Who Pays The Medical Bills for The Passenger in a Car Crash?
June 20, 2013 | Adriel B. VillarrealMinnesota is a no-fault insurance state. That does not mean that as a passenger in a car crash you are not entitled to make an insurance claim for the injuries sustained in an accident. It merely impacts whose insurance will be responsible for paying the bill. In this case, as the passenger, your own automobile insurance should be paying for your medical bills and lost wages. This would happen regardless of who is ultimately responsible for the accident, or who owns the car in question. What if you don’t have insurance because you don’t have a car? If that happens there’s an “order of priority” that the law follows to find out which insurance company needs to foot the bill. It goes like this: If you don’t have car insurance, the claim would go to the auto insurance policy of a family member that you live with. If you don’t live with anyone who has car insurance, the car insurance of the vehicle you were in at the time of the accident would be responsible for the bill next. If the person who owned the vehicle wasn’t carrying insurance on the vehicle the claim would typically go to Minnesota’s Assigned Claims Plan. You may also be entitled to additional compensation from other insurance…
Read MoreMinnesota Employment Law Update
June 20, 2013 | Bradley KletscherThe legislature was busy during the 2013 legislative session with employment laws. The legislature passed several changes to Minnesota laws affecting employers and their employees. The following article discusses some of the highlights from the session related to employment law changes. 1. Criminal background checks Effective January 1, 2014, the circumstances in which employers may request information regarding an applicant’s arrests or convictions has been restricted. Under the new law, public and private employers cannot inquire into, consider or require disclosure of an applicant’s criminal history until after the applicant has been selected for an interview, or if there is not an interview, before a conditional offer of employment is made. Since 2009 Minnesota law has prevented public employers from requesting criminal background information on job applications. The law provides an exception for employers with a statutory duty to conduct criminal background checks or otherwise consider applicants’ criminal history during the hiring process. Therefore, employers hiring for certain types of positions – for example, positions working with children in schools- are permitted to inquire about criminal history at the application phase. However, employers should be careful to inquire only about offenses that may be specified by statute, and they should not ask criminal history questions of all applicatns, if the employer does not…
Read MoreWhat is Whiplash?
June 17, 2013 | Adriel B. VillarrealPopular media sometimes likes to portray whiplash as a “pretend” injury, something that unscrupulous people make up in order to get lots of money. In reality, whiplash could be a very serious injury. During a car accident it is common for the head to be flung forward and back at unnatural speeds. The neck and back can sustain serious damage from this motion. Whiplash is literally a sprain or strain of the neck that damages the joints, discs, ligaments, and nerve roots in your back and neck. The symptoms can take up to 24 hours to appear. This is normal, and it’s not a victim’s attempt to claim erroneous pain “after the fact.” Symptoms can include headaches, neck pain, pain in the back, shoulders, and shoulder blades, numbness and pain in the arms, and dizziness. It can also impact your cognitive ability, causing a “brain fog” sensation that impacts both memory and concentration. All of these symptoms can have a significant impact on your ability to function normally. They should not be ignored or dismissed. These injuries do not show up on X-rays. Normally, it takes a CT scan or an MRI to detect it. Whiplash is one of the many injuries and complications that can occur after your first post-accident doctor visit….
Read More