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When you suffer a personal injury from an accident you
experienced a sudden lose of control at the hands of
someone who had no right to take control from you. As
an injured person in an automobile or other accident
there is one person you are certain to encounter that
has a great deal of influence over how or whether you
will return to your pre-accident condition. That person
is the insurance adjuster sometimes called a claim
representative or claims adjuster.
You know intuitively that the accident was not your fault
but the adjuster has a job to do for an insurance
company. You give the adjuster and the insurance
company he or she works for control over your
compensation if you fail to hire an injury attorney .
Since accidents can cause a great deal of damage to a
person’s health and property, a great deal of money
can be spent in treating injuries and repairing or
replacing property. Not many drivers have the cash to
spare in order to pay for the damage or treat the injury
that they could cause with their automobile. Even those
with the cash find it wise to spend a known small
amount of money instead of risking that they may lose
their cash paying for damages they cause. That is the
nature of a liability insurance policy which comes within
every automobile insurance policy. The policy holder
has given money to the insurance carrier in return for a
promise by the insurance company to pay for injury or
damage, under certain circumstances, for which the
policyholder becomes liable.
Liability policies are also included within a Renter’s
Policy (which you think of as paying for stolen or fire
damaged personal property in your apartment), a
Homeowners Policy (which includes coverage for
personal property and the building which you own) and
an Umbrella policy (which increases the liability policy
limits of the Automobile and Renter’s or Homeowners
policies).
If you are physically injured by direct contact with
another person their Renter’s or Homeowner’s policy
would come into play instead of an Automobile Policy.
There is one insurance adjuster for each insurance
policy involved in the accident. So if you are the driver of
your car in a single vehicle accident, only one policy and
one adjuster are required. If you are involved in a multi
car accident in which each car is borrow by its driver,
there will potentially be twice as many adjusters as
there are cars in the accident.
The job of the adjuster, along with his supervisors, is to
act as the decision maker for the insurance company.
From the time of the accident to the payment of a claim
several decisions must be made.
The adjuster decides the following in this order: Is the
policy on which the claim is made in force? Is the car
involved insured by the adjuster’s company? Does any
other insurance cover the car? If there is no insurance
on the car, does the driver have insurance with the
adjusters company? If the adjuster’s company insures
either the car or the driver (in cases where there is no
insurance on the car) then the adjuster asks: What
happened in the accident and how much responsibility
can be put on each person involved? What damages
have been done to property and what injuries has
anyone sustained? What can be done to repair the
damages for the least expense or replace property if
that would cost less? What can be done to pay the
least amount to a person who has become injured?
Getting from the first question to the last can take as
little as three hours or as long as four years. As an
adjuster, this writer once received a claim at one o’
clock in the afternoon from a policyholder driving her
own vehicle. Although she did not know the name of
the pedestrian she had hit in a crosswalk, I was able to
track the person down and give them a nominal
amount of money to close their claim before the end of
the day.
The policy holder later complained that money had
been paid. She wanted to do nothing until the company
received a complaint. This showed her
misunderstanding of the priority of the insurance
company.
The company would prefer to pay a small amount and
have the matter closed. What the company fears is a
lingering claim.
There are two reasons for this fear. First an open claim
requires the company to hold money in reserve which
can not collect interest. Second while a claim is open it
tends to get more expensive because an injured
person can do two things. The injured person can
assess their need for more treatment and can seek out
the only method of forcing the insurance company to
make a payment they do not want to make: the court
system. Since an attorney is an individual’s guide to
the court system the insurance company wants to settle
a claim quickly before an injured party seeks out the
advice of an attorney.
The first question: is the policy in question in force? In
the 1970’s, insurance companies took weeks to
answer this question. The information about a policy
(whether it was paid for and still in force) was kept in a
central office servicing 5 to 10 claims offices. Someone
at the central office had to look for the record of the
policy and determine whether it was in force at the time
of the accident. Doing this for a large number of claims
required large amounts of information handled by a
great deal of people who had to be paid and
compensated. Eliminating those people would save
huge amounts of money. This is the reason insurance
companies eagerly acquired computers. As the 70’s
became the 80’s the information on policies began to
move faster, so that in 10 years the process when from
averaging 10 days to averaging ten seconds using
medium sized computers with “dumb terminals.”.
The next question for the adjuster: is the car insured by
the adjusters company? The reason that this is the
next questions is a simple adjuster axiom, “insurance
follows the car.” If you loan your vehicle to a friend and
the friend hits a mailbox or runs down a pedestrian on
a sidewalk, your friend is responsible for those
damages. However, assuming you have insurance on
the vehicle, your insurance will pay for the mailbox or
compensate the injured pedestrian. This is because
your policy says that an insured person includes
anyone whom you loan the car to temporarily. My
favorite example is the two year old boy who likes to
turn the steering wheel and one day moves the shifter
sending the car into traffic or a brook. He is covered
because another way your policy defines an insured
driver is any resident relative.
If the answer to the second question is that the adjuster’
s company does not insure the vehicle there could still
be coverage because the company insures the driver.
When you rent or borrow a vehicle your insurance
covers you because the policy says you are covered
while using a similar temporary automobile not owned
by you. Notice how this excludes a vehicle that you own
and decided not to insure. (You have a limited amount
of days to tell your insurance company about an
automobile you have acquired.)
Once the correct policy is identified and the question of
coverage is answered with a “yes,” the adjuster moves
on to the question of what percentage of liability is on
his insured driver. In NH, in a two car accident in which
each driver is 50% at fault, each is entitled to be paid
50% of their damage and owes 50% of the others
damage. If the scales are tipped just a little so that one
driver is 49% at fault and the other is 51% at fault then
the driver who is more at fault pays that percentage and
the party less at fault pays nothing. As you might guess
a major insurance carrier can save hundreds of
millions, perhaps even billions, a year by having its
adjusters find reasons to pay only 90% or 75% of most
of their liability policy claims.
How can the company arrange to pay just 95 and 75
percent of claims that seem so obviously the fault of
their insured? Answer: Adjuster Investigations! When
the adjuster calls on the telephone to ask you what
happened, often recording the conversation, the
adjuster is listening for some words from you to pin you
with liability.
Take the example of the accident that seems to be
clearly the fault of one driver because they did
something they should not have done. Watch how the
insurance company can use your own words to save
money at your expense.
Mr. Allfarm needs to take a left from a busy street into
the store parking lot at the side of the road. You are
traveling in the opposite direct and want to go beyond
the same store. Mr. Allfarm turns putting his vehicle
across your lane and headed into the parking lot of the
store. You apply your brakes but there is not enough
time to avoid Mr. Allfarm’s vehicle so the front of your car
hits his side of his.
Mr. Allfarm’s adjuster calls you the next day to talk about
the accident. You tell the adjuster you saw Mr. Allfarm’s
car when it was across the road, you were about three
car lengths away, there is nothing wrong with you car’s
brakes, and you were going about 35mph.
Naturally, you expect Mr. Allfarm’s insurance to pay for
all of the damages to your car, the bills from the
ambulance ride, your lost time at work and for your
pain. Unfortunately, when next you hear from Mr.
Allfarm’s adjuster he offers you just 75% of your
damages. The reason, the adjuster tells you, is that
you are 25% at fault due to the fact that you had an
improper lookout, and were going over the speed limit.
The adjuster’s argument is that you did not see the
other car at the moment it was turning. If you had seen
it, you might have braked earlier and avoided the
accident. Additionally, had you traveled the speed limit
of 30mph you might have avoided the accident.
The adjuster has put no words in your mouth.
However, the truth is probably closer to the fact that you
see cars coming in the opposite direction without
making note of them. It was not until Mr. Allfarm began
turning that you made a mental note of him.
Unfortunately, you didn’t say it quit like that while being
recorded for the insurance company records. You said,
“I first saw him when he was across my lane.” The
speed you were traveling was over the speed limit but
the fact may be that your speed was below the safe
common speed of traffic there.
You know intuitively that the accident was not your fault
but the adjuster has a job to do and not properly
advocating for yourself or hiring a lawyer to advocate for
you can cost you money.
The adjuster will also want to know about damages.
There are property damages and personal injury
damages.
Insurance companies put a lot of effort into figuring out
how to fix the parts of a car instead of replacing them
and paying the least when the entire car needs to be
replaced. Replacing the car is what is called “a total
loss.”
Insurance companies do not want to pay extra money
for a name brand part and generally they do not have
to. However, they are required to make sure you are
returned to the same condition as before the accident.
The non-brand name parts are called “after market
parts.” A company other than Ford makes a front fender
for your Mustang. You are under no obligation to accept
an after market part if it is inferior. Of course you
probably don’t know if it is inferior or not. Paying an
attorney to figure it out would be a waist of money even
if you found an attorney who knew the difference. Your
best bet is to use a body shop that guarantees its own
work. They will speak up about a poor quality part if
they know it will come back to them when it fails.
The insurance companies deal with injuries in a
passive aggressive manner. Despite hearing the
same symptom resulting from the same types of
accidents the adjuster can not give you the advice of
going to the emergency room or following up with your
doctor.
They also will not tell you that your compensation from
them will be calculated based on whether you go to the
emergency room and follow up with your doctor. The
adjuster will listen nicely to your complaints and
personalize the company in your mind but will never let
you know the fact that what you tell him is irrelevant, and
how the company will evaluate the value of your injury
will have nothing to do with humanitarian impulses. If
you say you are in pain to the adjuster it is
meaningless. The adjuster could know from speaking
to you that you were in pain for a year but given that fact
no consideration when he evaluates the claim.
Here is why:
In the 1990’s an Austrian company developed a
software called Colossus. The stated purpose of this
software was to bring about an equivalence among all
the many payments made for injuries even though they
were the same. An insurance company in New
Hampshire might see one broken leg per year. Yet the
payment made could vary from $20,000 to $75,000 for
broken legs. With Colossus, those who got
settlements for far more than others would now get
less but at the same time those who got too little would
in the future get more. The idea was based on
fairness. Everyone receiving a fair amount despite
having different adjusters, or other prejudicial factors.
However, with a few years, Colossus went from fair to
sinister. The software started out with the companies
own data about what was paid for an injury. It then
created a range for a fair settlement. A broken leg
might be given a value of between $34,000 and
$43,000. The adjusters were then required to settle
cases only within that range.
Once the insurance companies gained control of their
adjuster’s with the use of computers, the companies
became interested in making the average payment
decrease. Since theoretically, the software corrected
adjuster’s who in the past paid too little as well as
those who paid to much, the average payment would
remain the same. However, the software company
gave the insurance companies a way to ignore the data
entered and reduce the range. Thus, although the
smiling friendly adjuster believed he was giving an
amount based on past experience, in fact it was a little
less than average. An each year the insurance
companies try to get away with a little less still. For
large insurance companies the software has allowed
them first to unify payments then begin to reduce them.
Now the theoretical insurance company that once
voluntarily paid $75,000 for a broken leg now routinely
pays $28,000.
The adjuster uses the software by first entering the data
about your case. The adjuster tells the software the
date of the accident, the dates of treatment, if you went
to the emergency room, if there was an ambulance,
which parts of your body were injured, the diagnosis
code for your injury or injuries, was there physical
therapy, for how long did you used a cane or walker,
how long where you confined to bed, what activities you
participated in regularly before the accident and which
you could not do after, and the date of your last
treatment.
Those who suffer personal injury, need to realize the
most important question the adjuster will never ask you
directly is: was there a gap in treatment? In other
words, was there a time in which you received no
treatment between two periods in which you did. A gap
reduces the amount they are willing to pay.
Knowing the tricks of the insurance companies, as I do,
gives me a tool to help bring the insurance adjuster to
the same conclusion about the value of a case as me.
Obviously, my clients benefit from that. However, the
most important tool in receiving the full amount of what
you are owed is a willingness to go to court to force the
insurance company to pay the top dollar.
Success in the court room is like the success of a
professional football team in the Super Bowl. The
evidence to be presented to the court is like the team a
coach puts on the field. Evidence includes the people
saying how the accident happened to establish liability;
doctors telling the court about your injury and how it
resulted from the accident’ and; medical bills and
records to support you and the doctor. The right
evidence must be acquired, it must be prepared to do
its job, it must be worked into the over all plan. This is
not something that is done in a week. The sooner an
injured party brings their case in the better the team that
can be prepared for the big day.
Taking the case to trial includes step a long the way
that require money, like speaking to an expert and
taking depositions from witnesses. It is economically
unproductive to bluff the insurance company into court.
The evidence must be in your favor or this money will
get spent only to see your case become weaker. Your
case needs an attorney from the beginning for the
same reasons that a team needs its coach in training
camp: planning. As a trial lawyer I plan for the day of
trial from the moment someone becomes a client. To
do anything less is to allow the insurance company to
control you compensation after its insured needlessly
controlled your life.
Dennis C. Hogan concentrates his practice on criminal,
personal injury, and bankruptcy law.
Dennis C. Hogan's career handling injury matters
began with the injury claims office of a major insurance
company. After a dozen years learning the insurance
company's methods, Attorney Hogan attended Franklin
Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire. Eighty
percent of his practice is personal injury and the rest
involves, criminal and bankruptcy law.
Attorney Hogan said, " I want to provide personal
service so clients feel the compassion I have for their
case. To do that I use the latest computer technology to
organize the firm and the latest telephone technology to
allow clients to contact me."
The firm's mission is to provide individuals or small
business owners with quality legal services and
personal attention. The methods of operation to
achieve this mission are first to care about people, and
second to utilize the latest cost effective technology for
organizing and communicating.
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You need a Personal Injury Attorney.
Former Insurance insider now working for you as an
injury lawyer.
Dennis Hogan is a personal injury attorney with five
years experience. He has twelve years experience
as an injury insurance adjuster before law school. An
insurance company is working from the first call to
find a way not to pay the claim or to reduce the
amount paid if a payment is required. Dennis Hogan
knows from personal experience that an adjuster
can reduced the value of your injury claim by asking
simple, polite questions.
An insurance adjuster is not required to inform you
that what you say will be used against you the way an
arresting police officer does. Without the help of a
personal injury attorney you may say things that
unfairly damage your case.
The purpose of the law is to allow your personal
injury case to provide you with a payment that
compensates you for your medical bills, lost wages,
and pain and suffering.
You need a Criminal Law Attorney.
When the police arrest you they are required to notify
you of your right to remain silent before questioning
you. They tell you that anything you say can and will
be used against you in a court of law.
What they don’t tell you is that you have the right to
remain silent before they arrest you but they are
allowed to ask many things before they choose to
arrest you. This is just one of many things the police
do that an attorney can protect you from when the
police begin investigating.
If the police are investigation you, they rarely look to
absolve you. They are working to convict you. You
need a criminal attorney to protect your rights.
You need a Bankruptcy Attorney
Bankruptcy maybe what you need to regain control of
your financial situation. Speak to a bankruptcy
attorney before you use your 401(k). If you think you
have reached that point, Attorney Dennis Hogan is
available to discuss the situation and your options.
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for
bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.
Domestic Law
Divorce, Child Support, Parenting Plans,
Custody
You need a Domestic Law Attorney
Divorce, child custody and related matters are about
emotions and about finances. You need an attorney
that can guide you through the law and fight against
being taken advantage of but also negotiate a
settlement when a fair alternative is possible. Dennis
Hogan is not an attorney who creates fights to avoid
agreement and thus create legal fees. He is an
attorney who is ready to fight but remains
unemotional in order to look for an opportunity for
agreement. You will be comfortable knowing that the
interest of both your case and your wallet are being
looked after.
experienced a sudden lose of control at the hands of
someone who had no right to take control from you. As
an injured person in an automobile or other accident
there is one person you are certain to encounter that
has a great deal of influence over how or whether you
will return to your pre-accident condition. That person
is the insurance adjuster sometimes called a claim
representative or claims adjuster.
You know intuitively that the accident was not your fault
but the adjuster has a job to do for an insurance
company. You give the adjuster and the insurance
company he or she works for control over your
compensation if you fail to hire an injury attorney .
Since accidents can cause a great deal of damage to a
person’s health and property, a great deal of money
can be spent in treating injuries and repairing or
replacing property. Not many drivers have the cash to
spare in order to pay for the damage or treat the injury
that they could cause with their automobile. Even those
with the cash find it wise to spend a known small
amount of money instead of risking that they may lose
their cash paying for damages they cause. That is the
nature of a liability insurance policy which comes within
every automobile insurance policy. The policy holder
has given money to the insurance carrier in return for a
promise by the insurance company to pay for injury or
damage, under certain circumstances, for which the
policyholder becomes liable.
Liability policies are also included within a Renter’s
Policy (which you think of as paying for stolen or fire
damaged personal property in your apartment), a
Homeowners Policy (which includes coverage for
personal property and the building which you own) and
an Umbrella policy (which increases the liability policy
limits of the Automobile and Renter’s or Homeowners
policies).
If you are physically injured by direct contact with
another person their Renter’s or Homeowner’s policy
would come into play instead of an Automobile Policy.
There is one insurance adjuster for each insurance
policy involved in the accident. So if you are the driver of
your car in a single vehicle accident, only one policy and
one adjuster are required. If you are involved in a multi
car accident in which each car is borrow by its driver,
there will potentially be twice as many adjusters as
there are cars in the accident.
The job of the adjuster, along with his supervisors, is to
act as the decision maker for the insurance company.
From the time of the accident to the payment of a claim
several decisions must be made.
The adjuster decides the following in this order: Is the
policy on which the claim is made in force? Is the car
involved insured by the adjuster’s company? Does any
other insurance cover the car? If there is no insurance
on the car, does the driver have insurance with the
adjusters company? If the adjuster’s company insures
either the car or the driver (in cases where there is no
insurance on the car) then the adjuster asks: What
happened in the accident and how much responsibility
can be put on each person involved? What damages
have been done to property and what injuries has
anyone sustained? What can be done to repair the
damages for the least expense or replace property if
that would cost less? What can be done to pay the
least amount to a person who has become injured?
Getting from the first question to the last can take as
little as three hours or as long as four years. As an
adjuster, this writer once received a claim at one o’
clock in the afternoon from a policyholder driving her
own vehicle. Although she did not know the name of
the pedestrian she had hit in a crosswalk, I was able to
track the person down and give them a nominal
amount of money to close their claim before the end of
the day.
The policy holder later complained that money had
been paid. She wanted to do nothing until the company
received a complaint. This showed her
misunderstanding of the priority of the insurance
company.
The company would prefer to pay a small amount and
have the matter closed. What the company fears is a
lingering claim.
There are two reasons for this fear. First an open claim
requires the company to hold money in reserve which
can not collect interest. Second while a claim is open it
tends to get more expensive because an injured
person can do two things. The injured person can
assess their need for more treatment and can seek out
the only method of forcing the insurance company to
make a payment they do not want to make: the court
system. Since an attorney is an individual’s guide to
the court system the insurance company wants to settle
a claim quickly before an injured party seeks out the
advice of an attorney.
The first question: is the policy in question in force? In
the 1970’s, insurance companies took weeks to
answer this question. The information about a policy
(whether it was paid for and still in force) was kept in a
central office servicing 5 to 10 claims offices. Someone
at the central office had to look for the record of the
policy and determine whether it was in force at the time
of the accident. Doing this for a large number of claims
required large amounts of information handled by a
great deal of people who had to be paid and
compensated. Eliminating those people would save
huge amounts of money. This is the reason insurance
companies eagerly acquired computers. As the 70’s
became the 80’s the information on policies began to
move faster, so that in 10 years the process when from
averaging 10 days to averaging ten seconds using
medium sized computers with “dumb terminals.”.
The next question for the adjuster: is the car insured by
the adjusters company? The reason that this is the
next questions is a simple adjuster axiom, “insurance
follows the car.” If you loan your vehicle to a friend and
the friend hits a mailbox or runs down a pedestrian on
a sidewalk, your friend is responsible for those
damages. However, assuming you have insurance on
the vehicle, your insurance will pay for the mailbox or
compensate the injured pedestrian. This is because
your policy says that an insured person includes
anyone whom you loan the car to temporarily. My
favorite example is the two year old boy who likes to
turn the steering wheel and one day moves the shifter
sending the car into traffic or a brook. He is covered
because another way your policy defines an insured
driver is any resident relative.
If the answer to the second question is that the adjuster’
s company does not insure the vehicle there could still
be coverage because the company insures the driver.
When you rent or borrow a vehicle your insurance
covers you because the policy says you are covered
while using a similar temporary automobile not owned
by you. Notice how this excludes a vehicle that you own
and decided not to insure. (You have a limited amount
of days to tell your insurance company about an
automobile you have acquired.)
Once the correct policy is identified and the question of
coverage is answered with a “yes,” the adjuster moves
on to the question of what percentage of liability is on
his insured driver. In NH, in a two car accident in which
each driver is 50% at fault, each is entitled to be paid
50% of their damage and owes 50% of the others
damage. If the scales are tipped just a little so that one
driver is 49% at fault and the other is 51% at fault then
the driver who is more at fault pays that percentage and
the party less at fault pays nothing. As you might guess
a major insurance carrier can save hundreds of
millions, perhaps even billions, a year by having its
adjusters find reasons to pay only 90% or 75% of most
of their liability policy claims.
How can the company arrange to pay just 95 and 75
percent of claims that seem so obviously the fault of
their insured? Answer: Adjuster Investigations! When
the adjuster calls on the telephone to ask you what
happened, often recording the conversation, the
adjuster is listening for some words from you to pin you
with liability.
Take the example of the accident that seems to be
clearly the fault of one driver because they did
something they should not have done. Watch how the
insurance company can use your own words to save
money at your expense.
Mr. Allfarm needs to take a left from a busy street into
the store parking lot at the side of the road. You are
traveling in the opposite direct and want to go beyond
the same store. Mr. Allfarm turns putting his vehicle
across your lane and headed into the parking lot of the
store. You apply your brakes but there is not enough
time to avoid Mr. Allfarm’s vehicle so the front of your car
hits his side of his.
Mr. Allfarm’s adjuster calls you the next day to talk about
the accident. You tell the adjuster you saw Mr. Allfarm’s
car when it was across the road, you were about three
car lengths away, there is nothing wrong with you car’s
brakes, and you were going about 35mph.
Naturally, you expect Mr. Allfarm’s insurance to pay for
all of the damages to your car, the bills from the
ambulance ride, your lost time at work and for your
pain. Unfortunately, when next you hear from Mr.
Allfarm’s adjuster he offers you just 75% of your
damages. The reason, the adjuster tells you, is that
you are 25% at fault due to the fact that you had an
improper lookout, and were going over the speed limit.
The adjuster’s argument is that you did not see the
other car at the moment it was turning. If you had seen
it, you might have braked earlier and avoided the
accident. Additionally, had you traveled the speed limit
of 30mph you might have avoided the accident.
The adjuster has put no words in your mouth.
However, the truth is probably closer to the fact that you
see cars coming in the opposite direction without
making note of them. It was not until Mr. Allfarm began
turning that you made a mental note of him.
Unfortunately, you didn’t say it quit like that while being
recorded for the insurance company records. You said,
“I first saw him when he was across my lane.” The
speed you were traveling was over the speed limit but
the fact may be that your speed was below the safe
common speed of traffic there.
You know intuitively that the accident was not your fault
but the adjuster has a job to do and not properly
advocating for yourself or hiring a lawyer to advocate for
you can cost you money.
The adjuster will also want to know about damages.
There are property damages and personal injury
damages.
Insurance companies put a lot of effort into figuring out
how to fix the parts of a car instead of replacing them
and paying the least when the entire car needs to be
replaced. Replacing the car is what is called “a total
loss.”
Insurance companies do not want to pay extra money
for a name brand part and generally they do not have
to. However, they are required to make sure you are
returned to the same condition as before the accident.
The non-brand name parts are called “after market
parts.” A company other than Ford makes a front fender
for your Mustang. You are under no obligation to accept
an after market part if it is inferior. Of course you
probably don’t know if it is inferior or not. Paying an
attorney to figure it out would be a waist of money even
if you found an attorney who knew the difference. Your
best bet is to use a body shop that guarantees its own
work. They will speak up about a poor quality part if
they know it will come back to them when it fails.
The insurance companies deal with injuries in a
passive aggressive manner. Despite hearing the
same symptom resulting from the same types of
accidents the adjuster can not give you the advice of
going to the emergency room or following up with your
doctor.
They also will not tell you that your compensation from
them will be calculated based on whether you go to the
emergency room and follow up with your doctor. The
adjuster will listen nicely to your complaints and
personalize the company in your mind but will never let
you know the fact that what you tell him is irrelevant, and
how the company will evaluate the value of your injury
will have nothing to do with humanitarian impulses. If
you say you are in pain to the adjuster it is
meaningless. The adjuster could know from speaking
to you that you were in pain for a year but given that fact
no consideration when he evaluates the claim.
Here is why:
In the 1990’s an Austrian company developed a
software called Colossus. The stated purpose of this
software was to bring about an equivalence among all
the many payments made for injuries even though they
were the same. An insurance company in New
Hampshire might see one broken leg per year. Yet the
payment made could vary from $20,000 to $75,000 for
broken legs. With Colossus, those who got
settlements for far more than others would now get
less but at the same time those who got too little would
in the future get more. The idea was based on
fairness. Everyone receiving a fair amount despite
having different adjusters, or other prejudicial factors.
However, with a few years, Colossus went from fair to
sinister. The software started out with the companies
own data about what was paid for an injury. It then
created a range for a fair settlement. A broken leg
might be given a value of between $34,000 and
$43,000. The adjusters were then required to settle
cases only within that range.
Once the insurance companies gained control of their
adjuster’s with the use of computers, the companies
became interested in making the average payment
decrease. Since theoretically, the software corrected
adjuster’s who in the past paid too little as well as
those who paid to much, the average payment would
remain the same. However, the software company
gave the insurance companies a way to ignore the data
entered and reduce the range. Thus, although the
smiling friendly adjuster believed he was giving an
amount based on past experience, in fact it was a little
less than average. An each year the insurance
companies try to get away with a little less still. For
large insurance companies the software has allowed
them first to unify payments then begin to reduce them.
Now the theoretical insurance company that once
voluntarily paid $75,000 for a broken leg now routinely
pays $28,000.
The adjuster uses the software by first entering the data
about your case. The adjuster tells the software the
date of the accident, the dates of treatment, if you went
to the emergency room, if there was an ambulance,
which parts of your body were injured, the diagnosis
code for your injury or injuries, was there physical
therapy, for how long did you used a cane or walker,
how long where you confined to bed, what activities you
participated in regularly before the accident and which
you could not do after, and the date of your last
treatment.
Those who suffer personal injury, need to realize the
most important question the adjuster will never ask you
directly is: was there a gap in treatment? In other
words, was there a time in which you received no
treatment between two periods in which you did. A gap
reduces the amount they are willing to pay.
Knowing the tricks of the insurance companies, as I do,
gives me a tool to help bring the insurance adjuster to
the same conclusion about the value of a case as me.
Obviously, my clients benefit from that. However, the
most important tool in receiving the full amount of what
you are owed is a willingness to go to court to force the
insurance company to pay the top dollar.
Success in the court room is like the success of a
professional football team in the Super Bowl. The
evidence to be presented to the court is like the team a
coach puts on the field. Evidence includes the people
saying how the accident happened to establish liability;
doctors telling the court about your injury and how it
resulted from the accident’ and; medical bills and
records to support you and the doctor. The right
evidence must be acquired, it must be prepared to do
its job, it must be worked into the over all plan. This is
not something that is done in a week. The sooner an
injured party brings their case in the better the team that
can be prepared for the big day.
Taking the case to trial includes step a long the way
that require money, like speaking to an expert and
taking depositions from witnesses. It is economically
unproductive to bluff the insurance company into court.
The evidence must be in your favor or this money will
get spent only to see your case become weaker. Your
case needs an attorney from the beginning for the
same reasons that a team needs its coach in training
camp: planning. As a trial lawyer I plan for the day of
trial from the moment someone becomes a client. To
do anything less is to allow the insurance company to
control you compensation after its insured needlessly
controlled your life.
Dennis C. Hogan concentrates his practice on criminal,
personal injury, and bankruptcy law.
Dennis C. Hogan's career handling injury matters
began with the injury claims office of a major insurance
company. After a dozen years learning the insurance
company's methods, Attorney Hogan attended Franklin
Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire. Eighty
percent of his practice is personal injury and the rest
involves, criminal and bankruptcy law.
Attorney Hogan said, " I want to provide personal
service so clients feel the compassion I have for their
case. To do that I use the latest computer technology to
organize the firm and the latest telephone technology to
allow clients to contact me."
The firm's mission is to provide individuals or small
business owners with quality legal services and
personal attention. The methods of operation to
achieve this mission are first to care about people, and
second to utilize the latest cost effective technology for
organizing and communicating.
Injury
Bankruptcy Criminal
Automobile Stop
Harassment Felony
Accidents Chapter
7 Misdemeanor
Animal Bites Chapter
13 Violations
Wrongful Death Get
Advice Drug Cases
Slip and
Falls
Motor Vehicle Cases
Scars
You need a Personal Injury Attorney.
Former Insurance insider now working for you as an
injury lawyer.
Dennis Hogan is a personal injury attorney with five
years experience. He has twelve years experience
as an injury insurance adjuster before law school. An
insurance company is working from the first call to
find a way not to pay the claim or to reduce the
amount paid if a payment is required. Dennis Hogan
knows from personal experience that an adjuster
can reduced the value of your injury claim by asking
simple, polite questions.
An insurance adjuster is not required to inform you
that what you say will be used against you the way an
arresting police officer does. Without the help of a
personal injury attorney you may say things that
unfairly damage your case.
The purpose of the law is to allow your personal
injury case to provide you with a payment that
compensates you for your medical bills, lost wages,
and pain and suffering.
You need a Criminal Law Attorney.
When the police arrest you they are required to notify
you of your right to remain silent before questioning
you. They tell you that anything you say can and will
be used against you in a court of law.
What they don’t tell you is that you have the right to
remain silent before they arrest you but they are
allowed to ask many things before they choose to
arrest you. This is just one of many things the police
do that an attorney can protect you from when the
police begin investigating.
If the police are investigation you, they rarely look to
absolve you. They are working to convict you. You
need a criminal attorney to protect your rights.
You need a Bankruptcy Attorney
Bankruptcy maybe what you need to regain control of
your financial situation. Speak to a bankruptcy
attorney before you use your 401(k). If you think you
have reached that point, Attorney Dennis Hogan is
available to discuss the situation and your options.
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for
bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.
Domestic Law
Divorce, Child Support, Parenting Plans,
Custody
You need a Domestic Law Attorney
Divorce, child custody and related matters are about
emotions and about finances. You need an attorney
that can guide you through the law and fight against
being taken advantage of but also negotiate a
settlement when a fair alternative is possible. Dennis
Hogan is not an attorney who creates fights to avoid
agreement and thus create legal fees. He is an
attorney who is ready to fight but remains
unemotional in order to look for an opportunity for
agreement. You will be comfortable knowing that the
interest of both your case and your wallet are being
looked after.
Receiving proper compensation should not
be left to luck or a hope that the other side will
put your interests ahead of their own. Luck
may not go your way and the other side will
protect their own interests. 603-886-8700
Law Office of Dennis C. Hogan, PLLC
provides its clients with the following services:
be left to luck or a hope that the other side will
put your interests ahead of their own. Luck
may not go your way and the other side will
protect their own interests. 603-886-8700
Law Office of Dennis C. Hogan, PLLC
provides its clients with the following services:
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Law Office of Dennis C. Hogan, PLLC
Longtime Insurance "Insider"
Now Working For You!
The Law Office of Dennis C. Hogan, PLLC has a
passion for helping the underdog! Attorney
Hogan spent 12 years in an insurance company
so he knows what you are up against in
personal injury cases. You can put his expertise
on your side to get the compensation you
deserve.
Now Working For You!
The Law Office of Dennis C. Hogan, PLLC has a
passion for helping the underdog! Attorney
Hogan spent 12 years in an insurance company
so he knows what you are up against in
personal injury cases. You can put his expertise
on your side to get the compensation you
deserve.
Bankruptcy, Injury,
Criminal & Family Law
Criminal & Family Law
The Law Office of Dennis C. Hogan, PLLC works for individuals and small businesses
that have been wronged in some way.
If you have been injured in an accident or involved in a controversy that in some way
affected your pocket book, you need to speak with a lawyer who will focus on, and
solve, your problem.
Attorney Dennis C. Hogan focuses on:
personal injury 70%,
Bankruptcy 15%
family & criminal 15%
This means Attorney Hogan handles personal injury cases involving injuries from
motorcycles, automobiles, animals, unsafe premises and Worker's Compensation
cases. Attorney Hogan also handles bankruptcy, divorce, child custody, DUI and other
criminal matters.
that have been wronged in some way.
If you have been injured in an accident or involved in a controversy that in some way
affected your pocket book, you need to speak with a lawyer who will focus on, and
solve, your problem.
Attorney Dennis C. Hogan focuses on:
personal injury 70%,
Bankruptcy 15%
family & criminal 15%
This means Attorney Hogan handles personal injury cases involving injuries from
motorcycles, automobiles, animals, unsafe premises and Worker's Compensation
cases. Attorney Hogan also handles bankruptcy, divorce, child custody, DUI and other
criminal matters.
Call us at 603-886-8700
Handling Injury matters since 1987: first as an
adjuster now as an attorney
adjuster now as an attorney
Handling Injury matters since 1987: first as an adjuster now as an
attorney
attorney