Blog Feed – Oropeza Law Firm

PIP and MEDPAY in DC, MD and VA

PIP is similar and often times interchanged with the term Medpay. Usually this is the name given to a portion of your insurance available to pay for medical expenses and lost wages. If you have a MD or VA policy you can almost always use your PIP or Medpay and also collect under the insurance policy of the at fault accident under their bodily injury limits of their automobile Insurance. You can use this coverage when you are a pedestrian or a passenger in someone else’s vehicle.

Waiver of PIP/Medpay
Sometimes in order to have a cheaper rate individuals are given the opportunity to waive PIP. This is never advisable as PIP/Medpay is an insurance you can use outside of your bodily injury limits portion and you never have to reimburse it and you can use this often times regardless of who is at fault for the accident.

Danger of Waiving PIP/Medpay
By choosing to waive PIP/Medpay under your own insurance you make yourself ineligible of receiving PIP/Medpay benefits even in an accident that you would not think involves your own insurance. If you waived PIP/Medpay and you are in a pedestrian accident, you will not have access to your PIP or Medpay. If you waived PIP/Medpay and are involved in an accident in someone else’s vehicle in which you are a passenger you will not have access to PIP/Medpay because that waiver carries over into other accidents that would normally involve other people’s insurance.
DC PIP nuance

If you are in a Washington, DC auto accident and your insurance policy originated in DC and so did the other person involved in the accident you have to choose whether you will make a PIP claim or whether you will go after the bodily injury claim. Under DC law you have 60 days to make this decision and after 60 days there are very limited exceptions allowing you to change your mind.

Oropeza Law Firm, PLLC will not make you pay anything up front to represent you

For many of these reasons, the last being the most important, it is very important that you speak to a lawyer as early as possible when you are involved in any vehicle, truck, motorcycle or even pedestrian accident. The Oropeza Law Firm, PLLC will not charge you to speak with you and most of the time will represent you without your ever having to come out of pocket. Most personal injury cases charge a contingency fee where the lawyer receives a percentage of what they recover for you. Meaning the lawyer gets paid if and only if they can recover something on your behalf.
If you or someone you know has been injured please call the Oropeza Law Firm, PLLC as soon as possible to make sure that you don’t limit your recovery in any way. Call us now at 202-558-6539 to discuss your case!

COVID-19 and Serious injuries from Car or Truck Accidents

We are all telling ourselves and our families that now is not the time to go to the Emergency Room, but by definition emergencies are not planned and urgent. If you are involved in a serious motor, truck or tractor trailer accident you will have no choice but to go to the Emergency Room.

After your emergency treatment, you may require follow up care, but with the current pandemic you may have to stay at home which would delay treatment. We are in contact with medical professionals that can evaluate and assist clients via teleconferencing software. Some medical providers will only allow for one client at a given time in their facility for treatment. Treating your injuries in a timely manner will benefit your health significantly. A zealous advocate will also makes sure that whether you are treating or decide to wait for the stay at home order to be lifted your claim will be preserved with the insurance company.

I suggest calling a law firm that has experience with accidents and is capable of video conferencing clients and even putting clients in a position to not hurt their case by waiting until the COVID-19 stay at home orders are changed.

If you are in this position and in DC, MD or VA call the Oropeza law firm, PLLC. We pride ourselves in giving our clients a personal approach to law and that doesn’t stop during this time. We offer opportunities to discuss over the phone or via teleconferencing. Additionally, we have experience dealing with many insurance carriers and advocating for our clients so as to always ensure that our clients get the treatment they need and the outcome they deserve.

Call Oropeza Law Firm, PLLC today at 202-558-6539

Why you should consider taking a an Uber or Lyft over a Taxi the next time you need a ride

No one plans on being involved in a motor vehicle accident and yet sadly these said occurrences take place rather frequently in cities and on major highways throughout the Maryland, DC, and Virginia metropolitan areas.

It is not uncommon to try to rate shop or to even hail a cab when you need to get from point A to point B in a rush. The next time you do, please take into consideration that many taxi cab companies are self-insured and many of them will have car insurance policy maximums set at $25,000. What this means is that if you are in a taxi and involved in an accident where the taxi driver is at fault or where the taxi driver collides with someone who has the minimum insurance or no insurance available, you may very well be stuck with maximum coverage of $25,000.

$25,000 may seem like a lot of money, however if you have a broken limb or semi-serious injuries your medical treatment alone can exceed this amount of money. And if you have very serious injuries you could very well be financially responsible or in a black hole of medical debt for an accident that wasn’t even your fault. Because these taxi companies are self-insured, they are responsible for their own insurance claims and it doesn’t cost them anything to deny claims until they are sued. Even after taxi companies are sued they can fight you through the entire process and if they then decide to settle or lose at trial the most a Plaintiff or injured person will be able to recover will only be the $25,000 minus legal fees, medical expenses which can leave an injured person with next to nothing or worse, medical debt.

Ride-sharing services have very high insurance coverages, sometimes as high as $500,000.00 per accident. These rates don’t apply until the ride share driver begins the trip. If the ride-sharing driver is involved in an accident which is his or her fault or if they are involved in an accident with someone that doesn’t have sufficient insurance the ride share insurance policy may be able to make up the difference for the lack of coverage from the other driver. Most importantly, you, the injured passenger will have much more coverage and will work with an actual insurance company that is more reasonable if you are taking a ride share service and have the misfortune of being involved in an accident.

If you have been involved in any accident, please don’t hesitate to call my office for a free evaluation and explanation on how insurances and liability works.