Please Explain Contributary Negligence In Personal Injury Accidents And Why Is It Important To Me?
Even if an accident of injury was somewhat your fault you still may have a claim based on the concept of “comparative negligence” or “contributory negligence”. The term “contributory negligence” is used to describe the actions of an injured person that may have also caused that person’s own injuries.
For example, a person who turns a head to a “Caution - Wet Floor” sign and slips and falls in the supermarket may be found to have been unmindful and at fault for any injuries suffered. “Contributory negligence” can prevent a person from mustering any monies to compensate for injuries suffered, if that person’s carelessness is 51% more than that of the defendant or defendants in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has trashed the concept of contributory negligence altogether and instead use the concept of “comparative negligence. The term “comparative negligence: means that the fault of all parties is studied against and the amount of the recovery for damages sustained by the injured victim is reduced by the percentage of his or her own fault. In this way, each person is held accountable for the extent of damages that they caused.” If you are injured by the negligent action of another individual, but you contributed to the accident by your failure to exercise reasonably prudent care, you are guilty of contributory negligence. You may also be guilty of a form of contributory negligence if you voluntarily open yourself to danger - by riding a ferris wheel without wearing a seat belt, or working with a neighbor’s chain saw or other dangerous tool if you’re inexperienced or fail to use a safety guard. This is known as assumption of risk.
Personal insurance providers going after injury settlements I came across an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal that was posted on MSN.com. The title was one that would grab the eyes of any plaintiff injury law firm “Employers Grab Accident Victims’ Cash” written by Vanessa Fuhrmans. I am not surprised that this article had a 4.58 rating spread across the nearly 3000 readers that read it. Personally I felt it deserved a rating of 5, it was exactly right.
The large insurance companies can’t seem to stop trying to squeeze every last dime out of personal injury victims. It cited the behemoth, Walmart, going after a brain damaged girl’s personal injury settlement of $700,000 and demanding repayment of $470,000. What makes it ridiculous is that her personal injury settlement only netted $417,000 after fees and other medical bills were paid. This money was put in a trust to take care of her medical needs, however, the behemoth Walmart, did not care and felt they were in line to get all their money back plus legal fees. They sued and won the case and feel no conscience or guilt from taking everything from this poor personal injury victim that has no quality of life and is relegated to depend upon Medicaid and Social Security.
When will the large insurance companies stop sucking the blood from personal injury victims and finally learn to do what is right as a good incorporated citizen. I contemplate if we will see this in our lifetime? Vanessa Fuhrmans brings out astounding revelations that most people do not know about their medical providers and how they can be in for a rude awakening, if they use their personal health insurance for injuries that occurred in a personal injury accident, should their insurance company decide to come after them for reimbursement. According to the article, some business health plans reserve the right to recoup the medical expenses it paid for someone’s treatment if the person also collects damages in an injury suit. This is becoming a growing trend around the country, as more employer health plan law suits are materializing.
Insurance companies and large corporations try to characterize trial lawyers, especially in my state of Minnesota where the Minnesota personal injury attorney is portrayed as greedy a individual only after the almighty dollar. They should look at themselves and feel ashamed of themselves. After reading this article, I have a new admiration citizen. Personal injury attorneys, stand up and take a bow for not throwing in the towel to these immoral, greedy and money hungry insurance companies and corporations that only care about outrageous profits and finding new ways to exploit the little person.