InjuryBoard Vancouver Archives

• Private Health Insurance Profits Soar

  Don Jacobs | January 29, 2008 12:42 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Miscellaneous

  Health insurance is expensive. Small business people are especially hurt by the rising costs to cover employees. And good luck finding affordable coverage if you are self employed. The rates for self employed even healthy people are sobering. So it must mean that health insurance companies are struggling right? They keep raising the rates and finding more and more conditions they don't...

• Medical Malpractice Insurance Rates Decline 12.5%

  Don Jacobs | January 25, 2008 12:41 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Miscellaneous

  A January 11, 2008 article in the Washington Insurance Journal contained some interesting news. Malpractice rates for doctors have now fallen by 12.5 percent in 2007, followed by a record setting year of profits for Washington's largest Malpractice Insurance Company, as reported by the Washington State Insurance Commissioner's Office. Although some rates will remain stable, the article stated...

• Votes for Hire

  Don Jacobs | January 22, 2008 12:39 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Miscellaneous

  Politicians need money to get elected. Campaigns are expensive and getting more so. While candidates partake in hometown fundraisers such as coffees and neighborhood meetings, the real money comes from lobbying groups. Not that all politicians are necessarily beholden to who spends the most, but if their political survival is dependent upon obtaining big dollars to run a successful campaign,...

• Is an Oral Agreement Valid?

  Don Jacobs | January 17, 2008 1:17 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Automobile Accidents

  A not entirely new practice by insurance companies is being used more and more lately. Oral releases. Calling up an injured consumer after an accident and asking if they want to settle over the phone. Insurance companies train adjusters to make immediate contact after an accident. Often before the injured party has called a lawyer or has any idea about their rights or the value of their...

• Do I Have to Sign a Medical Release?

  Don Jacobs | January 15, 2008 1:15 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Automobile Accidents

  "I've never been in an accident before. I didn't know". This refrain is often heard by lawyers who specialize in helping people injured in auto accidents. It is sometimes heard after the lawyer finds out the client signed a comprehensive medical release sent to them by the insurance company representing the guilty driver. Insurance companies train their adjusters to make immediate contact...

• Uninsured Motorist Insurance and Vehicle Depreciation

  Don Jacobs | January 10, 2008 12:06 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Automobile Accidents

  Many purchase uninsured motorist coverage on their auto policy. This is a prudent practice given the number of uninsured drivers on the road. Uninsured motorist coverage provides benefits in the amount they injured person would have been able to recover from the uninsured driver. Medical bills, wage loss, pain and suffering and loss of the quality of life are recoverable. The public policy...

• Auto Accidents and Vehicle Depreciation

  Don Jacobs | January 08, 2008 12:03 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Automobile Accidents

  Who among us doesn't remember our father saying "don't buy a car that's been in a wreck, you just buy somebody else's problems". Sometimes the best advice is old advice. Would anyone pay the same amount for a car that suffered major body damage as one that didn't? Although some body repair experts claim they can repair a vehicle to pre-accident condition, this claim hasn't been accepted by...

• Insurance Companies, Auto Accidents and Rental Cars

  Don Jacobs | January 04, 2008 5:27 PM | 0 Comments
  Category: Automobile Accidents

  When someone causes an accident, they become responsible for the consequences. They are obligated to pay for repairs and pay for the cost of a rental while the vehicle is in the shop. Although the correct legal term for the cost of the rental is "loss of use", it essentially translates into the cost to rent a vehicle of comparable value for however long it takes to finish the repairs. Of...