Irene Gabo on the Morning Show at Davidzon Radio – July 12, 2021
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How do I know which company insures the vehicle which hit my car? I only have a plate, police never came to make the report
If you look at the police report, where is a section under your name and your address that lists the plate number of the other vehicle, its year, make and model. Then next to the vehicle type you will see a three digit code, which would be the insurance code. If the code is for the State of New York vehicle department of financial services website, www.dfs.ny.gov would have a listing of all the insurance codes and corresponding insurance company names. Of course your attorney would be able to ascertain that information for you as well and notify the correct insurance company of the claim.
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I was hit crossing the street by a red car which kept driving. Someone called an ambulance and I was taken to the hospital and police came to the hospital. What do I do now? I don’t know the information for the car
Assuming there are no video cameras in the area that can help identify the vehicle that hit you, the next question is whether you have a car in your household. If there is a car registered to your home, lets say its your wife’s, any claim for damages sustained by you as a result of a hit and run will have to be made against that vehicle’s insurance company. If there are no vehicles in the household, a claim with all proper documentation must be made to the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation, or MVAIC, which is in agency in New York that insures those who were victims of hit and run accidents and have no insurance of their own. The agency provides coverage of up to $25,000.00 and they will pay for your medical benefits. Remember, you have 30 days to submit an application for your medical bills to be paid.
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I fell in a restaurant on Emmons, the stairs didn’t have a handrail on one side. Do I have a case?
It depends on several factors including if you were injured and how serious. But most important is to be able to prove that the staircase was wide enough to need rails on both sides. Typically if the stairs are over 48 inches in width, there have to be handrails on both sides, but there are exceptions. Also, an attorney can look at the department of building permits and see if the restaurant owners even had a permit to build these stairs or if the stairs are put there without a permit. An attorney can also see if there were any violations or complaints issued against the restaurant concerning the staircase or the handrail.
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My friend tripped over a ladder during work at a construction site and was hurt, but there are many subcontractors, we don’t know who owned the ladder. Can you help?
First of all have your friend consult the attorney right away, because the fall of the ladder cases tend to be most complicated, and right away the demand letter to preserve a ladder must be sent not only to the landlord, but to all contractors and subcontractors. You need them to admit, preferably before expensive litigation, whose ladder it was, so eventually an engineer can take a look at the ladder.
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Our son was riding a bicycle and was hit by a car. It seems it was partially his fault. Do we report to our insurance company in the household or just deal with the other car??
It really depends on the injuries your son sustained and the amount of insurance the car that hit your son has. For example, if the car is insured for the basic $25,000 and your son needed surgery, obviously $25,000 is not enough to cover the loss, and if you have a vehicle in your household that has full collision, like $100,000 for example or you have whats called an umbrella insurance, you 100% need to report it. Why? Because if you don’t report it and don’t get their consent to settle with the other car you may be precluded to later go against your own car because you didn’t give them timely notice and get their permission to settle, which is a requirement in New York.
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I was in Tatyana last weekend on boardwalk and when I left I tripped and fell over a raised board and fractured my nose. I didn’t go to the hospital til few days later because I may have had too much to drink. Can I still sue them. I think I fell because of the board not the alcohol.?
The wooden boards on the boardwalk are owned and maintained by the City of New York, so within 90 days of your accident a notice must be sent in writing to the City of New York notifying them of the claim. I don’t know what the hospital record says about how you fell, but I doubt it will mention alcohol since you went few days later. In about 3 months of you sending notice to the City of New York you will be called to give testimony under oath of how the accident takes place and you will be asked if you had anything to drink 24 hours prior to the accident and how much. Your testimony will affect your degree of fault. If you had one to two glasses of wine at dinner, that should be ok.
