Zurich has hired York Claims,
York Risk Management Group,
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to administer the claims.
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So York is the one handling
the claim, but the money's
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being paid by Zurich
American Insurance Company
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who is the insurer.
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York's initial offer was
$16,000 and we settled for
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$45,000, again this was just
for the uninsured motorist
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insurance portion of the claim,
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which I'll get into in a moment.
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It's important to know that
that first offer was only
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about 35%, about one-third
of the total final offer
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from York.
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So just because you get a
low first offer, doesn't mean
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that the case is bad and
sometimes the insurance companies
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have a lot of room to
move and pay you more.
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Other times they may not have much room to
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increase their offer.
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Once we settled the case
with York, who again was the
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third party administrator
for the uninsured motorist
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insurer of the Lyft
vehicle that my client was
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a passenger in,
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and my client signed the
release, York sent the check
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rather quickly.
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So that was nice, there
wasn't any delay there.
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My client as a passenger
qualified through PIP,
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Personal Injury Protection
Insurance through
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the Lyft vehicle, my client
did not own a car at the time
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of the crash, he did not
live with any relatives
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who owned a car at the time of the crash,
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therefore the next place
to look for PIP Insurance
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was through York.
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My client had to fill out
a form and swear under oath
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that he did not a car or live
with anyone who owned a car,
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and then York processed his
PIP benefits and essentially
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they paid $10,000 to his doctors.
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I believe they paid 100%
of the doctors' bills up to
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the $10,000 whereas most
of the time in Florida,
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PIP pays 80% of the doctors' bills.
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So I found that to be unique.
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It's very interesting to note
that starting on July 1, 2017,
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Lyft cars, when there's a
passenger inside the car,
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do not have to have Personal
Injury Protection Insurance,
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however Lyft as recent
as September 22, 2017,
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that's the most recent
certificate of insurance
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that you can find online
on Lyft's website actually,
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they actually say that all their policies
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are covered with Personal
Injury Protection
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Insurance so whether the
driver's driving and he has the
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app on, it must be on, the
driver can get PIP Insurance
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through Lyft, or if a
passenger's in there, Lyft's
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policy still allows PIP insurance.
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The downside with the fact
that the Lyft vehicles
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are covered with PIP
Insurance is that if the Lyft
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vehicle causes an accident
due to the Lyft driver's
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negligence the injured party
will likely need to have a
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permanent injury in order to get money
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for pain and suffering.
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Now in this case, just
a little facts about it.
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My client was a passenger,
and the other car,
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it was allegedly wet roads
and another car rear-ended,
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crashed into the back of
the car that my client was
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a passenger in the Lyft vehicle in.
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The other driver who caused
the crash, he was insured
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with Geico Insurance, they
paid $25,000 of the settlement.
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So what happens is because
we argue that my client's
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injuries were worth more
than $25,000 the next place
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to look if there's no other
bodily injury liability
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insurance, which is what
existed on the car that caused
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the accident, we then look at
uninsured motorist insurance.
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So Lyft required my client to
fill out an affidavit stating
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he didn't have any uninsured
motorist insurance,
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or that he didn't own
any vehicles that had
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uninsured motorist insurance
or live with anyone
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who had any vehicles that had
uninsured motorist insurance.
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And after he filled out that
affidavit, Lyft accepted
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that there was uninsured
motorist insurance
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through York and Zurich and we
ultimately settled the claim
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like I had said for $45,000,
but it's a good idea
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for the Lyft passenger to
fill out this affidavit from
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day one and send it to
York Insurance Company
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so that they get the ball
rolling for the uninsured
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motorist insurance claim,
because if someone waits too
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long to send the affidavit,
that could delay the
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settlement with the
uninsured motorist insurance,
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but getting that affidavit
to the York representative,
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again that's Lyft's insurers,
the company that they're
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using to administer the
claims, the sooner they get it,
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the better and the sooner
they can set up the
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uninsured motorist
claim and establish that
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coverage exists.
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Now in the state of Florida,
if you are making a claim
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for Personal Injury Protection Insurance,
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which like I said, if you're
inside a Lyft there is
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PIP Insurance as right now,
Lyft has it on their policy,
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although they're not required to,
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you have 14 days to get
medical treatment, otherwise
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there's no PIP.
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A doctor needs to diagnose
you with an emergency medical
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condition, otherwise the
PIP is only limited to $2500
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and not $10,000.
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It can be a big loss of PIP benefits.
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PIP pays up to $10,000 of
your lost wages and toward
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your medical bills.
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I'd mentioned that I
represented the passenger in the
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Lyft case, if he would have owned a car,
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his PIP Insurance would
have likely been the source
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that would have paid
PIP Insurance benefits.
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Or if he would have lived
with a relative then their
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PIP Insurance on their
vehicle would have paid for
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his PIP benefits to his
doctors and his lost wages.
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However in my case, he didn't own a car,
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live with anyone who owned a
vehicle who was his relative
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that's why Lyft's PIP Insurance paid.
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If the Lyft driver does not
have their own ride-share
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coverage, meaning that they
specifically told their
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personal auto insurer
that they drive for Lyft
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then their insurance
company's likely going to deny
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coverage for the claim.
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For example, if they
have Geico, or State Farm
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and they never told State
Farm they're driving for Lyft,
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State Farm or Geico's
going to deny coverage
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and the passenger can't make
a claim against the personal
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auto insurer.
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However, once the
passenger's inside the car,
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the passenger can make a
claim if the Lyft driver
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caused the accident, for
up to a million dollars
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of bodily injury liability insurance.
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If a Lyft passenger is
injured in an accident,
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it's a good idea for them to
get the Lyft PIP application
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in the comments section to
the video, or below the video,
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I have a link to the article that I wrote,
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that I'm basing this video
on, and I have the actual
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Lyft application that was
used, the Lyft PIP application
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that was used in my claim.
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If I were to represent
someone again in a Lyft claim,
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a Lyft passenger, I would
immediately have the Lyft
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passenger complete the PIP
form, just again to get the
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ball rolling.
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And this assumes my client
did not have their own
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auto insurance on their
vehicle or live with a relative
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who had PIP auto insurance.
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Now Lyft's PIP auto insurance
does not have a deductible
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which is nice for the injured passenger,
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or even the driver, if the
driver happens to be injured
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and is making a PIP claim.
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If the York adjuster, Lyft's
insurer's adjuster, wants
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to take your recorded
statement you have to give them
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your recorded statement, part
of the contractual duties
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of the policy are to comply with this.
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So you have to comply
with reasonable requests.
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They want to take your
examination under oath,
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you have to agree to that as well.
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And the scope they can ask you
a lot of different questions.
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They can ask you about
your prior injuries.
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They can ask you about
how the accident happened,
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what your current injuries
are, who've you treated with,
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and other things.
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It's important to note that
everything that you tell the
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York adjuster or Lyft's
insurance adjuster is going
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to be documented in their
notes and if they record
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the call, it's all going to be
there for them to transcribe
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and put into writing.
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So it can later be used
against you so use your words
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very carefully.
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You need to be honest, nothing
is worse in an auto accident
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injury claim than lying to an adjuster.
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One lie that you may
think is saving you money
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can ultimately crush an entire case.
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I've seen people lie in auto
accident claims in general
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over things that are very,
very minor and potentially
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blow an entire case so
always tell the truth.
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If PIP Insurance applies in
the case, the next source
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where your medical bills
should be sent to is your
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health insurance, or Medicare or Medicaid,
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if any of that insurance applies.
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Then oftentimes if PIP is
paid, your health insurance
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may not pay anything and the
medical provider may write
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off the bills, but once the PIP
is exhausted then the health
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insurance pays at the contracted rate.
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Understand that oftentimes
in Florida, your health
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insurance may have a
lien on the settlement.
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So let's say the health
insurance company pays $5000,
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they may be entitled to
recoup up to $5000 from your
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settlement if you end up
making an uninsured motorist
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settlement with Lyft's
insurer, or the car that caused
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the accident, or Lyft's
bodily injury insurer, if the
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Lyft driver was negligent.
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Now I've already mentioned
that the passenger of a Lyft
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vehicle, if the other
car causes the accident,
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meaning due to speeding or
failure to yield right of way,
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or improper turn, if the
other car's driver causes
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the accident you can sue the other driver.
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Typically it's making a
claim against them and trying
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to resolve it before a
lawsuit which can save stress
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and expense and you'd be
entitled to past out of pocket
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medical bills and future
medical bills, lost wages,
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and future lost wages,
and pain and suffering,
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both past and future.
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You may need to have a
permanent injury in order to
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qualify for money for pain and suffering.
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That's because if the Lyft vehicle had PIP
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and you were entitled to PIP
and the party that caused
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the accident also had an auto
insurance policy in Florida
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that had PIP, you likely need
a permanent injury in order
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to get money for pain and suffering.
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Now if the other car caused
the accident, and they
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don't have enough bodily
injury liability insurance,
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such has what happened in
my case, but they only had
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$25,000, and we argued that
the claim was worth more
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than $25,000, Lyft's uninsured
motorist insurance is
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excess, it's above any
other uninsured motorist
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insurance, or at least
that's what the Lyft adjuster
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told me, the York adjuster, told me.
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In terms of if you're
making an uninsured motorist
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insurance claim, Lyft has the
ability to send you to their
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doctor, it'd be a one time
exam where they examine you.
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Most uninsured motorist
insurers will send you to a
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doctor who is more conservative,
meaning they're more
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likely if your injury is in
a gray area where one doctor
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can say that you're badly
injured and another doctor
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can say no, the odds are
that the uninsured motorist
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insurer is going to send
you to a doctor who's more
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likely to side with saying
that you're less injured.
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Now it's always a great
idea to get a crash report,
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also you can notify Lyft
through the app that the
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passenger is injured.
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You can also directly
submit the claim to York,
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again who administers the claims for Lyft,
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you need to send your notice
out as soon as possible.
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It's always good, again,
to get a crash report,
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sooner rather than later, and
to get treatment if you need
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it as soon as possible
and don't be surprised if
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a passenger waits to get
medical treatment and
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the Lyft adjuster ends
up telling them or York's
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adjuster ends up telling them
how badly were you injured,
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if you waited two weeks
to get medical treatment.
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Is your injury related to the accident?
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Also all things equal, the
greater the damage to the car,
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the greater the settlement,
because the theory goes,
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at least the insurance
adjusters and many jurors
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assume that a badly damaged
car can equate to someone
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being hurt very badly,
whereas if there's very little
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damage to the car expect Lyft's
insurer to fight the case
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harder or the other
company's insurer to fight
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the case harder.
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In the case that I represented,
the gentleman in where he
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had tears to his foot and
his hand and we settled for
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$70,000, one of the reasons
why Geico quickly paid
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their $25,000 per person
bodily injury limits
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is because the value of
my client's case was about
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$70,000 and the limits were
25,000 and if Geico failed
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to pay that amount, and we
ended up getting a verdict
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against the Geico's insured,
the driver, for 75,000,
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that driver could end up suing
Geico or signing his claim
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to my client and Geico
doesn't want to have to pay
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an extra $50,000 when they
could have just paid $25,000
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and gotten out of the case.
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So Geico was relatively quick
about paying the $25,000
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and it's not uncommon if
there's a low limits policy
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and an injury that's worth more.
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And Lyft actually wasn't
that bad in terms of the time
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it took to resolve the claim
with them once we submitted
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all the paperwork.
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There really wasn't much
delay, and when I say Lyft,
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again, York, there really
wasn't too much delay in
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resolving the case once
negotiations began,
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they went kind of smoothly.
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The York adjusters that
I dealt with were overall
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very friendly.
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When an injured person settles
a case with the other car's
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insurance company, or Lyft's
uninsured motorist insurance,
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what typically happens is
you sign a release at the end
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of the claim.
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Understand that that language
needs to be negotiated
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on most of the time.
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My claim went back and forth
with Lyft and I made sure
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that the language was in the
best interest of my client.
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I didn't just agree to have
my client sign what Lyft's
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release said.
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Lyft's release was not
confidential, it didn't have a
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confidentiality clause so
that's why I'm talking about
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the settlement here that appears
to be different from Uber.
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If you go online, I wasn't
able to find any Uber
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settlement amounts other
than two, so I likely think
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that Uber may be
requiring confidentiality,
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but I have to give some
points to Lyft just for doing
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the right thing.
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If you settle with State
Farm, Geico, Progressive,
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Allstate, Travelers, USAA,
they typically do not
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require confidentiality,
so all Lyft is doing,
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or York is doing with
Zurich Insurance Company
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is just doing the right
thing and not requiring
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confidentiality as it can
possibly have tax consequences
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that can hurt the injured person.
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If you liked this video, please like it,
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please comment, please
subscribe to our channel,
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watch our other videos.
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We have a lot of interesting
information on all types
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of accidents and I plan on
making many, many more videos.
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My name is Justin Ziegler,
my office is in Miami.
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I serve the entire state of Florida.
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Have a beautiful day.
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