No matter where you look these days, you will almost be bombarded with images of lawyers advertising their services for you. We can assist you whether you have been in a car crash, experienced whiplash, or injured in an accident. Reams of advertisements fill the telephone directory with vivid script , images of the injured, and promises of service at no fee until damages are won. Some firms will give claimants short term loans against the promise of a future winning.
An insurance group has gone on record with its belief that hard-nosed advertisements placed by plaintiffs' attorneys have caused massive escalations in the cost of damage claims. It has gotten so bad that some insurance companies have stopped selling auto insurance. The insurance bureau's regional service manager states that there are more people coming in with little damage to their vehicles and receiving huge claims due to their injuries. While the insurance industry as a whole believes in paying for injuries received in an accident, this bureau agent says that the expectations of consumers have gone to extremes.
The actual amount that claims are increasing auto insurance premiums is different for each company. Good driving risks will only see an increase of fifteen to thirty-five percent. Your increases will be even higher than that if you are one who is unfortunate enough to have experienced an accident or highway traffic offense.
Lawyers say there is no connection between their advertisement campaign and the increase in cost. There is a lawyer that states his ignorance of a connection between the ads and the frequency of claims, something insurance companies disagree with. If someone gets hurt in an auto accident, they have every right to make a claim against the third party driver. Unfortunately not everyone agrees. Recently, the law society began to question the practice of granting loans to those injured in automobile accidents, for fear that it violates the code of conduct.
By advertising personal injury services, law firms will get business from those already considering a claim. This is one personal injury lawyer's opinion. He does not see anything wrong with this. He doesn't see the problem with letting a person know what their rights are in the event of a car accident, and letting them know how to exercise them in order to get compensation. He states that he knows the costs are rising within the insurance companies and things need to be changed, but the insurance industry has made the effort to address these problems.
Of course, the president of the bar association states that the insurance companies are trying to place the blame on someone for raising their premiums, and are looking for a way to bring their compensation costs down, as opposed to figuring out a way to prevent the accidents. There isn't any lobbying by insurance for increased fines for photo radar or bans on cell phone use by drivers, he said. Also, he is curious was to why the insurance companies aren't lobbying for better road safety and more legislation to prevent accidents instead of pestering lawyers. He also mentioned the fact that as a whole, the insurance industry has suffered huge losses in investments, and that this has lead to smaller profit margins.
Insurance company advocates are lobbying for the passage of laws meant to prevent those injured in car accidents from obtaining multiple recoveries for the same incident. Some victims want compensation from lost work time, even though their own benefits already pay for that. The worst part is that the claimants would receive their gross wages. Absolutely no deductions have been taken. This become a dissuading factor for the employees to return to work. You'll make more money if you are out of work for a longer time.
There is no certain number on how many lawyers are in practice right now, but there isn't any doubt that there are more here than anywhere else. Most places will allow accident victims to get compensation for pain and suffering, their injuries must be extensive as well as permanent. The insurance bureau would like you to see that the advertising is creating the demand, but the exact opposite is true. Nobody should have a problem with attorneys who are willing to shoulder the expense of litigation through to the point of settlement, or who agree to pay for necessary expenditures should the plaintiff not prevail.
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