Chipping Away at Hawaii Car Accident Injury Claims

After "abolishing" car accident injury claims in Hawaii, (with some exceptions), Hawaii legislators decided to chip even further away at accident injury claims. 

Hawaii law requires that, in car accident cases, the amount of the medical bills paid by the Personal Injury Insurance Company shall be deducted from the final settlement. This means that settlements, whether by settlement or by judgment/award, are reduced by the amount of medical bills paid, by a minimum of $5,000, or, a maximum of $10,000. The amount deducted from your award or settlement is the actual amount paid, for example, $5,029.32. This reduction is called the "Covered Loss Deductible," or the "CLD." The maximum CLD is $10,000, even if your total medical bills paid are more than that.
The applicable statute (law) is as follows:

§431:10C-301.5 Covered loss deductible. Whenever a person effects a recovery for bodily injury, whether by suit, arbitration, or settlement, and it is determined that the person is entitled to recover damages, the judgment, settlement, or award shall be reduced by $5,000 or the amount of personal injury protection benefits incurred, whichever is greater, up to the maximum limit. The covered loss deductible shall not include benefits paid or incurred under any optional additional coverage or benefits paid under any public assistance program. [L 1997, c 251, pt of §2; am L 1998, c 275, §17; am L 2004, c 174, §2]

In exchange for the reduced settlements and awards, insurance companies were required to reduce their insurance premium rates.  This they did (for a while).  But wait, there was a catch:  For the reduced insurance premium rates, you also got reduced coverage.  Huh?  (You'll see me write "huh?" a lot in my blogs).  Yes, the premium rates went down, but, the legally required coverage went from $35,000 to $20,000. So, it begs the question, what did the consumer really get in exchage for the CLD reduction of all claims, settlements, awards, etc., in car accident injury claims?

For those of savvy in the age of the "text," the answer is most succinctly, and profoundly, stated as follows: idk.

I think this is another reason why a personal injury attorney can be helpful in navigating the automobile/car accident injury claim process in Hawaii. 

If you were injured in a car accident, you should consult with a Hawaii licensed attorney.  The attorneys at the Recovery Law Center base their attorneys fees on the net settlement, meaning that the percentage used for attorneys fees is calculated after the CLD is deducted. This is much more fair to claimants.

http://www.recoveryourloss.com/

key words (helps you find this article):  insurance, insurance company, claim, claims, Hawaii car accident injury claim; injury claim; Hawaii car accident; attorney, lawyer, personal injury lawyer, personal injury attorney hawaii, honolulu attorney, honolulu car accident lawyer, covered loss deductible, hawaii law