Episode 319: The Financial side of Getting Hurt: Insurance, Disability and Personal Injury Law with Megan Burns

No one expects to get in an accident. But when you do, and when injuries are involved, navigating the insurance system and legal landscape can feel overwhelming. Melissa Joy, CFP® sits down with Megan Burns, founder of Mirador Law and personal injury trial lawyer, to pull back the curtain on what actually happens after an accident and how to protect yourself before one ever occurs.

Megan brings both professional expertise and personal experience to this conversation, having been seriously injured in a bike accident in her early twenties. From understanding your auto insurance coverage to knowing when you need a lawyer and when you do not, this episode gives listeners a practical, honest roadmap for one of the most financially and emotionally complex situations a person can face.

What You'll Learn

• Why your insurance policy is a financial hedge and how to treat it like one
• The difference between fault states and no fault states and what that means for your coverage
• Why uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is one of the most important protections you can have
• How Michigan's 2020 no fault law changes affect what you are actually covered for
• Why disability insurance may be as important or more important than life insurance
• When you absolutely need a personal injury attorney and when you do not
• How to find a quality personal injury lawyer and the red flags to avoid
• Why hiring a trial lawyer specifically makes a significant difference in outcomes
• What to expect from the legal process after signing with an attorney
• How umbrella liability insurance works and why it matters for protecting your assets

Connect with Megan: Website: www.miradorlaw.com

The previous presentation by PEARL PLANNING was intended for general information purposes only.  No portion of the presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from PEARL PLANNING or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, or any non-investment related or planning services, discussion or content, will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Neither PEARL PLANNING’s investment adviser registration status, nor any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. PEARL PLANNING is neither a law firm nor accounting firm, and no portion of its services should be construed as legal or accounting advice. No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of PEARL PLANNING’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at https...

Transcript

Why Injuries Derail Financial Plans

SPEAKER_01 0:16

In order to grow your as a woman, you work hard for your money. And I'm here to help you make the most of it. Now let's get into the show. No one expects to get in an accident. And when you do, if you're injured, it can be a once-in-a-lifetime difficult experience that is very difficult to prepare for, and most of us have not been through it. And so today we're going to be talking about injuries after an accident with an attorney who has experience dealing day in, day out with these types of circumstances. I'm thrilled to be joined by Megan Burns. She is the founder of Mirador Law and she is a trial lawyer for personal injury, for personal injury law. Megan, welcome to the podcast. Thanks, Melissa. Thanks so much for having me. Well, I know that this topic is not something that any of us want to have to deal with, but sometimes you don't have a choice. And I know in my experience when talking with clients or having been in, for example, car accidents myself, um, you know, when that moment comes, um, there's a lot of trauma, there's a lot of unexpected hassles. Um, and there's not really a script that most of us have knowing how to deal. Um, I we've talked a little bit about this episode already. And I think the place we would start is insurance, right? Like um, how do you what do you do if you find yourself having injuries or damages after an accident?

SPEAKER_02 1:55

I myself was injured in an accident when I was in my early 20s. I was a collegiate soccer player, played Division I soccer at Boston College for four years. And shortly after that, I was in a serious bike accident that really did change my life in many respects. And so um, I remember myself having a financial advisor in my early 20s who talked to me about the importance of personal injury and how it affects your financial plan. And so that's what I think we're here to talk about today is everybody makes plans for the future. Nobody makes plans for getting injured and how that's going to impact your finances and your life. And so hopefully we can cover that. But I think you're right, the first place to kind of turn to is really making sure that you understand the insurance coverages that you have. Um, most people, and and this is true of so many of my clients, even people that work for me, I feel like I'm constantly giving um public service announcements on the importance of insurance. Because when you look at your insurance, maybe once a year when it's renewing, and you don't really think about how it might actually play out if you really need it.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

That's so true. And nowadays insurance prices are going up and up all over the country. And so when you're looking at it, a lot of times you're you're just like, How can I make this cost not go higher so much? How can we keep under inflation instead of way overshooting inflation? And so you may not be like having your primary focus be on how to reduce risk and mitigate risk if something goes wrong.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

Yes, that's right. And it, you know, if for people that care about having their finances in order, you're always trying to save money. And insurance is a place where you can try to save money, but there's a there's a cost to that, and that is when you really need it. And I'm not talking about a little fender bender where you like had to take the afternoon off work. I'm talking about a car accident or some other accident that dramatically changes your life. And having the right insurance mix in place becomes so critical so that all these hard things that you work for, developing your financial wellness plan, don't just become derailed in an instant. So the first kind of thing that, you know, I and I I would advise people to look at is just their auto insurance. That's, you know, for most people, that's probably where you have the risk, particularly in a state like Michigan where you need to drive everywhere and it's not so easy to get anywhere on trap public transportation. Where are our cars? You know, a lot. Um, I grew up in Michigan, but I live in California, but it's it's really not that much different here either. Um so, you know, um we can talk a little bit about the difference of how insurance markets are structured in different states because there can be huge differences. And Michigan in particular has a very unique insurance structure as it applies to auto insurance. But just generally speaking, what are your limits? Right? It doesn't really matter if you're in a no-fault state or you're in a who's at fault in the accident state. The reality is what are your limits and how are you covered? Um, and although you can kind of pinch a penny by, you know, maybe having your premiums a little bit less, I would suggest to folks that really want to make sure they're covered is to think of insurance as a financial hedge. And that's what I advise my clients. That's what I advise my friends and family and anybody else who have an opportunity to talk to. It really is more of a financial hedge. And so sometimes you save a little bit of money, but you expose yourself to a lot of risk.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Especially as your um estate grows, as you get closer to retirement, as your assets convert from your human capital to your, you know, to financial accounts and residences, et cetera, then you have more that you need to insure for um to protect yourself. And um so there's a lot to consider, and it's a little more complicated than just plugging things in and finding the cheapest quote in many cases.

No Fault Versus Fault Rules

SPEAKER_02 6:29

That's exactly right. So um let's just talk a little bit about the difference between default and no fault states. States Michigan is a state, yeah, no fault state, but there's been major modifications to the no-fault laws and the state of Michigan in 2020, um California, for example, and most other states are what are called, you know, just general liability fault states. So, you know, the person's insurance who pays for your accident is the person that that is responsible, who's negligent, who caused the accident. Um, so if you are in a no-fault state, for example, and you're driving through the state of California and somebody seriously injures you, you better make sure that you have enough insurance to cover you, even if the other driver has really bad insurance. So I have clients all the time that have catastrophic life-changing injuries, but the person who hurt them has very, very minimal basic insurance. Here in California, the minimum requirements are$15,000 per person and$30,000 per incident. That doesn't even scratch the surface of what one's medical bills might be if they are catastrophically or seriously injured and need to take a significant time off work as a result of that. So in California, we talk a lot about having uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. And the way that works is that if you uh get hurt by someone who is poor or no insurance, then you can then make a claim on your own insurance for up to your your own uninsured or underinsured limits. And so you really want to, at least in fault states, you want to have really strong um uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage because you want to protect yourself. It's it's you also want to make sure you're adequately covered if God forbid you hurt somebody else. But it's really important to have enough insurance to cover your own um injuries. And that really is not that much different in Michigan, for example, which is a no-fault state. So in Michigan, the way it works is it doesn't matter who's at fault in your accident. Um, you make a claim on your own auto insurance, and your own auto insurance pays your medical bills, your um lost wages, that kind of thing, unless it's a very serious accident or some other like wrongful deck or something like that. There's certain parameters when you can go outside of your own insurance. But what they did in 2020 in the state of Michigan is it used to be that there was unlimited unlimited medical payments and it was a no-fault state. So if you were catastrophically injured, you could be assured that your auto insurance was going to cover your medical bills forever if necessary. And that's the big change that happened in 2020. So you can still make that election, um, but it's all about cost, right? Of course, it's a choice. It's a choice. So if you want to have unlimited medical payments through your own insurance and you're in a no-fall state, you're gonna pay extra for it. But again, sometimes folks can be pennywise and pound foolish. Um, if you have um a million dollars in medical bills that you're gonna need to spend over the next 10, 15 years, it could destroy your financial well-being. Um, and it could have just been a different box that you selected in your auto insurance. So I'm not, I don't sell insurance. I'm not an insurance broker. I'm not here to, I don't teach insurance law or anything like that. But doing personal injury work, I see this play out every day for my clients and um and and also just people that call me and watch generalized advice when um when something bad happens. So I see how important the insurance piece is. Um, so I hope that's helpful.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Yeah, you're really seeing the stories and the situations that I would rarely see um because you are doing work where maybe the insurance companies, you when you file the claim, um either you're underinsured or there's a dispute with the insurance company, or you need to pursue further action in order to be compensated for you know what's happened um after the accident. Is that right? Like for the first course of action when you get in an accident is follow the rules of the state and file a claim with whose ever insurance is responsible for kind of kicking things off. And your insurance agent is kind of a a quarterback or a coordinator with your insurance company, is that right?

SPEAKER_02 11:37

That's correct. And what I would suggest is before that accident happens, you really make sure you check your policies at least once a year and you just in relation to where your financial plan is. So if you um as your financial plan grows, it's more and more important for you to protect those assets by having adequate insurance, which means you may be paying a little bit more, but it's that financial hedge that you're looking at. So I would say before you get in an accident, really check your policies. And and one thing that people never do, and I I have done this my whole career, but I can't say I read every single insurance policy I've ever had. But it is important to really kind of look at the details of the policy, either working with a good insurance broker that you really trust that knows what they're doing, um, and or just reading your own policies. I mean, you know, when we go through the website and we make these choices of which coverage we want and we see the premium that we're gonna pay, it's just like a check-through box. Well, behind that is about a 200-page contract that you have available to you through all your insurance carriers, and you absolutely make it a point of making sure that I have all the contracts, you know, all the insurance policies, all the addendums, all the writers for each policy that I have in place, and that I do my best to make sure when they renew that I read through them. I know that's a lot of work, but it's after the accident happens when people get surprised. Oh, I thought I was covered for that. And then you realize that, oh no, you accepted a low limit on medical payments, even though you're in Michigan and you're a no fall state, and you're really in a bad spot if you can't then go beyond your own policy and sue the other driver. So I would say think and make sure you do an insurance audit at least once a year before an accident takes place. But yes, once the accident takes place, certainly reporting it is the first step in the process.

Disability Insurance Most People Skip

SPEAKER_01 13:46

So then if there are medical expenses, especially that can't be covered by the insurance coverages that were selected, are there any other avenues before you get to the zone of, you know, using the legal field and litigation? Um, did would your like disability insurance or other um types of coverages be able to step in? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

So um, you know, certain employers obviously provide disability insurance. Um sometimes that's limited, you know, usually disability insurance or your employer is limited to your employment with that company and potentially maybe limited to just on-the-job injuries. Um I I I very distinctly remember in my early 20s when I was working with a financial planner. And um, you know, we think about life insurance a lot being important in case we die, that our families are protected. But not as many people understand the importance of disability insurance. Because what if I'm still with my family and they're lucky enough to still have me in their life, but I'm not the same person I am anymore. I can't do that job that I could do. I mean, I'm a trial lawyer, I get up in front of courtrooms and juries and I advocate for my clients day in and day out. I use my brain for everything. God forbid I was to have a traumatic brain injury. I could not do my job. And what would my family do? Because they would not be able to access any life insurance because I'm still here and I might be here for a long time.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

So and they need to take care of you in some cases.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

Absolutely. And so sometimes disability insurance, and I know again, you know, talk to your own financial advisor, talk to your insurance broker, but in some respects, I would advocate that disability insurance is as important, if not more important, than life insurance.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

You know, you want to the probability for needing it is higher than, you know, needing life insurance earlier in your life. And typically, you know, at the point in time where the average American passes away, they've saved for retirement and their spouse or their children would their children would be independent and their spouse would would likely for wealthier Americans have the assets they need, but that's not the case when it's earlier in your career. Um, and you may need a long period of time where you live off of disability. And the government version of disability is very, very low through Social Security.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

And and how, you know, really educate themselves about that. A lot of people are in jocks where they really need their brain. And so not a car accident results in a brain injury, but what if you needed a knee surgery? You couldn't get, you know, to and from work for a month or three months or a back surgery, or you know, I mean, there's a lot of sort of physical injuries that happen that have dramatic impacts on your ability to make a living for you and your family, particularly if you're the primary Greg winner, even then, disability insurance. And even if your employer offers disability insurance, you can still go in the private market and get your own disability insurance to supplement. Um, because that's always what I worry about for me personally. And you know, that is part of my financial that I make sure I always have a good quality disability officer.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Well, and we're both business owners. Oftentimes um the disability insurance you get through an employer is limited to for highly compensated employees. And if you're a business owner, if you're um a medical doctor who's taken on a lot of debt in order to go through law school, there's a variety of circumstances where the group policies, which tend to be much more accessible and also cost effective, um, are not going to fulfill all of your needs for disability. So case by case basis, but definitely additional disability insurance can be appropriate.

When You Truly Need A Lawyer

SPEAKER_02 17:55

I hear a lot from my clients too about needing to get back to work because they can't have more time off work and they don't want to then go get the medical treatment that they need because of their accident. You know, um I am sure a lot of your listeners probably have certain views about what personal injury lawyers are all about. You know, gre, you know, greedy people. I mean, the last time I flew into Detroit, I don't think any billboard that I passed was not a personal injury lawyer.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

So get there's a lot of personal injury and marijuana billboards. That's about it.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

I forgot about marijuana, but yeah, we're quite a lot of you know, you know, billboard lawyers that say they do personal injury cases. And it certainly gives uh I don't think those folks that I'm marketing in that way to consumers really do very well by themselves because it creates an impression that personal injury lawyers don't care about their clients and that they're all in it for their own personal greed. And I'm not here to say that there are not lawyers that are greedy, that they're not here to like take advantage of something horrible that happened to you and make money off of it. There are certainly folks in my industry that are like that, but not all the lawyers out there are doing are practicing law that way. And certainly that's not how we practice. Um, we practice with a deep center and what's best for our clients and how we can get the clients the best outcome possible. Um so, I mean, I I have to say, you know, in this uh podcast, you know, it really is important to hire a good lawyer. And I'll even tell your listeners when they don't need a lawyer, because I give that public service announcement probably every other day to people that consult with me. But if you are seriously injured, and I'm not talking again a little fender bender where you have half a day off work or something, I'm talking about a real serious injury that's dramatically impacting your life. You really need a good quality lawyer because you are not going to be able to navigate the insurance system and the legal system to get justice for yourself. It's virtually impossible. It is not a system that's set up for consumers to be able to handle their own cases.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

So you, you know, there's a fender bender, there's physical damage to your car, the car is totaled. Those are things that are typically handled through um claims adjusters and the insurance company route. Uh a bruise or contusion that's fixable and repairable, the same. You're maybe the doctor's appointments are compensated through insurance, and you're again dealing with a claims adjuster um on the healthcare side. But then when is the right um point in time where you would advise someone to talk to an attorney or get legal advice?

How To Vet A Real Trial Lawyer

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Uh so I guess any sort of serious catastrophic injury where you believe you're injured at the fault of another is one where you should be consulting with an attorney. So obviously, wrongful death, um, you know, paralysis, um, serious spinal injuries, serious brain injuries, um, broken bones that require surgery, other sorts of injury to the body that require surgery. Those are hospitalization. Yeah, I would assume. Correct. If you like a night in the ER, you may not need a you probably don't need a lawyer if they've run all the tests and they've all come out right as rain. Um, those cases where you are much more seriously injured that require. And you know, how do you find a good quality attorney? That's hard. Right. Because, you know, there are private equity companies that are investing in the personal injury space. There are these big national law firms that you might be. Talking to a lawyer that's based in Tennessee when your accident was in upstate New York and you don't even really realize it that these are not like that.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Doesn't that happen where like law firms kind of buy the leads from the local attorneys that um they get some kickback for advertising locally and then they send them through to a big national firm?

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Yeah, there's a lot of shady stuff that happens in with personal injury lawyers. So I mean, the maybe I'll get some shade for saying this, but I guess the first thing that I would do is if you see somebody on a billboard, you probably don't want to hire that person. That's horrible as that is. And and and you know, I hope somebody that does a lot of billboard advertising reaches out to me and says, you know, you got it wrong, you got it twisted. But, you know, I think you have to be a bit of a savvy consumer in the personal injury space because so much money gets spent on personal injury attorney advertising because they are trying to get your serious injury case. And my law partner and I, we're a small five-lawyer boutique firm here in the Bay Area. You know, we describe those law firms as MILS. You know, a lot of times they do great job advertising and maybe do a really good job with the salesmanship on the front end, but the people that are actually handling your case may not even be attorneys, they may be as some sort of legal assistant or case. Like a case manager or paralegal. It's not even touching your file. So, how do you find good quality lawyers? You have to be discerning when you Google. Um, you really have to like if it's coming up as an ad, maybe skip past that and go to the mapping section and look for somebody that does have a lot of good, you know, reviews are a good way, but reviews can also be bought. And so you can't always trust reviews. I really recommend people go and meet lawyers in person. You know, it's so easy to do a lot of legal services by Zoom, but you still can't be sure that they're who they say they are. I mean, you're trusting your future to them, and I think you shouldn't look lawyers straight in the eye. Uh what a better way to do it. You say you're a local attorney, I want to drive to your office and I want to have a consultation. You know, what is the what is their uh demeanor like? What is their outfit like? What is their office look like? If it looks like a shabby place at a strip mall, probably not a lawyer you want to hire when you're seriously injured in an auto accident. Um, you know, going through people that have um referrals who've had good experiences, that is can be a great way. If you know anybody who is a lawyer that's not a personal injury lawyer, but just maybe a tax lawyer or even an accountant or a financial advisor, anybody that's like a, you know, uh a white-collar professional in your life, they probably know some lawyers. And if they know one lawyer, that lawyer probably can connect you to a good personal injury lawyer. So reputation is super, super important. The other thing is there are it each state has different sorts of professional organizations for attorneys, just like other sorts of white-collar professionals. Um, you want to check people's um uh uh check them on the state bar website. Have they had any discipline before? Because that was all public information. So before you hire a lawyer, make you make sure you go to your state's um, you know, your state bar website and check them to make sure that they don't have a history of disciplinary action. And then um look to see if they're involved in the local organizations. For example, I'm one of the past presidents of the Alameda County Bar Association. So, you know, my uh county deemed it appropriate for me to be the leader of our um legal community here in our county. And so when people take on leadership roles, they're usually well regarded in the community. Um, and so that's another way to kind of like check and see is this person really legit or not? And then the other thing I would say, and this is very true in the personal injury space, there's a big difference between just being a good lawyer and being a trial lawyer. And insurance companies are set up to pay you as little as possible for your injuries. They are gonna deny your claims, they are going to say, oh, this didn't really impact your life, you're lying, you're making it up, you're exaggerating, your injuries are really from something else, even when you are totally, you know, upright fine before. Well, you know, and it's it's not the insurance adjusters' fault. Like they're in a system where people do lie, they're dealing with shady personry lawyers all the time. And so, you know, it's they get jaded. And so they don't trust.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

And I've also I've also seen coverage that because both private equity as well as consulting firms are coming in and and um advising insurance companies on how to cut costs and how to be more profitable, that that is a factor too, is like if you first deny claims um in some cases, then that, you know, and make it more difficult to um receive insurance. I'm not saying every company, but that just, you know, there has been coverage about that as well. Um, so you may just be up against a wall if you have a significant claim.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

Yeah. And so that there is a huge difference with hiring a personal injury lawyer that's actually a trial lawyer. That is a difference. So, you know, very few lawyers take cases to trial. You know, personal injury is an area where a lot of times cases need to go to trial, not because there's a questioner of who's responsible, but just because the insurance company will not give clients fair justice without seeing the whites of a juror's eyes. And it literally comes to that. And if you hire an attorney, and I would say ask the lawyer that you're talking to when's the last time you have actually done a jury trial. That is a really question. If you're if this person is saying they've been handling personal injury cases for the last 20 years, and the last time they did uh a trial was um 20 years ago, you have a problem. That means they're not quite fighting quite hard enough for their clients, and the insurance companies know it. You know, they have amazing data. They have these huge, you know, of course they use AI, but they have all this data that they compile about personal injury settlements and verdicts throughout the cup throughout the country to try to uh make appropriate offers in each individual case. But they also know who the the lawyers are. Like it's a lot of times some of the results that we're getting are confidential, like they're not results that we can publish or advertise about because our firm might be getting an outcome for a client that's wildly better than what another law firm might get with the same facts. And it's because we've taken cases to trial and because we've gotten far better than what the last offer was. So it really does matter that you're dealing with somebody that's sophisticated in the personal injury space. And again, I'm not saying for the little case. I think it's important. I'd love to spend a few minutes to talk about when people absolutely do not need a lawyer.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

Um yes, that would be super helpful. And then if you can talk about that, just like you know, when it's like, don't even reach out. And then I'd love to hear about just some of the practicalities if you do need a lawyer about how things would work after you interview and decide on working with someone.

SPEAKER_02 30:03

Sure. Um, so when do you not need a lawyer? So, first of all, personal injury lawyers, 99.9% of them get paid on what's called a contingency fee basis. So this is very different than any sort of fee structure you'd ever have with any kind of attorney. Um, and what it means is they're gonna get paid as a percentage of the uh recovery. And the reason for that is that there's a lot of seriously injured people that can't afford attorneys. And so the only way for those people to hire attorneys is to do it on a contingency fee basis. And contingency fees usually range, you know, uh between a third to 40% of the total gross amount that your case settles for. Some not our firm, but some law firms go up as high as 50% the day they sign the case up for. So they really are in it to take as much money as possible. So I'm constantly telling people, you know what, you don't really need a lawyer for this. And it really comes down to money. If there's if your case, like let's say, I'll give a perfect example, rear end fender. You had to go to urgent care. You had one or two follow-ups with your primary care physician. Maybe you did a couple sessions of physical therapy and you had to take two or three days off work. It's clear the other person is responsible. You definitely have damages, but I'll be honest, those kind of injuries do not require an attorney. And you probably should not hire an attorney. You're still gonna have to get all your bills and all your medical records, and you're gonna have to go and negotiate directly with pushback carriers. Yeah. So you got to be a little savvy, and you know, maybe Chat GPT or Claude can kind of help be your, you know, pro voto attorney process, but you really don't need a lawyer. Like if your case is worth$10,000 and a lawyer is gonna take a third of it, they would need to get at least$15,000 for you to, you know, have an ROI on the fact you hired that lawyer. That's why the smaller the case, the less important it is to have an attorney because they're taking such a much larger chunk of what you'd be getting. Now, you know, I have had many cases where insurance adjusters are desperately trying to like offer somebody$25,000 and we get that person assessment figure settlement because, you know, that's what the case was really worth.

SPEAKER_01 32:37

Those are the people that need a lawyer, is when they're and you're gonna assess somebody reaches out to you or someone like you and says, here's my situation, and then you'll say, Hey, based on what I understand and all my experience seeing this day in, day out, go back and ask again for your medical bills to be covered versus like, I think I have a good case that could work out well for both of us. Yeah.

What Happens After You Sign

SPEAKER_02 33:00

And the other thing is you don't have to decide right away. You know, lawyers are really pushy trying to get you to sign up. Insurance adjusters, like one thing with insurance companies, like they'll start calling you and they'll like blow you up if you don't have an attorney. You know, as soon as you have a lawyer, the call stops. So that is one benefit of having an attorney, but that they'll want you to sign on the dotted line because a lot of people they are missing time off work. They're desperate. They want to like, you know, get some money right away. And so they sign, not really realizing how serious their injuries are. And again, I'm not here to give everybody uh, you know, all the law of personal injury, but just generally speaking, there's statute of limitations to file lawsuits. And at least in the state of California, the general statute of limitations is two years from the date of the incident. Um, and so when you have a situation where you're injured, some people may not realize the extent of their injury for several weeks, if not months. And so in those situations, you don't want to act too hastily because you might initially say, you know what, I don't feel that injured. I'm a little bit injured, but I'm not really that injured. And then all of a sudden, like that pain in your neck that you thought was just uh whiplash, it doesn't go away. And so then you get referred to a specialist, and lo and behold, you have a bulging dick disc, uh bulging disc in your neck, and then you know, your your treater or your specialist is recommending surgery. Well, in those cases, if you've taken the lowball offer from the insurance carrier because you were trying to save a buck because you didn't want to hire a lawyer, you are out of luck. If you've signed off and you've taken their$25,000 payment and your case is really worth half a million dollars because you didn't fully assess how injured you really are, that's the other risk to it. So I guess I would just also caution people that if you are injured in an accident, really give it several weeks, if not a few months, before you make that decision. And if you're talking to a good, reputable, quality, honest personal injury lawyer, they're gonna tell you that. They're gonna say, why don't you see how you feel in a month? And somebody from my staff is gonna reach back out to you and check in on you because you may not need a lawyer. So let's let's circle back on that on a month, which is what I do all the time. But, you know, they're not going anywhere. They're gonna, if your case is a big case, they'll sign you up in a month uh or two. So you might also consider that, just seeing how things are playing out before you do anything too drastic in terms of trying to resolve the case quickly.

SPEAKER_01 35:40

And then what happens, like let's say that you found an attorney you like and they've assessed that this could be a case and it makes sense to sign up. What can you expect from there? Because I know it's not an immediate, like, oh, they made a phone call and then here's your check. How does how do things go from there all the way from, you know, a better offer or settlement to a trial?

SPEAKER_02 36:03

Yeah, that's a really good question. So it's a long process. Basically, the the lawyer needs to be assured that either, you know, I taught there's something called, you know, like a perfect recovery. You know, you have a serious accident and you've had a perfect recovery. You've gotten back to exactly the person you were before the accident. Your right is right. That's how I describe it. A lot of people that experience serious injuries, they have what's called an imperfect recovery. They recover to a degree, but maybe they're not the same person they were before, and maybe they never will be. Maybe your brain injury healed, but your brain injury, you still have residuals that are permanent. Maybe you had to have a knee surgery and you can walk on your knee, but you can you're, you know, a super commit, you know, competitive. You're not back on the soccer field.

SPEAKER_01 36:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

Soccer field. You're not skiing like you used to, and it's really affecting your mental health because you love that outdoor activity, whatever it might be. So that's what we would call an imperfect recovery. So lawyers generally they want to know you're either number one done treating completely and you've had that perfect right as reign recovery, and then they can best assess what your case is worth. Or that's what lawyers should be doing. Um, or you get to appoint your treatment, and this is in consultation with experts and your treaters, and carefully reviewing your medical records and consultation with you about how you're doing, there's an appreciation that you're going to have an imperfect recovery. And that's the point at which a good personal injury lawyer is really best suited to be able to evaluate your case and get you the best outcome. So, you know, people always get anxious. They're like, I signed up with you, and this is taking so long. Now I have to file a lawsuit, and now they want to do my deposition. And why does everybody need every single page of my medical bills? It's part of the process. And a good lawyer will obviously explain it all to you, and so you can be prepared and you know what to expect. But it is a long process, unfortunately.

Umbrella Coverage And Protecting Your Assets

SPEAKER_01 38:15

Well, I appreciate your insight in taking us behind the scenes of the way an attorney thinks about um personal injury, as well as I know some of you listening hopefully don't have this situation, but may have a friend who needs help and you can refer back, you know, to kind of these lessons. As we wrap things up, I just can't emphasize enough both how valuable insurance can be for um, you know, it it really does make part of the risk world go around. And so do pay attention to what coverages you have. One of the things we didn't mention that is can be important is umbrella liability insurance as well, that protects you if the um the results of an injury or an accident exceed your coverages from your other policies, including auto and homeowners policy. Um, have you had those types of policies kick in for your clients in um past situations? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 39:17

This is a place where you really need to look at the line items of what an umbrella coverage actually covers, because a lot of umbrella coverages do not offer uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. So you could have a million dollars in an umbrella, but it doesn't cover you beyond your auto policy. So you really need, again, read the policies, work with a good broker. I think the other thing about umbrellas that really comes up more in my practice, and just people or you know, people listening should really be thinking about inverse of what we've been talking about, which is what if you really hurt somebody else? I mean, nobody nobody's driving down the freeway and thinks they're gonna cause a catastrophic car accident where God forbid somebody dies or has very, very serious injuries. Accidents happen every single day. And it's like all of a sudden in a snap of your fingers, your life has changed if you've injured somebody else. And that's really usually where umbrella coverages become so important. Absolutely. And I'm gonna tell uh your listeners something they may not realize, which is you know, assuming the police responded to the accident and there's a police report, well, your address is in there, and if it's not in there, there's ways that the lawyer representing the injured party can get your address. And um, the first thing that they do is go on Zillow or Redfin and see how much your house is worth. So if you have poor insurance and you're listening to this, and you know, you didn't kind of do that insurance audit, and all of a sudden something terrible happens and you have more of a minimal policy, you're putting your whole state at risk. And so that's where umbrella policies really come in, again, as a financial hedge. A lot of times, if you injure somebody else. And the way that works is let's say you have half a million in auto policies. Again, I'm not trying to get too specific in that fault, there's no fault. You're not advising, it's just an example. I'm not advising. Yeah. So let's assume you have a half a million in auto policies, but this person is really catastrophically injured, and their case is worth 2.5 million. Um, it's not to say that a personal injury lawyer is gonna take your house necessarily. Most states have something called a homestead exemption, where like even if there was a judgment against you for$2 million, they couldn't force you to sell your primary residence. But I just want people to understand that you can't really like hide how much you are worth from a personal injury lawyer. They're gonna figure it out. Um, and if you're really poorly insured, they may expect you to make an individual contribution beyond your policy limits to settle the case. If they're representing somebody whose life is fundamentally changed because of an accident when you're responsible. So again, looking at that financial hedge for yourself in the inverse by making sure you have really good auto insurance. And then the way that happens is God forbid that happens, and the policy, the settlement is worth more than then your auto insurance policy limits. That's when umbrella coverages kick in. And so it's just an additional insurance. And usually you have to have good auto policies, at least here in California. Generally, you opt out 250,000 per person, half a million per incident as a minimal auto policy in order to even have an insurance company write an umbrella policy.

How To Reach Megan Burns

SPEAKER_01 42:47

I typically see the same in Michigan. So they're not the uh insurance company doesn't want to cover excess liability on a poorly protective policy. So they always look at that, and then it typically is tied as a rider to your your homeowner's policy. Well, that's absolutely correct. So, Megan, thank you so much for taking us, giving us these insights that are, I think, are unique and um, you know, uh a perspective that we don't hear every day. Um, and keep doing the great work that you do for your clients. Where can people find you? I know you're active on LinkedIn, um, but tell us just a little bit more. And for California listeners, Megan is um a practicing attorney in the Bay Area in California.

SPEAKER_02 43:38

So thanks, thanks, Melissa. You can go to our website, which is www.miradorlaw.com. And mirador is spelled M-I-R-A-D-O-R-L-A-W dot com. And for folks out there who don't speak Spanish, Mirador means a tower with an extensive view, which is how we see our work for our clients, a strategic. Visionaries in the law, which is why we picked an in-murder law. So you can visit us on our website, give us a call at 925-467-8484. I am only barred and licensed in the state of California. However, if there's somebody out there that is injured in another state, you know, I happen to know quite a few lawyers. So you're happy to reach out to me by email or by phone. And I'm happy to try to connect you to somebody who is actually licensed in your state. We primarily, actually exclusively handle cases in the state of California and mostly focus in Northern California.

SPEAKER_01 44:36

Excellent. Well, it's been an insightful discussion. And I know it's a rainy day when people really need to hear this episode, but there's so much value for those that are injured, but also for all of us who use insurance as a protective layer in our financial plan. Thanks again.

SPEAKER_00 45:16

Go to ProPlan.com and the podcast link to get all the resources and links mentioned. This presentation by Pro Planning is intended for general information purposes only. No portion of this presentation serves as the receipt of or a substitute for personal investment advice from Pro Planning or any other investment professional of your choosing. Copies of Pro Planning's current rent and disclosure brochure and from CRS discussing our advisory services and fees are available upon request or on our website platform at PerlPlan.com. The information that we share is meant to educate and inspire, not serve as personalized financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, so be sure to consult with your own financial professional for guidance that fits your life. And just so you know, the opinions shared in this podcast are Melissa's own and those of our guests. They don't necessarily represent any organizations with which Melissa is affiliated. For more important disclosures, please go to our webpage at proplan.com.