Legal Question in Personal Injury in Hawaii

Re: Pain and suffering

You may bring a claim for negligence against the driver who injured you if you have incurred at least $5,000.00 in medical expenses or have a significant and permanent injury. Please call me at 526-4000 ext. 206 if you have further questions on this matter. Sincerely, T.J. Lane

Re: P & S from lawson @ aloha.com

Hawaii is a no-fault jurisdiction with a $5,000 medical expense threshold

(in a typical case) before a personal claim can be pursued against another

negligent driver. This means that usually unless you reach $5,000 in

related medical payments after your car accident- you will probably be

unable to make a successful claim (for lost wages- or anything else- except

the damage to your car) against the other driver involved in your accident

(or his/her liability insurance carrier). Other ways of meeting this

threshold include- death, an injury which consists -in whole or in part- in

a significant permanent loss of use of a part or function of the body,

permanent and serious disfigurement which subjects the injured person to

mental or emotional suffering, etc.- but these come up much more rarely.

There is supposed to be a minimum of $10,000 PIP medical coverage which is a no-fault coverage available through

the insurance on the vehicle in which you were riding. This coverage will

pay (in accordance with the worker's compensation medical fee schedule) for

your medical treatment arising out of your MVA without regard to whether or

not you were at fault in causing the accident in question. This type of

coverage generally no longer provides coverage for wage loss. You should check with

your employer, however, as there may be TDI or WC coverage available for your lost

earnings through TDI or WC.

You still can make whatever claims you wish on the collision damage to your vehicle even if you cannot claim P&S until the threshold is met. However, you will have an uphill battle obtaining damages for the value of another vehicle- you get the value of the one you lost.

Please be aware that there are deadlines which apply to the filing of your

claims/case in court. If your claims are against a county, you may have a 6 month deadline to meet as well. If you do not meet these deadlines, your claims may be lost, regardless of their merit. Please act accordingly.

Re: Pain and suffering

I am sorry to hear of your ordeal. To answer your question, yes you can sue for pain and suffering. However, in order to sue for pain and suffering arising out of a car accident in Hawaii you must first incur at least $5,000.00 in medical expenses or have suffered a seriously permanent injury or disfigurement of some type. You should know that well over 90% of Hawaii car accident claims are settled without having to file any lawsuit. Therefore there is a strong likelihood that your claim can be settled without having to file any lawsuit. This is especially true given that the other driver is clearly at fault. With regard to your property damage loss for your vehicle, you can also file suit for this. You can file this action regardless of the amount of your medical expenses. Unfortunately, the law provides that the negligent driver (or his insurance company) need only compensate you for the fair market value of your vehicle, which usually results in you not receiving enough to replace your car with a similar year, make and model vehicle.

Feel free to call me at 523-3777 for a free no obligation consultation. Good luck to you.