Frequently Asked Questions

Notify your insurance agent as soon as possible. They may need to process a portion of or all of your claim. However do not give any type of recorded statement to your agent or carrier without our firm being present.

Do NOT discuss your case with anyone until you have met with a representative of Carabin Shaw, Injury Lawyers. Be careful the defendant's insurance company may try to blame the accident on you.

You should NEVER admit fault for the accident to anyone, including the other driver, passengers, relatives, and/or police officers. You may have signed a citation from the investigating officer. This action was not, however, an admission of guilt.

The at-fault party of the accident and/or their insurance company is ultimately responsible. In the event the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured, your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage may help in paying expenses and other damages if you purchased this coverage. Expenses may also be paid from PIP (Personal Injury Protection) coverage if you have paid for this coverage or if the driver in the auto in which you were a passenger had this coverage.

Check your own coverage, you may have purchased uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

You may be entitled to submit a claim for lost wages from injury due to your accident. If you receive a "unable to work" order from your Doctor you may, according to the facts in the case, be entitled to recoup lost wages. Do NOT take time off from work without a written order from your doctor. You may hurt your case. Use the lost earnings worksheet to help you identify your lost wages. It is important to keep track of your lost wages, since your employer will probably not do this for you.

In accord with the law, you have the right to legal counsel to protect your rights when someone’s negligence has caused damage to you and/or your property. Hiring an injury lawyer sends the insurance company the message that you are serious about your claim. You will also have the security of having your personal rights protected. The at-fault insurance company may try to tell you that you do not need a lawyer. The person giving you that advice is probably not a lawyer and may even be breaking the law by attempting to practice law without a license. We have seen many instances where an adjuster for the at-fault insurance company convinces a claimant that they do not need a lawyer, only to be stuck much later, with an unresolved claim. In some cases it is then too late for us to help that claimant. We can be of the most help when you come to see us immediately after the accident.

The majority of cases settle before there is a need for a lawsuit. In certain circumstances, a lawsuit becomes necessary like when the at-fault insurance company refuses to negotiate in good faith. If we can not settle your case satisfactorily we will advise you on taking your case to Court.

You should be offered either the amount that it will take to restore your car to its condition prior to the accident, or the fair market value of your car if the car is considered totaled. There are different methods used by insurance companies to determine these values. Carabin Shaw, Injury Lawyers are prepared to assist you in making sure these values fall within the scope of fairness provided by the law. We assist our clients on their property damage claims for free, always have, always will.

All claims are handled individually and on a case-by-case basis. No two cases are exactly alike. In general, the finalization of your claim is determined by your length of treatment and time of rehabilitation. We will proceed promptly with your claim as soon as your doctor(s) have released you from treatment. Once you are released by your doctor, usually your case can be resolved in 60 to 90 days if litigation is not necessary or required.

No lawyer can accurately estimate the value of your case until all facts have been discovered and reviewed. Unknown factors can sometimes come up or problems arise that may change the financial value of your case. No matter what the circumstances may be, Carabin Shaw, Injury Lawyers will consult with your treating doctors and other pertinent experts to give you an estimate that we feel is legally fair and reasonable. We will then work hard to get you what we feel is fair and reasonable in the quickest way possible. If you would like to sit down with us we will be able to give you a range value on your case.

The statute of limitations is a specified time period that the law permits a claim to be filed against the responsible party. In Texas, the victim or his family has 2 years to resolve the claim or file the lawsuit against the responsible party. The statute of limitations varies for cases involving children and adults, and also differs from state to state. It is important that when a serious and catastrophic injury, such as a death or injury occurs call our Law Firm as soon as possible.

This site is not designed nor intended to be used for specific advice in any particular case. It is critical that you start your case before a statute of limitations runs or you could forever lose your right to pursue your case.

Some Texas Jurors, lack an understanding of the motorcyclist and the rules of the road. And many people dislike and have biases against motorcycles and their riders. Many police investigators often don't understand the mechanics and dynamics of a motorcycle accident.

It is important in a motorcycle case to combat bias. To do so, your motorcycle accident attorney must understand and have the ability to explain what the motorcyclist was confronted with, what choices were available the second the accident occurred and why choices were made.

Choose a Law Firm that understands the principles of physics and mechanics of your lose and is capable of reviewing the evidence and correct problems or issues, if necessary. For example, motorcycles don't stop like cars, don't swerve like cars, have different controls than cars, and slide on their sides, which cars rarely do. To the extent that a jury can be successfully educated in all of these areas, the anti-motorcycle bias of jurors can be mitigated. Remember, that the number of motorcyclists' community is large, and it is possible that the defense will fail to identify or challenge a motorcyclist or pro-motorcyclist juror. Call and let us help you now!

Attorneys who handle Personal Injury claims are usually paid by contingency fee - this is a percentage of the amount that is successfully recovered for the client. If there is no recovery, the attorney does not get paid.

There are many different ways to help pay your hospital, therapy and medical bills. Let us evaluate your lose and your options.

We will do everything they can to make sure you have the money you need to get the necessary medical care you need. We'll deal with insurance companies work to get you the money you need when you need it.

Motorcycle accidents are usually caused by carelessness or failure to act and in some cases recklessness. Often times it is a combination of negligent acts or a failure to act by one or more persons or entities that cause an accident to occur.

Texas Law requires that each person owes every other person a duty to act as a reasonably prudent person would act under the same or similar circumstances. When a person does not act reasonably, then they have violated that duty and will be held responsible for any injury or damage that results. This duty is created from statutory laws and rules in prior cases that have evolved over time.

Accident reconstruction experts are also available with specific expertise in motorcycle accidents. Usually, there are photographs of the vehicles and usually other physical evidence. The physical evidence is used in conjunction with eyewitness accounts and party accounts to determine what happened. Generally, each side points to those pieces of evidence, and those statements of witnesses that are favorable. The insurance company for the defendant will weigh all of the evidence developed by each side and determine who is at fault, and in what percentage and what amount they want to offer. If the amount is not fair, then our team of lawyers will take your case to trial and let the jury decide what is fair.

Your legal compensation may include:

Payment of medical bills

You may be entitled to have your medical expenses, past and future, paid:

• Hospitalization
• Surgical procedures
• Ongoing medical care
• Counseling
• Scar revision/Cosmetic surgery
• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy

Compensation for loss of income and loss of the ability to earn income in the future: You may be entitled to have your lost wages, past and future, paid. Vocational rehabilitation (job retraining)

You may be entitled to compensation for the costs of being re-trained into a new job or occupation.

Compensation for pain and suffering: Your entitled to compensation for the pain and suffering you have endured and may continue to endure as a result of your injury. In a death case, the children, spouse and parents are entitled to damages for the wrongful death

Loss of consortium: The spouse of a survivor may be entitled to compensation when an injury is so severe that it interferes with the injured party's spousal relations. The effected family member may suffer a very real detriment. Many courts recognize the right of the injured party's spouse to recover in an appropriate case for a loss of support, services, love, companionship, society, affection, sexual relations and solace in the form of a loss of consortium action. Loss of consortium is a claim separate from the injury victim's claim. It is unique to the injured party's spouse and is compensable by a separate damages recovery.

Disfigurement and disability: Any physical or mental impairment or disability.

Punitive damages may be recoverable in certain circumstances. Punitive damages exist to punish or make example of the wrongdoer for conduct that is intentional, or when the wrongdoer acts in a reckless manner in disregard for the rights of others.

This is a decision that only you can make. However, the greater the injury, the more likely the defense will want to fight. Civil law exists to compensate an individual for injuries and losses, which were caused by someone's negligence; a defective product; or some other form of misconduct or failure to act.

Persons who are injured in accidents and their family members are often hesitant about contacting an attorney because they believe the accident or injury was in some way caused by the injured individual. This may not be the case and even if the injured individual is partially at fault, it is still possible that more than one person or may have contributed to causing that accident or injury and a substantial monetary recovery is still possible.

If the Law Firm accepts the case, on a contingency fee basis, then we advance all expenses and costs for litigation.

Most of the other Law Firms accepting Prompt Pay Cases are charging 50% of the recovery. Our Law Firm is charging substantially less with a 40% contingency fee – call us and we will explain in detail how we are only paid if and when the matter is settled or resolved or tried and how your Health Care Organization benefits from our fee structure.

If you have computerized 835/837 data, only about three hours of staff time is needed.

On average, it will take about 9-12 months to complete the claim process.

No; Your Collection Department has collected part of the money or moneys due, we will collect the rest for you. Collection Department are not recovering late payment penalties, statutory penalties, interest penalties and attorney fees.

Protective Orders created during the Arbitration process will protect the data.

Generally, no; we may request that a staff member be present to represent your business. It should be noted that the arbitrations usually only last 1-2 days.

Two Fold. First, recent decisions by the Fifth Circuit Court of Federal Appeals has made it clear the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) can regulate the rate and timing of payments of undisputed validity. As a result, Texas health care providers are now entitled to prompt payment of clean claims within the statutory provisions. Thus, as long as the billing department properly submitted Clean Claims to the health insurance carries, substantial penalties can now be recovered for the doctor or medical provider. The amounts due to the medical providers are recovered thru a legal arbitration process. The amount due to the medical provider can total hundreds of thousands, if not millions, for any and all slow payments received by the medical provider in the last four years.

Second, the upfront and speculative cost of retaining a law firm to fight this issue was cost prohibitive in the past. However, due to the fact that we are now accepting these claims under a Contingency Fee Basis, there is no out-of-pocket cost for you. We will advance the expenses of determining how much money you are owed and proving up your case; and we are only reimbursed for these expenses if there is a successful recovery.

Nothing. We will work for you on a contingency basis. We don’t get paid if we don’t recover for you. The risk is ours.

Nothing. Board Certified Attorney Paul Sadler, with the Carabin Shaw Law Firm will sit down with you for free, in a private meeting, with no obligation and will answer your questions or concerns.

Call and speak with Attorney Paul Sadler about Prompt Pay. Call 210-222-2288 or Toll Free 866-635-2301.