KSL news reports that Kaleb and the dog played together during the last three weeks and there were no incidents prior to this dog bite. Kuno and Kaleb were in the backyard playing like usual when Kaleb’s mother noticed her son face-down on the ground not moving, with Kuno next to him. “The dog was standing over him — not in an aggressive manner — just standing there almost wanting to continue playing, because they played a lot,” said Midvale police Sgt. Rapela. Investigators are unsure of the time frame, and how long the attack lasted.

Kaleb was flown to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah with severe head and neck injuries. Although the injuries are substantial, Kaleb is expected to be ok. The dog is being held in quarantine at Salt Lake County Animal Services, where they will eventually make a decision if the dog needs to be put down.

I hope for the best young Kalbe Wane and wish him a very speedy recovery. I hope there is no permanent tissue or structural damage. Dogs most often make wonderful pets, however in certain circumstances, any type of dog can be dangerous. Unfortunately, since this dog was considered a “family dog” and Kaleb was part of said family, his medical bills won’t be covered under the homeowner’s insurance policy of the house.

Ron Kramer is a Utah dog bite attorney with offices in Provo, Draper and Salt Lake City, Utah.

If you have been injured in a Utah car accident, you may be wondering what your case is worth. I am frequently asked this question by my clients. The truth is, the value of your case really depends on a large number of factors. These factors include: the severity of your injuries, how much damage to your car (was it totaled or maybe just a scuff on your bumper), how much are your medical bills, did you miss any time from work, was the defendant a ?bad actor,? are we dealing with a stingy insurance company, are you a high wage earner, do you have an permanent impairment, will you be left with chronic pain, are you overweight, are you likeable, etc. The easier question might be whether we think you are entitled to the policy limits that the other driver has.

I urge you to order a copy of my book: The Utah Accident Book. The book is free for the asking and will help identify the 13 mistakes that can ruin your Utah accident case as well as other advice you can use to make sure you are treated fairly by the insurance company. rk

First, there must be liability. In other words, someone else was responsible for your injuries. (If you were completely to blame, then you would not have a case.) There can be situations where liability could be a close call, or disputed. Such a situation could develop where there were no witnesses to the car accident and both drivers insist that they had the red light. These can be tricky cases since if you are 50 percent or more at fault, you lose. When it is obvious who caused the crash or the accident to happen, we say that the liability is ?clear.?

Second, we next look to ?damages.? If you were involved in a car accident and you were not injured, then we would say that you had no ?damages.? So even if the other person was clearly at fault, if you were not injured, then you cannot under Utah law make a claim. Added to this is the legal requirement that you have to have at least $3,000 in medical bills or a permanent injury from the accident.

Third, we determine if there is ?causation.? This is another legal requirement that must be satisfied. It is, simply put, that there be a link between the crash and the injuries that you claim. Gaps in treatment or later complaints down the road of certain injuries can sometimes make proving this element difficult. The severity of the crash itself also creates real problems when it comes time to prove your case. This is because in a lower-speed crash, the insurance company lawyers will argue that the forces were insufficient to have caused the injuries that you are now complaining of, or that the treatment you received was excessive because of the mild nature of the crash and that the bulk of your treatment was ?unnecessary.? Unfortunately, too many cases are spit out by a jury for lack of ?causation.? Lawyers refer to this as being ?no-caused? at trial.

Fourth, we want to make sure that there is insurance available. If you have been very seriously injured and both parties had no insurance, there is usually not much we can do in those situations. History has shown that getting a verdict against a penniless defendant is waste of time and money for all concerned.

I will be the first to tell you that you may not actually need a lawyer for you? your Utah auto accident-injury case. It all really boils down to the severity of your injuries.

First of all, you need to know that if you don?t have any permanent injuries and your medical bills are less than $3,000, then you are not legally entitled to make a claim against the at-fault insurance carrier.

Now if your bills are over $3,000, you still can make a claim yourself if your injuries are relatively mild, the damage to the car you were in was also mild (usually under $1,000) and you feel like you are back to normal. However, the greater the property damage to your car and the more serious your injuries and/or treatment, the more likely you are to benefit from the services of an accident and injury lawyer. If you were seriously injured in a crash, you should at least sit down with a lawyer that focuses on personal injury cases to get an idea of the remedies available to you. Remember that all Utah accident and injury attorneys worth their salt will offer a free consult. Don?t forget that you don?t have to hire them just because they sit down and meet with you!

A lawyer can be instrumental in getting a fair recovery in your case. A Utah personal injury lawyer can help you put together the evidence that will help you maximize the value of your case. They will be able to negotiate effectively with the insurance company because they will know going in what would be a fair range of settlement for your particular case. They are adept at getting you reductions with your medical providers after your settlement to make sure you end up with fair amount. And if the case requires it, they are skilled and sufficiently competent to present your case to a jury of your pears and force the insurance company to pay fair value for your case.

To learn more, order a copy of my book: The Utah Accident Book. The book is free and will help identify the 13 mistakes that can ruin your Utah accident case. It also provides other advice you can use to make sure you are treated fairly by the insurance company. rk

Medical bills following a Utah car crash can add up in a hurry. An ambulance ride, for example, could cost over a thousand dollars. The ER visit with the battery of imaging studies, could cost well over five thousand dollars. So who is going to pay for all of this? And what if I don?t have health insurance?
Under Utah law, the first $3,000 (more if you have better insurance coverage) is paid for by your own insurance company, or the insurance company of the person whose car you were traveling in. After that, though, you could run into problems if you don?t have health insurance.

You see, the insurance company of the at-fault driver will not pay your bills as they accrue. That?s just not how it works. They will make one payment and one payment only: that is at the end of the case when you have reached a resolution with them or when you have obtained a verdict against them. Many Utah accident victims wish they would pay bills as they come due, but that?s not how Utah?s liability system is set up.

Many times, this system can create serious hardship for the injured victim, who did not ask to be placed in that situation. What can they do if they don?t have health insurance and have no financial resources to get treatment, sometimes even a surgery? Can they try to settle first and then use that money to fund the treatment or surgery?

Luckily, there are some doctors and therapists that work on a ?lien? basis. This means that they will treat you now and expect to be paid back when your case resolves. If your case goes south, however, you will remain on the hook to pay back the unpaid medical expenses. Happily, more doctors are agreeing to provide medical services on a lien. This is an especially valuable service in this economic climate where many individuals and families cannot afford to have health insurance.

Before doctors would provide service on a lien, an injured accident victim was required to basically ask the insurance company for money for the treatment that was anticipated. The insurance companies would almost always offer less money in those instances, arguing that there was no guarantee that the claimant would ever actually use those services and that the only sure way to know would be for them to go out and get the surgery first. Obviously this was a dilemma that could seriously affect the amount that an injured person could expect in settlement. I?m glad we have moved past this point, at least in Utah, and that these injured persons have resources they can tap into to get the care that they need NOW so that their cases can be fully and effectively worked up for maximum settlement value. Rk

If you have been involved in a Salt Lake, Provo, Ogden or even Panguitch car accident, you most likely will be called by the insurance company for the driver who caused the crash to happen. You might be confused as to what exactly they want and why they want to talk with you so badly. They want to talk to you for a number of reasons. Some are innocent, but others have to do with saving themselves money on your particular claim.

First, they want to hear from you what happened, and they want to record it. Most likely they have already spoken with their insured who may have told them their version of how the crash happened. Unfortunately, and not unexpectantly, some of these people lie. In building their case, they want to hear from you as to how it happened. They then compare your story with their insured and/or other witnesses that they have spoken with.

Next, they want to know about your injuries. For an insurance company, the sooner they hear about your injuries, the better they consider it. This is because that shortly after a Utah auto accident, many of the injuries that surface later are not yet known. For example, if you damaged your knee and it is causing you a tremendous amount of pain, you may not be feeling the pain in your lower back or in your shoulder area. The insurance company may then use your complaints against you later on when you when you make a claim for these other ailments by saying that you must have hurt them some other way since you didn?t tell the adjuster about them when they took your statement.

We are wise to this flawed argument, and you should be as well. Yet some people think they have to go along with the insurance company?s disavowal of responsibility for those other ?undisclosed? injuries. If the insurance company is making any of these types of arguments, you should talk to a Utah accident and injury lawyer and find out if their arguments are valid or if they?re feeding you a bunch of cow manure.

You may also want to get a copy of my book: The Utah Accident Book. The book is free for the asking and will help identify the 13 mistakes that can ruin your Utah accident case as well as other advice you can use to make sure you are treated fairly by the insurance company. rk

Don?t be surprised, especially if you are tying to resolve your Utah car accident case without an attorney ? if the insurance company ?low-balls? you. Insurance companies do this all the time. It is standard operating procedure for them. Of course will be disappointed, because after all, these might be the same companies that advertise themselves as being your ?good neighbor? or have ?good hands.? Believe me when I tell you that these slogans more often than not are marketing pitches designed to recruit customers, not a service guarantee when you have been injured.

So why do they make such low offers? The short answer is because they can. If you ran a business whose sole purpose was to increase shareholder value, you wouldn?t let a bunch of injured folks get in the way of this. By paying out less than the amount of premiums the insurance companies take in, they are profitable. They are even more profitable if they can reduce the payout by paying only small amounts above medical bills.

The problem of low settlement offers by insurance companies has become even more problematic in the current economy. Many have been burned because a portion of their profits were invested in the sub-prime housing market. We have heard that companies like AIG were on the verge of going insolvent unless they received government bailouts. In this environment, the insurance companies are trying to hold on to their cash for as long as possible and keep as much of it as possible. So the offers will be low and the timetable for payout extended. It seems that in this current climate, they are almost forcing many Utah car accident victims to hire lawyers to help them battle the insurance company for them to help them get a fair settlement. I suspect that this will hurt these insurance companies in the end since in many instances, attorneys are able to get their clients larger settlements than what they would get without an attorney.

The smartest thing to do if you want to get a fair settlement following your Utah car accident is to hire a Utah car accident lawyer who can make sure that you are treated fairly. You may also want to get a copy of my book: The Utah Accident Book. The book is free for the asking and will help identify the 13 mistakes that can ruin your Utah accident case. rk

You are first entitled to receive reimbursement for ?economic expenses? or damages that you have incurred (or your health insurance company has incurred) or will incur in the future. These economic expenses include lost wages, the cost of adaptive medical or living items, the cost of nurses, modifying a home (if applicable), special vehicles, etc. Basically, everything that is necessary for you to carry on the life you may now have because of the injury or accident. Obviously, you may be seriously limited in your outcome by the amount of the insurance policy. If your serious and your policies are low, then you won?t have much of a choice in terms of what you will or can collect from the insurance company ? either through settlement or though a jury verdict or arbitration award. If your injuries are more modest and the policies larger, than you are more likely to be ?made whole? under the law.

Second, you are entitled to receive an amount for ?non-economic? damages, the pain and mental and physical anguish you have received. Along with this, you are also entitled to receive a component for the loss of your quality of life. As I always tell the jury or arbitrator, the value of this amount could easily exceed the amount that can be claimed for economic damages.

Finally, although unusual, you may be entitled to a portion of ?punitive damages? that may be assessed by the trier of fact. Punitive damages come up in cases where the actions of the defendant, or the wrongdoer, were reckless and/or intentional. They are designed to punish the wrongdoer so that this type of thing doesn?t happen again. One example might be in a drunk driver case, where it is generally accepted that those that drink and drive and expose the public to the danger of being hit by their vehicle, are being reckless as to who they might hurt.

If you were the one who primarily is to blame for the Utah car wreck happening, then one of the first actions you should take is to contact your insurance company. Your insurance company is responsible to pay for the damages to the car that you damaged and will pay for the cost of an attorney if the other driver files suit against you. In most cases, the insurance company will not be hiring an attorney because the bulk of these cases are resolved before anything is filed.

Your insurance company requires that you inform them promptly if you have been involved in an accident ? even if it was not your fault. If you fail to timely notify them, the benefits available to you may be limited under your contract. You are also required under your contract to cooperate with your insurance company during its investigation and if they have to defend your case in court.
When it comes time for your insurance company to resolve the case with the victim of the car accident, they are required to do so in good faith. If a reasonable settlement offer is made and they refuse to settle the case, they could be responsible for any verdict amount above the amount of the policy if they had the chance to resolve the case and they chose not to.

You may also actually have a claim against your own insurance company if they unreasonably refuse to settle the case that someone has brought against you. This is known as a ?bad faith? case and could potentially subject your insurance company to large money damages, including punitive damages. This is what happened in a case known as Campbell v. State Farm. When State Farm was hit with millions of dollars in punitive damages when they failed to resolve a case for policy limits of $50,000. rk

There are three things that Utah auto insurance policies are required to provide after a car accident ? whether or not it?s your fault. In Utah, this is called Personal Injury Protection, or PIP for short.

First, they are required to pay for the first $3,000 of medical bills. (Your policy may actually pay more than this, but $3,000 is the minimum it must pay.) These medical bills must be for services, prescriptions, and/or medical aids that are related to injuries you experienced in the accident. You should give the medical providers who treat you the name and contact information of your insurance company, including your claim number, so they can bill them directly. Keep in mind that while most auto insurance PIP policies will pay 100 percent of the billed expenses, there are some out there who will not. So you should monitor your bills closely to make sure they paid so that none of your medical accounts get sent to collections for insufficient payment.

Second, your insurance company will pay money for any lost wages you experience, up to a maximum of $250 per week. Yes, this is a small amount, and will only cover a fraction of what we might typically earn in a week?s time. But it is still a benefit that you are entitled to if you have been released from work or put on light duty in a job where no light duty work is available. You insurance carrier will have a form to fill out and will require documentation from your employer as well as your medical providers.

Third, you are entitled to household service benefits. These are benefits that Utah law requires that insurers pay over to the injured when they are unable to carry on their normal household duties and others have to step in and provide substitute labor. This benefit is calculated to pay $20 per day up to one year, or a maximum of $7,300. Keep in mind that under Utah law, as it has developed, that you don?t necessarily need to be out of commission for one year straight to qualify for these services. You also don?t need to be provided services by others for 365 days straight to get at the full value of this benefit.
So if you have been injured in a Utah auto accident, make sure you make a claim for these benefits. Remember: If you don?t use them, you lose them. Rk