Areas of Practice

Auto Accident Questions

INTRODUCTION TO "NO FAULT"
WHAT ARE "BASIC REPARATIONS BENEFITS"
ARE YOU ENTITLED TO BENEFITS
MOTORCYCLISTS
WHICH INSURANCE COMPANY PAYS
WHAT BENEFITS ARE PAYABLE
WHO PAYS FOR WAGE LOSS
WHAT BENEFITS ARE PAYABLE IN THE EVENT OF DEATH
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE DRIVER IS NOT INSURED
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE DRIVER DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH INSURANCE
RETAINING AN ATTORNEY TO REPRESENT YOU

INTRODUCTION TO "NO FAULT?"
In July, 1975, the Kentucky General Assembly enacted Kentucky's No Fault Automobile Insurance Act. This statute radically altered how an injured person is compensated for their injuries in automobile accidents in Kentucky. The law abolished tort liability for the first $10,000.00, an economic loss. The law may the driver of each insured automobile responsible for his injuries as well as the injuries of any of his passengers. In return for the payment of these benefits, a driver in Kentucky is presumed to have accepted this limitation on the right to sue the other party unless one of two things has happened. (1) They have rejected the limitation on their tort rights. This is done by filing a written rejection of the no fault benefits when you apply for automobile insurance; or (2) your injury is serious enough to have met one of the defined thresholds or conditions. Once one of these conditions have been met then you have the right to sue for economic and non-economic loss. Usually these conditions will be met if someone is killed or there are certain serious injuries or the medical expenses exceed $1,000.00.

WHAT ARE "BASIC REPARATIONS BENEFITS?"
Basic reparations benefits or as they are called personal injury protection or PIP benefits are payable for economic loss that arises from a bodily injury. These basic reparations benefits include medical expenses, wage loss and replacement services loss. Medical expenses usually include such items as the cost of your physician, any hospital bills and will cover the cost of nursing services and rehabilitation services. Chiropractic care is also covered. Medical bills are presumed reasonable if they were reasonably necessary for the care and treatment of your condition. Wages are payable up to a statutory maximum of $200.00 per week. Benefits are also payable for replacement services loss which are payable to those persons or providers whose services are purchased to provide those ordinary and necessary services which you must purchase because you are no longer able to provide them for yourself due to your injury.

ARE YOU ENTITLED TO BENEFITS?
If you are injured in an automobile accident and are in Kentucky and have not rejected no fault, you are entitled to benefits provided your injuries were sustained as a result of the use or maintenance of the motor vehicle. What is use or maintenance of the vehicle will vary from case to case. If you believe that your injury was sustained as a result of the use or maintenance of the motor vehicle, please call one of our attorneys and ask his opinion as to whether or not your injuries may be covered.

MOTORCYCLISTS?
Motorcyclists are included within the definition of motor vehicle in the no fault statute. However, the statute provides that basic reparation benefits are not payable for motorcyclists who are injured unless they have purchased that as optional coverage. The attorneys of Wilkey Law Office recommend that each person owning and operating a motor vehicle purchase this optional coverage.

WHICH INSURANCE COMPANY PAYS?
The owner of the vehicle is responsible for making certain that the vehicle is insured. In the State of Kentucky, automobile liability policies are required. Any person registering an automobile in the State or Kentucky or transferring an automobile in the State of Kentucky must present proof of insurance to the clerk at the time of the transfer. There are criminal penalties for failure to maintain automobile insurance.

Each policy of automobile insurance contains basic reparation benefits which provide for payment of economic loss in the event of an injury.

WHAT BENEFITS ARE PAYABLE?
Basic reparations benefits will cover medical expense, work loss and replacement services loss. All healing professionals who are licensed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky are covered. These include chiropractors and podiatrists. The cost of your medical care is presumed to be reasonable if the services are reasonably necessary for your care and recovery. Your wage losses are paid up to $200.00 per week. Where an injured person is injured so severely that it appears that it will be several weeks or months before they are able to return to work, the attorneys at Wilkey Law Office often recommend that their clients consider using their basic reparations benefits in the form of wage loss and defer payment of medical bills to a later time when you are ready to settle your case.

WHO PAYS FOR WAGE LOSS?
The insurer of the vehicle is responsible for basic reparations benefits. These will include your wage loss. Filing a claim for wage loss as other medical benefits is as easy as calling the insurance agent of the driver of the vehicle and they will usually help you file a claim for the wage loss. You will of course need to provide verification of employment. There is a standard form used by most Kentucky insurance companies which contains a release to obtain both medical records and employment verification. These are simple forms which are easily completed and turned in to the insurance company and wage loss can begin to be paid promptly.

WHAT BENEFITS ARE PAYABLE IN THE EVENT OF DEATH?
There are additional benefits payable if the insured person dies. These benefits are funeral and burial benefits, the survivor's economic loss benefit and the survivor's replacement service loss benefit. A benefit is payable in an amount not to exceed $1,000.00 for funeral expenses. A survivor may also be entitled to claim benefits for economic loss that the deceased person would have provided less any expenses that were avoided by reason of that person's death. These replacement services loss are very similar to the replacement services loss payable in injury cases.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE DRIVER IS NOT INSURED?
If you are injured in an accident and the vehicle is uninsured, you are entitled to collect basic reparations benefits from the insurer of any vehicle that you own. In the event that your injuries are a result of a collision with another vehicle that is not insured, you can purchase uninsured motorist protection. This is referred to as first party coverage and your insurance company is obligated to pay you for damages which you are legally entitled to recover from the other driver. Inclusion of this coverage is mandatory. The basic limits of coverage are the same for uninsured motorist as they are for liability which is $25,000.00. You can purchase additional uninsured motorist protection. This cost is usually not very much and is certainly additional insurance that you should consider purchasing.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE DRIVER DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH INSURANCE?
With the advent in Kentucky of mandatory liability insurance the average motorist who is injured as a result of the negligence of another driver will find that the driver is insured but has purchased only the minimum coverage required by Kentucky law. Fortunately, the Kentucky no fault law requires all insurers to offer you underinsured motorist coverage. This can be purchased in varying amounts and is an excellent way to make certain that if you are injured that there will be adequate insurance to fully compensate you for your loss. This is first party coverage and is available to you after you have exhausted the liability policy of driver at fault.

RETAINING AN ATTORNEY TO REPRESENT YOU
Normally attorneys represent persons in personal injury lawsuits on a "contingent fee" basis. This simply means that the attorney fee will be a percentage of recovery obtained for the injured client. At Wilkey Law Office, our usual percentage is one-third of the amount recovered with reimbursement to the attorney in the event that the firm is successful in prosecuting the lawsuit. While the practice of taking cases on a contingent fee basis has been criticized from time to time, it does have the one very real advantage of allowing persons of limited means to obtain a competent, experienced and aggressive legal counsel who will vigorously pursue recovery for injured clients with legitimate claims.

Clients always have the option of retaining an attorney on an hourly fee basis. However, our experience has been that very few of our clients wish to retain us in this manner and rarely have the financial resources to reimburse their attorney for their customary hourly rate and costs that are incurred during the pendency of a lawsuit. At Wilkey Law Office our attorneys regularly work in the area of personal injury and are delighted to discuss all the financial options available to you in a relaxed, friendly and open atmosphere. At Wilkey Law Office we believe that it is your right to have the answers to these as well as your other questions answered openly and honestly.

Upon your decision to retain our law firm to represent you, we will put our fee agreement in writing. Both the client and the attorney will sign it and a copy will be delivered to you.