Richard S. Lundin
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Personal injury and family law attorney licensed to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia

It's important to file all the claims you can after an accident to make sure you recover all the compensation you deserve.

If you’ve been injured in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, the first claim you’ll want to file is a LIABILITY CLAIM with the other driver’s insurance company.  Your LIABILITY CLAIM will have two parts:  PROPERTY DAMAGE, for the damage done to your car (cost of repairs or total loss value) and BODILY INJURY, for the injuries you’ve suffered (medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, inconvenience, etc.).

If the other person's insurance company is taking too long to take responsibility for paying for the damage to your car, you may be able to have your own insurance company either pay for the cost of repairs or the total loss value under COLLISION coverage.  Your insurance company can then seek to be reimbursed by the other person's insurance company by filing a SUBROGATION claim.  Upon recovering the money paid out for the damage to your car, your deductible would be refunded to you.

In addition, if you were driving or riding in a car insured by a Maryland policy of insurance, you should contact that insurance policy and file a claim for PERSONAL INJURY PROTECTION BENEFITS ("PIP").  You should also file for any additional MEDICAL PAYMENTS BENEFITS ("MedPay").  PIP benefits are required by Maryland law, although the insured can waive them for him or herself and all resident family members over 16 years of age.

If the car you were in is insured by a District of Columbia policy, then you may not be able to elect PIP benefits if you want to pursue your claim against the other driver's insurance policy, unless the accident occurred in Maryland.  It gets a bit more complicated for DC policies, as you can see, and it's best that you call us for a FREE consultation before electing PIP benefits under a DC policy.