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If you have recently been in a car wreck, it’s important to understand the different types of coverage you have available under your Tennessee auto insurance policy.

Either you’ve paid for insurance for years and now you finally need to use it, or you want to know about the insurance for the person who caused the wreck and your personal injuries. Most injury victims involved in a car wreck think there are two types of auto insurance: liability insurance or “full coverage.” But what is full coverage, exactly? It’s actually not even a thing. It’s a made-up phrase that refers to a combination of different types of insurance coverage.

The quickest way to figure out what coverage you have under your Tennessee auto insurance policy is to look at a copy of the Declarations Page (i.e., Dec Page) of your policy. The Declarations Page is sent to you with each policy renewal and shows what type of coverage you have for each vehicle insured under the policy. It also shows the cost of each type of coverage. The Declarations Page is the most important part of your insurance policy, because:

• it dictates the main coverages that lead to how your car wreck claim is paid
• it states what the limits are for each section of the policy
• it includes the premiums charged for the coverage you have purchased

Below is a breakdown of the types of coverage and limits shown on our sample Declarations Page:

• Types of Mandatory Coverage and Limits:

Bodily Injury Liability:

According to Tennessee law, every driver must have a minimum of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. Bodily Injury Liability insurance pays for injuries you cause to another driver if you are at-fault in the accident. Bodily Injury does not cover the medical costs of injuries you may get in the accident. It is considered a third-party insurance, since it only covers other drivers and passengers (you’re the first-party). Our sample Declarations Page has bodily injury coverage of $100,000/$200,000. The first number ($100,000) is the amount covered for one injured person in the accident, while the second number ($200,000) represents the maximum amount that can be recovered for all injured persons involved in the accident.

Property Damage Liability:

Tennessee law requires every driver to have a minimum of $15,000 for property damage per accident. Our sample Declarations Page has Property Damage Liability available of $50,000 per accident.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists liability coverage (UIM):

If you’re in an accident with another driver who doesn’t carry any or enough liability coverage, UIM coverage allows you and/or other individuals covered under your policy to still receive compensation for your damages. There are two categories of UIM coverage: Bodily Injury and Property Damage. Our sample Declarations Page has UIM Bodily Injury limits of $100,000/$200,000 and a limit of $25,000 for property damage.

Comprehensive:

Most injury victims do not know what comprehensive coverage means. Calling this type of coverage “comprehensive” is misleading. The Webster definition of comprehensive is “complete; including all or nearly all elements or aspects of something.” However, that is not what comprehensive means in your auto insurance policy. A lot of people mistakenly believe comprehensive coverage equals full coverage. This is wrong. Comprehensive coverage will pay to repair or replace your vehicle in the event of hail damage or a tree limb falling on your car (risks not involving an automobile collision). You’ll want to check the specific language in your policy to determine what types of events are covered by the comprehensive coverage provision in your policy. Comprehensive coverage pays to repair your vehicle, subject to a separate deductible. Our sample Declarations Page shows the policy includes comprehensive coverage subject to a $500 deductible.

Collision:

If you’re in an automobile accident, regardless of who is at fault, collision coverage provides protection to replace or repair your vehicle, subject to a deductible. Collision coverage may also come into play if there is a dispute in liability between your insurance company and the other person’s insurance company (e.g., a dispute about who was at fault for the wreck). If there is a dispute about fault, the other insurance company may refuse to have your vehicle fixed until depositions are taken and fault is determined. If you have collision coverage, it should pay to have your vehicle fixed while fault is being determined. Our sample Declaration Page shows this particular policy does have collision coverage subject to a $500 deductible.

Emergency Road Service:

Emergency road service coverage (also known as towing and labor, emergency repair service, motor club, or roadside assistance) provides on-the-spot assistance for various types of roadside emergencies. Typical emergency road services include flat tire repair/replacement, lock-out services, and gas delivery. Our sample Declarations Page has this coverage.

Rental Reimbursement:

This coverage will provide you with a rental car in the event you’re in a wreck, regardless of who caused the wreck.

Usually, your rental reimbursement coverage is triggered when:

1. You caused the wreck
2. There is a dispute about who caused the wreck
3. The at-fault party was uninsured

• Types of Optional Coverage and Limits:

Our sample Declarations Page shows the policy has rental reimbursement coverage of $30 per day, and caps out at $900 for each accident. Attorney Adrienne Waters Ogle is one of the founding partners at the law firm Ogle McCarter located in Sevierville, TN. Adrienne is a former insurance company attorney who uses her insider knowledge of the claims process to help injury victims recover the compensation they deserve. Contact us for more information about how to deal with the claims process following a car accident.

Everyone tells you to make sure you get the other driver’s insurance information when you’re involved in a car accident.

What happens when the other driver doesn’t have insurance? More importantly, what if the other driver is at fault and you suffer significant property damage or injury to your person as a result? How will you get the compensation you deserve? Tennessee ranks sixth in the nation for uninsured drivers. An estimated 20 percent of drivers are uninsured in Tennessee, meaning it is entirely possible that you could be involved in a collision with an uninsured motorist. It is important for all Tennessee drivers to understand what their options are in this situation.

The State’s financial responsibility law, T.C.A. 55-12-102(12), mandates Tennessee drivers have $25,000/$50,000 auto insurance coverage. If you and your family are hit by a driver with only minimum limits, the maximum their insurance carrier has to pay is $25,000 for one person and $50,000 for everyone hurt in the accident. This means if you are involved in an accident with a driver who only has minimum limits, the maximum amount all individuals injured in your vehicle combined can recover, regardless of the extent of the injuries, medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, scarring, etc. is $50,000.

One of the best ways to prepare for this situation is to prepare for it before it happens. Most car insurance companies offer what is called “uninsured” or “underinsured” motorist coverage. This kind of insurance is intended to compensate you when you are involved in a vehicle collision with an uninsured or underinsured motorist. It’s important for drivers in Tennessee to have this type of coverage to protect themselves and their families not only from uninsured drivers but also from drivers that only carry the minimum amount of auto insurance coverage.

If the other driver has insufficient coverage but your insurance coverage exceeds the amount of the at-fault driver’s insurance coverage, then you may recover the difference between the at-fault driver’s coverage and your own coverage under your uninsured motorist coverage with your automobile insurance carrier. For example, if the at-fault driver has minimum limits of $25,000 per person and you have limits of $100,000 per person, you may recover an additional $75,000 under your uninsured motorist coverage if you have $100,000 in damages. If the other driver (or the driver’s employer, if they were on the job at the time of the wreck) has significant personal finances, you may be able to recover from them directly.

When Does Uninsured Motorist Coverage Apply?

Most UM policies will cover injuries to:

• you, while driving or riding in your car or any car and while as a pedestrian
• any relative who lives with you while driving or riding in the vehicle listed in your policy
• anyone else riding in or driving your insured car, with your permission
• anyone riding in a car you are driving but do not own.

Hit by an Uninsured Motorist?

At Ogle McCarter Law Firm, we have experience representing a variety of individuals who are victims of accidents caused by uninsured and underinsured motorists. If you have been involved in an accident where the other driver cannot or will not compensate you, you have options and we can help.

Did you get enough sleep last night? The odds are that you didn’t. In today’s society, getting a full night’s sleep feels like a luxury.

The experts say that adults need at least seven hours of sleep a night in order to function properly the next day. If you are one of the lucky ones who gets this much sleep, you may be alert enough to watch out for the drivers who didn’t and are sharing the road with you.

Most people admit they have driven while tired

In 2018, AAA conducted a survey regarding drowsy driving. While most people agree that driving when you are too sleepy to do so safely is dangerous, nearly one-third admit to doing so at least once during the month before the survey. Making matters worse is the fact that some people who use sleep aids fail to follow the directions. Instead of making sure they get seven to eight hours of sleep to avoid being groggy, they get less than recommended and then drive.

Sometimes, you have no choice but to drive even though you didn’t get a good night’s sleep, but that doesn’t make it any less of a hazard to yourself and others. In fact, if you went 24 hours without sleep, your ability to drive safely would be the same as someone with a blood alcohol concentration of .10.

As you know, this is over Tennessee’s legal limit of .08. More than likely, you would never get behind the wheel with that much alcohol in your system. AAA discovered that around 9.5 percent of all accidents involve a drowsy driver. However, the statistics on this vary widely.

The other driver was too drowsy to drive

Often, even when you do what you can to remain alert and responsive behind the wheel, other drivers may not. If you suffer injuries due to the negligence of a drowsy driver, you may be able to pursue compensation for the damages you sustained as a result of the accident. It may take some investigation and research to find the appropriate evidence needed to pursue such a claim. Often times, you will need to go back one or more days before the crash to assert a claim of sleep deprivation, which may not be an easy task on your own. You may find that enlisting some legal assistance will significantly improve your chances of a successful claim.

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Driving fatalities are on the rise in recent years. One well-known culprit is the cell phone.

Distracted driving causes nearly nine deaths each day in the US. To make matters worse, the National Safety Council named Tennessee as the having the most cell phone fatalities in the country in early 2017.Distracted driving is a serious problem, but it’s not the only mistake drivers make on the road. Slate has published an in-depth look at driver habits and skills to identify six issues that cause most US accidents.

Distracted driving

As we already discussed, cell phones have been game changers—both for convenience at home and on the go, but also negatively affecting driving habits. Distraction doesn’t just come from the phone, though. Adjusting the radio and thermostat pull attention away from the road, as do more active tasks like petting a dog, eating a sandwich or applying makeup.

Rear-end accidents

According to Slate, rear-end accidents make up between 23 and 30 percent of collisions. Rear-end accidents happen at all speeds and in all driving conditions, but the biggest cause is when drivers follow too closely to one another.

Blind spots

Most drivers know that blind spots exist. The problem is that they assume all clear without taking precaution. Whether a bus, sun glare or a dirty windshield block visibility, drivers need to confirm their surroundings before proceeding.

Loss of control

High-speed navigation is never as easy as pushing a pedal and turning a steering wheel. It takes skill and practice to control a vehicle at highway speed. Many accidents happen when drivers overcompensate or respond poorly to road conditions.

Overtired and sleeping drivers

According to one study, as many as 37 percent of all drivers have fallen asleep at the wheel at some point. It’s a startling number. Being overtired also reduces awareness and response time at levels comparable to alcohol consumption.

Right turn on red

A right turn at a red light isn’t the problem, it’s when drivers roll through the intersection and forget the sidewalk as they look for oncoming traffic. Pedestrians and bicycles using the crosswalk are frequent victims in this type of accident, especially children.

After an accident

Most drivers will experience a crash in their lifetime, if not several. After an accident, it’s essential to check on everyone’s medical condition, but also to follow through with a police report, your own documentation of the incident, and to get a medical check-up. Injuries vary significantly, and many take time to understand their impact on your daily life.

When another driver’s negligence causes an injury, they are liable for the cost of your recovery, which includes more than medical bills. It also includes time missed from work, and damages for any additional effects the accident has on your life.

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Your life can be turned upside down after a car accident. You’re likely to be without transportation, without guidance on insurance coverage for your injuries, and out of work without the funds to seek medical treatment.

Despite the obstacles you face, it is imperative that you seek medical treatment immediately. Most importantly, seeing a doctor immediately after a car accident protects your health. Seeking immediate medical treatment for your injuries also helps set up the foundation you must have to be fairly compensated for your car accident claim. Once you’ve established a treatment plan with a physician, the next step to receiving fair compensation for your injuries is to ask your doctor the right questions, including the severity of your injuries and how long you’re going to be out of work.

These are the top 5 questions you must ask your doctor:

What injuries do I have and how severe are they?

If your injuries from a car accident are not visibly apparent and do not show up on initial X-ray imaging taken at the emergency room, it could take days or weeks for your doctor to give you a full assessment. At your initial visit, ask your doctor to explain all of the injuries you have, the severity of your injuries, and what potential injuries/complications they will be monitoring you for moving forward. This may not only help build your case, but also help prevent an exacerbation of your injuries. Tell your doctor as much information as you can about the collison and your health so they can make the best assessment possible.

Could this injury have been caused by the wreck?

Your doctor’s medical opinions could play a direct role in your personal injury case after getting injured in a car accident. Keep notes on what caused your injuries in order to prevent an insurance company from insinuating that your injuries were caused by something unrelated to your car accident. It’s important that the doctor notes that your injuries were likely caused by the car wreck.

How will my injuries affect me in the future?

Sadly, some injuries will last a lifetime. Ask your doctor if any of your injuries will have long-term effects on your health, both directly and indirectly. A foot injury may impact the way you walk and could affect your legs and lower back in the long run. Find out what treatments and/or medications are available to keep your pain and suffering to a minimum.

Will I be able to work?

A quick return to work could exacerbate your injuries. After a thorough assessment, discuss how long you will be out of work and what types of activities you should avoid during your recovery. Doctor’s notes that establish how much time you need off of work can help when seeking damages for missing work. They would be critical for worker’s compensation or disability cases.

Can I have a copy of my medical records?

When you’re dealing with a personal injury case, maintaining a file of your medical records and billing is helpful. Ask your doctor for a copy of your medical records, which may be provided directly or through a formal request. This includes records of tests, X-rays, long-term care plans, medications and referrals. Our firm can order all of these records and related billing, however, it can expedite the process if you utilize your rights to obtain copies of your medical records and bills directly from your doctor.

Another benefit of obtaining your records directly from your doctor as soon as possible is that, in the event that your medical records contain inaccurate information, you can immediately ask the doctor to revise your records. Getting these records yourself can also save you money. Doctors often do not charge the patient for obtaining copies of his or her personal medical records. If the related records and/or billing are requested by an attorney, there will absolutely be a fee. For information on the expense of obtaining medical records after a car accident in Tennessee, see T.C.A. 63-2-102: Costs of reproduction, copying or mailing of records.

“The bottom line is to submit the medical bills from your car accident case to your group health insurance carriers for immediate payment.”

You’re Involved in a Car Accident. Fortunately, You Have Insurance.

You’re involved in a car accident in Sevierville, TN, caused by another driver’s negligence. You have two herniated discs and a broken arm. You need surgery. You are discharged from the hospital after three days and are still in shock. The accident happened so fast. You don’t know how you are going to manage your medical bills since you can’t work due to your injuries. In a couple of weeks, you begin physical therapy to increase the strength and range of motion in your back and arm. Therapy lasts four months.

The medical bills start coming in, and you can’t believe how much they are: $83,000. Fortunately, you have health insurance benefits through your employer. But, your health insurance tells you that since the car accident was caused by the other driver’s negligence, his insurance ought to pay your medical bills as they come in. You agree—heck yeah, his insurance should pay! So your health insurance doesn’t pay the medical bills from your car accident submitted by your doctors and the hospital. Your health insurance tells your doctors to submit your bills to the at-fault driver’s insurance company for payment. While your insurance company is busy playing “pass the buck,” you begin to receive collection letters seeking payment of your medical bills. What should you do?

The Bills are Your Responsibility

First, you must recognize that regardless of the reason for your medical bills, doctors provided service to you, and to no one else. The bills are 100% your responsibility. And doctors, like everyone else, do not want to wait two years for your legal case to resolve before they are paid. The negligent driver’s auto insurance company will not pay your bills for a number of reasons:

• They won’t make payments in advance of a personal injury settlement or a jury verdict in your favor.
• They are under a duty to compensate you only when the defendant is found liable for the car accident. This means trial (unless settlement is reached).
• Moreover, the defendant’s auto insurance company will not pay your doctors/hospital directly. Rather, the jury will decide the value of your case and the insurance company will pay that amount (same thing for settlement). How that money is divided is not the business of the defendant’s insurance company. Lastly, don’t expect the defendant’s insurance company to make your life easier by paying your bills. Your financial struggles work to their benefit. Many a person has settled a personal injury case far below actual value because they need money sooner rather than later.

Submit Your Bills to Your Health Carrier

Your group health insurance plan (e.g., BlueCross, Aetna, Humana, etc.) provides you with a benefit you’ve likely never considered in paying your medical bills. It’s called a negotiated fee plan, under which your doctor or hospital agrees to provide services at a rate below billing charge. That is, your insurance company will say to your doctors and hospital “we will provide you with our insureds as patients, but at pre-approved rates.” Once the doctor agrees to accept this negotiated, lower insurance company

payment, you may not be billed for the difference between the negotiated rate and the doctor’s billing rate.

Note: If this is getting deep, call us—we can help. There is no cost for a consultation.

To illustrate using the $83,000 figure from our example: you take my advice and submit your related medical bills to your health insurance. Let’s say your health insurance company pays $36,000 based on the contractual adjustment the company previously negotiated with your various providers. Assuming your deductible/co-pay has been met, your $83,000 in bills have been satisfied for $36,000. How does this benefit you? Let’s say you receive a $125,000 settlement from the at-fault driver. Your insurance company will likely have a right to be repaid if your auto accident case is successful and you receive compensation. But you will repay only $36,000 to your health insurance provider out of your settlement proceeds, instead of the $83,000 you would have been on the hook for had you not received the benefit of your health insurance’s contractual adjustment of $47,000. By processing your bills through your health insurance, you got to keep $47,000 more of your settlement in your pocket. (Not to mention, the bills got paid on time so your credit is still intact.)

Note: There are certain exceptions in Tennessee law, such as the “Made Whole Doctrine,” where injury victims aren’t required to repay their health insurance out of settlement proceeds. My upcoming blog post will address when those exceptions apply.

The Bottom Line: Submit Your Medical Bills for Payment

The bottom line is to submit the medical bills from your car accident case to your group health insurance carriers for immediate payment. Your bills will be promptly paid, at a discount to you, and you will be able to claim the entire amount billed by your medical providers in your personal injury case.

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The most common cause of all motor vehicle accidents is rear-end collisions or “fender benders.”

The majority of rear-end collisions are caused by tailgating drivers. Tailgating, often cited as “following improperly” on an accident report, results in a failure to stop in time and is the number one cause of rear-end car accidents. According to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security there were 789 rear-end collisions in 2018 in Sevier County alone.

Contrary to popular belief, the rear-ending vehicle is not automatically determined to be at-fault. So how is fault determined in a rear-end motor vehicle accident?

Common scenarios where the rear-ending vehicle is determined to be at fault:

• The driver is distracted and does not brake in time to avoid collision. This includes cell phone use, eating and drinking in a car, passenger distraction, etc.
• The driver is speeding and unable to stop in time.
• The driver does not maintain a safe following distance behind the car in front.
• The driver fails to yield to the right of way.

The simplest way to make an initial determination of who is liable in a rear-end collision is to read the accident report—if a motorist is cited on the accident report for a violation of traffic laws such as “following improperly,” “Failure to yield,” “distracted driving” or “speeding,” he or she is likely to be determined liable for the car wreck.

However, liability in rear-end accidents is not always cut and dry. Often, contributory actions, multiple parties involved, shared responsibility and conflicting testimony can make determining who is at fault difficult, even in a rear-end collision.

Common scenarios where the driver of a vehicle in front may be held liable in a rear-end collision:

• The car’s brake lights are not working.
• The driver swerves in front of another car.
• The driver reverses into the following car. (This often occurs in parking lot accidents.)

Who is at-fault in a multiple car accident which originated from a rear-end impact?

If one car rear-ends another vehicle and then the impact pushes that vehicle into the car in front of it—basically, causing a domino effect—things can get slightly more complicated. These type of rear-end accidents often happen at stop lights or in heavy traffic. The driver at fault for the originating crash is usually liable for the damage to all vehicles involved. (Side note: these type of multiple vehicle accidents really highlight the importance of having adequate Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage on your own auto insurance policy.) When there are multiple parties involved, the at-fault driver’s policy limits are often exhausted before all parties are fairly compensated for their injuries.

It’s highly likely if you are in a car accident in Sevier County, you will end up in the LeConte Medical Center Emergency Room.

Emergency rooms provide necessary, crucial medical treatment immediately after an accident. Emergency room physicians are specially trained to treat those suffering from trauma such as injuries sustained in a collision. Despite the vital role emergency rooms play in the medical treatment of accident victims, many people still have a misunderstanding about what being “discharged” by the emergency room means.

1. Emergency rooms act as triage, trying to determine the extent of your injuries as quickly as possible. The purpose of an emergency room visit is not to provide ongoing care for the patient, except in the most severe cases where surgery is necessary immediately or the injuries are life-threatening. If your injuries are deemed not life-threatening and you do not need surgery immediately, you will be discharged from the emergency room with instructions to follow-up with your primary care provider or a specialist. It’s imperative that you follow-up with the appropriate medical provider as quickly as possible after you are discharged from the emergency room. Do not wait weeks before going to your follow-up appointment. When you do follow-up with a doctor it’s also important that you ask the doctor the appropriate questions and give the doctor complete information about your injuries.
2. Make sure the hospital submits your medical bills to your health insurance. Do not let the hospital tell you they “have” to bill the at-fault driver’s auto insurance. This is not true. Additionally, try not to sign an “Assignment of Benefits” or similar document, which guarantees the hospital payment for its full charges out of any settlement you may receive from a third party in the future. An “Assignment of Benefits” can keep you from being able to negotiate your hospital bills down to a reasonable amount.
3. Your statements to the emergency room nurse about the car accident are important. At the emergency room, you will be asked questions by a nurse or doctor about the crash. A short, concise statement such as “I was T-boned” or “I was rear-ended” are fine. However, you do not need to, nor should you, go into great detail about how the accident happened. Lengthy, detailed descriptions to emergency room staff about your accident can only hurt your claim. The more details you give, the more likely it is that your statements will be paraphrased in the records to the detriment of your claim.
4. It’s crucial you tell the emergency room nurses and physicians every part of your body that hurts. It’s natural to focus on the part of your body that hurts the worst. However, when you are being examined at the emergency room after your car accident, you should mention every discomfort or pain, even if it seems minor. It’s very common for the area of the body that feels like a minor injury immediately after a collision to turn into a chronic problem later on.

In Tennessee, a vehicle is considered a “total loss” if the repair estimate exceeds 75% of the retail market value as determined by the current published retail costs (T.C.A. 55-3-211 [9][A]).

If you are involved in a collision in Tennessee and your vehicle is determined to be a total loss, then the insurance company should use mileage, options, and condition of the vehicle at the time of the accident to determine the value. The Tennessee Unfair Claims Settlement Practices states:
The insurer may elect a cash settlement based upon the actual cost, less any deductible provided in the policy, to purchase a comparable automobile including all applicable taxes, license fees and other fees incident to transfer of evidence of ownership of a comparable automobile. Such cost may be derived from:

• The cost of two or more comparable automobiles in the local market area when comparable automobiles are available or were available within the last ninety (90) days to consumers in the local market area; or
• The cost of two (2) or more comparable automobiles in areas proximate to the local market area, including the closest major metropolitan areas within or without the state, that are available or were available within the last ninety (90) days to consumers when comparable automobiles are not available in the local market area pursuant to part 0780-01-05-.09(1)(b)1. above;

It is important that you make sure the total loss settlement offer from the insurance company includes all applicable taxes, license fees and other fees incident to transfer of evidence of ownership of a comparable automobile as required by the Tennessee Unfair Claims Settlement Practices (0780-01-05-.09)(b). Each county has varying sales tax percentages for vehicles, as well as differing fees for vehicle registration, so you will need to contact the county court clerk in the county where you live to verify the amount that should be included in the settlement offer from the insurance company for sales tax and registration fees.