Personal Injury Attorneys in Hawaii

SUMMARY: Personal Injury Attorneys in HawaiiHiring a personal injury attorney can not only help you negotiate with your insurance company, but can also help you seek compensation via a lawsuit when you've passed the threshold set by your state's no-fault insurance laws.

NOTE: The content of this website is intended solely for informational purposes. It is not a source of legal advice and should not be used as such.

Why Hire a HI Personal Injury Attorney?

If you've been the victim of a car crash, you're stressed enough. And if you're in pain, the last thing you will want to do is fight with insurance companies and their battalion of examiners.

Not only do personal injury attorneys serve as a buffer, but they also work to get you as much money as possible under Hawaii's no-fault laws. They can also help determine how much are entitled to when you include losses like pain and suffering, and lost wages that are difficult to calculate and often ignored by auto insurance adjusters.

Hawaii's No-Fault Auto Insurance Laws

Hawaii is a no-fault car insurance state, which in most cases makes it more difficult to sue and be sued after an auto accident.

Part of the no-fault coverage involves purchasing personal insurance protection (PIP). In Hawaii, the minimum PIP you're required to be covered for is $10,000, and this is designed to pay your medical bills in case of an accident.

This does not mean if you are injured in a car accident (that is, you've suffered personal injury) that you have no recourse if you run through that amount. Unlike in tort insurance states, Hawaii's no-fault laws seek to set levels of damage that need to be met before you move further into the legal system to seek further restitution. These levels are known as thresholds.

Once you've reached the state's thresholds for injury and/or medical bills, you'll be able to file a lawsuit and go to court. A personal injury attorney can advise you when you're able to seek restitution in court and file a lawsuit for you.

Verbal vs. Monetary Thresholds

There are two types of thresholds in the world of no-fault insurance:

  • Some states rely on the verbal threshold. This threshold defines what a serious injury is in plain language. If your injuries fit the definition, then you may have a case.
  • The second threshold, and the one you will encounter in Hawaii, is the monetary threshold. This simply means that in order to be allowed to sue for personal injury caused to you, your medical bills must reach a certain monetary figure. In Hawaii, that figure is $5,000.

Considering your minimum PIP is $10,000, the $5,000 number seems rather misleading. This is where things get murky―you're entering attorney territory. That's because part of the threshold figure is for the hard-to-define pain and suffering aspects of the bodily injury.

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