Thank you to everyone that put in their edits and comments on the cover. The Georgia Guide to Buying Car Insurance and Handling Car Accident Claims has gone to press and will be up for sale on Amazon just after the New Year! I put a lot of work into this guide and I think it will really help out Georgia Consumers.
The Georgia Car Accident Book
Table of Contents
Why I Wrote this Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Professional Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Disclaimer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Part 1: Buying Georgia Automobile Insurance
Chapter 1 | Understand the Types of
Insurance Available on an Auto Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 2 | Determine What Coverage You Have. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 3 | Get a Quote on Increasing Your
Insurance Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Chapter 4 | Compare Your Insurance
Company’s Rates and Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Part 2: Dealing with a Car Accident in Georgia
Chapter 5 | Quick Do’s and Don’ts after a
Georgia Car Accident. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chapter 6 | Action Items after a Car Accident. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 7 | How to Read a Georgia Accident
Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Chapter 8 | Assess Insurance Coverage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Chapter 9 | Property Damage Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 10 | Understanding Injury Cases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter 11 | “What is my Auto Collision
Case Worth?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
vi
Chapter 12 | “Do I Need a Lawyer to Handle
My Case?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Chapter 13 | Putting Together a Demand
Package. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 14 | Negotiating Your Claim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Part 3: Hiring a Lawyer
Chapter 15 | “How Do I Choose a Good Lawyer?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Chapter 16 | “How Long Will It Take a
Lawyer to Resolve My Car Accident Case?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Chapter 17 | The Deadline—the Statute of
Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chapter 18 | “Should I Just Pay the Traffic Ticket?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapter 19 | Who Pays for the Medical Bills
after the Crash?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Chapter 20 | “Why is the Hospital Trying to
Send the Bill to the Other Car
Insurance Company instead of to
My Health Insurance?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapter 21 | Understanding Georgia Medical
Liens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Chapter 22 | Entities that Will Try to Take
Away Parts of Your Settlement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Chapter 23 | What to Do If You Caused the Crash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Exhibit A | Wage and Salary Verification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Exhibit B | Sample Insurance Settlement Demand Letter. . . . . . . . . 98
Exhibit C | Settlement Demand Worksheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Exhibit D | Medical Records Request Sample Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Exhibit E | Hospital Insurance Payment Sample Letter . . . . . . . . . 104