Getting an Injury Settlement is No Wining Lottery Ticket.
Expert actuary will quickly show just how large a victims injury may be
Medical Debt = Bankruptcy Fuel
You don’t have to be a economist to see the connection between medical debt, bankruptcy.There are two primary reasons these people go bankrupt. They either can’t get health insurance, or they can’t get their insurance company to cover their medical bills .A 2009 Harvard study showed a 50% rise in medical bankruptcy (bankruptcies linked to illness and medical bills) between 2001 and 2009. More often than not, the peopled who filed for personal bankruptcy actually had health insurance — but it wouldn’t cover their bills.
The first cycle starts as the victuim uses up his savings and assets to pay the bills. Then he uses up his creidit and his credit goes bad. A person with bad credit is viewed with suspicion and is charged significantly more for becouse of the procived greater risk of default,”.
victims are offtin especially distraught over Their loss of reputation, having done nothing wrong exset get hurt. Credit carefully nurtured for years, is destroyed overnight. At this point paying the bills becomes imposible and collection starts.
Out of Control Debt
Counseling services are available to help people having trouble budgeting money and paying bills. Credit unions, cooperative extension offices, military family service centers and religious organizations are among those that may offer free or low-cost credit counseling.
Local, nonprofit agencies that provide educational programs on money management and help in developing debt payment plans operate under the name Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS). They are members of the National Foundation for Consumer Credit (NFCC). To locate the agency closest to you, call 1-800-388-2227 or visit www.nfcc.org.
Several national nonprofit organizations also provide information and assist people with debt problems via the phone and Internet.
- American Consumer Credit Counseling. Visit www.consumercredit.com or call 800-769-3571
- InCharge Institute of America. Visit www.incharge.org or call 1-800-565-8953.
- Money Management International. Visit www.moneymanagement.org or call 1-866-899-9347.
- Myvesta. Visit www.myvesta.org or call 1-800-680-DEBT.
Typically, a counseling service will negotiate lower payments with your creditors, then make the payments using money you send to them each month. The cost of setting up this debt-management plan is paid by the creditor not you. Ask these questions to find the best counselor for you:
- What services do you offer? Look for an organization that offers budget counseling and money management classes as well as a debt-management plan.
- Do you offer free information? Avoid organizations that charge for information or make you provide a lot of details about your problem first.
- What are your fees? Are there set-up and/or monthly fees? A typical set-up fee is $10. If you're paying a lot more, you may be the one who's getting set up.
- How will the debt management plan work? What debts can be included in the plan and will you get regular reports on your accounts?
- Can you get my creditors to lower or eliminate my interest and fees? If the answer is yes, contact your creditors to verify this.
- What if I can't afford to pay you? If an organization won't help you because you can't afford to pay, go somewhere else for help.
- Will you help me avoid future problems? Getting a plan for avoiding future debt is as important as solving the immediate debt problem.
- Will we have a contract? All verbal promises should be in writing before you pay any money.
- Are your counselors accredited or certified? Legitimate credit counseling firms are affiliated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies.
Unfortunately, honest credit counselors have a lot of rivals who are more interested in taking your money than helping you. They can do more harm than good. Red flags are:
- Big upfront fees. A reputable credit counseling agency will send free information about itself and the services it provides without requiring you to provide any details about your situation.
- Unrealistic promises. Some companies falsely claim they can solve problems for pennies on the dollar or remove negative information from your credit record.
Check with your local consumer protection agency and the Better Business Bureau to see if any complaints have been filed about the company.
Debt Collection
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to those who collect debts owed to creditors for personal, family and household debts. These include car loans, mortgages, charge accounts and money owed for medical bills. A debt collector is someone hired to collect money you owe.
Within five days after a debt collector first contacts you, the collector must send you a notice that tells you the name of the creditor, how much you owe, and what action to take if you believe you don't owe the money.
If you owe the money or part of it, contact the creditor to arrange for payment.
If you believe you don't owe the money, contact the creditor in writing and send a copy to the collection agency with a letter telling them not to contact you. A debt collector may not:
- Contact you at unreasonable times, for example, before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree;
- Contact you at work if you tell the debt collector your employer disapproves;
- Contact you after you write a letter telling them to stop—except to notify you if the collector or creditor plans to take a specific action;
- Contact your friends, relatives, employer or others—except to find out where you live and work;
- Harass you through threats to harm you, profane language or repeated telephone calls;
- Make any false statement, or claim that you will be arrested; or
- Threaten to have money deducted from your paycheck or to sue you—unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so and it is legal.
To file a complaint, contact your state or local consumer protection agency and the Federal Trade Commission.
For over 30 years, the Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) has been a trusted one-stop source for information about consumer problems and government services. FCIC distributes and helps produce a variety of government publications, including the Consumer Action Handbook and its website. To provide you with the most up-to-date information possible, FCIC watches emerging consumer issues and regularly reviews new information from Federal agencies and consumer organizations. FCIC provides information through a variety of outlets:
By Phone: Call toll-free 1 (800) FED-INFO and speak to specially trained staff who can answer questions in English and Spanish about all aspects of the Federal government. Call between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern Time to speak to a live agent. Recorded information on popular topics is available around the clock. You can also search our online knowledgebase at www.info.gov.
Online:
- USA.gov - USA.gov is the “Front Door” to government information, services, and transactions. This site pulls together more than 180 million Federal, state, and local government web pages. Here, citizens can get easy-to-understand information and services from the government 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can also use an e-mail form to send questions and comments in English and Spanish for a response within two business days.
- Pueblo.gsa.gov - At www.pueblo.gsa.gov, consumers can read, print out, or save the current Consumer Information Catalog and the full text of all the publications listed in it. Consumers can access additional information on a wide range of subjects by clicking on different topic headings.
- Kids.gov - Kids.gov is the official interagency children’s portal to the U.S. government. The site features more than 400 kid-friendly links in one easy-to-find place. The links are safe and age-appropriate. Kids can learn about everything from fighting crime and exploring the world to music and space.
In Print: FCIC also publishes both the Consumer Action Handbook and the Consumer Information Catalog, which lists more than 200 free and low-cost Federal booklets. Topics include health, Federal benefits, money management, housing, employment, small business, education, food and nutrition, cars, travel, consumer protection and more.
Bankruptcy Has Become Harder for Injury Victims
Recovering Damages
Today, there are legally accepted means for measuring loss of credit through the procedure of Credit Damage Measurement (CDM). CDM is fast becoming a potent tool for recoverable credit damage awards when the damage is not self-inflicted. Previously, both judge and jury, and especially the insurance companies, refused to acknowledge CDM claiming it was speculative because they could not define it as tangible damage. However, in case after case, victims of credit damage who use the CDM method are getting compensation for credit loss. Many factors are changing the old mindset including credit bureau technology improvements, the application of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), risk scoring sophistication, and the development of CDM as an objective, repeatable method that measures out-of-pocket damage reliably.
New Living Standards Rule
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) (Pub.L. 109-8, 119 Stat. 23, enacted April 20, 2005), was a law enacting several significant changes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. It was passed by the 109th United States Congress on April 14, 2005 and signed into law by President George W. Bush on April 20, 2005. Most provisions of the act apply to cases filed on or after October 17, 2005. Referred to colloquially as the "New Bankruptcy Law", the Act of Congress attempts to, among other things, make it more difficult for some consumers to file bankruptcy under Chapter 7; some of these consumers may instead utilize Chapter 13.
Means test
Only debtors whose monthly income is higher than the median income of their state, as calculated by the Code, are subject to being found abusive under § 707(b)(2). Debtors whose income falls below the median income figure may be in violation of the means test, however no party is permitted to file a motion in order to find abuse under § 707(b)(2), [see 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(7)]. This creates a means test "safe harbor" for debtors below the state's median income figure.
Current monthly income is defined in 11 U.S.C. § 101(10A) as the monthly average of the income received by the debtor (and the debtor’s spouse in a joint case) during a defined six-month time period prior to the filing of the bankruptcy case. Some narrow classes of payments, for example, social security, are excluded from these figures. Notably, the average income may be higher or lower than the debtor's actual income at the time of filing for bankruptcy. This has led some commentators to refer to the bankruptcy code’s “current monthly income” as “presumed income.” It should be noted that if the debtor's debt is not primarily consumer debt, then the means test is inapplicable.
The applicable median income figure is adjusted by family size. Generally, the larger the family, the greater the applicable median income figure and the more money the debtor must earn before a presumption of abuse arises. A chart of the most recent applicable median incomes by state can be found at the US Trustee’s website.[3]
This code section then requires a comparison between the debtor’s “current monthly income” and the median income for the debtor’s state. If the debtor’s income exceeds the median income, then the debtor must apply the means test.
For debtors subject to the means test, the test is calculated as follows. The debtor's “current monthly income” is reduced by a set of allowed deductions specified by the IRS. These deductions are not necessarily the actual expenses the debtor incurs on a monthly basis. Some commentators have referred to these deductions as “presumed expenses.”
The deductions applicable in the “means test” are defined in 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(2)(A), (ii)-(iv) and include:
- living expenses specified under the ‘’collection standards of the Internal Revenue Service,’’
- actual expenses not provided by the Internal Revenue Standards including “reasonably necessary health insurance, disability insurance, and health savings account expenses,”
- expenses for protection from family violence,
- continued contributions to care of nondependent family members,
- actual expenses of administering a chapter 13 plan,
- expenses for grade and high school, up to $1,500 annually per minor child provided that the expenses are reasonable and necessary,
- additional home energy costs in addition to those laid out in the IRS guidelines that are reasonable and necessary,
- 1/60th of all secured debt that will become due in the five years after the filing of the bankruptcy case,
- 1/60th of all priority debt, and
- continued contributions to tax-exempt charities.
An itemized list of the applicable IRS living standards can be found at the US Trustee’s website.[3]
A “presumption of abuse” will arise if: (1) the debtor has at least $166.67 in current monthly income available after the allowed deductions (this equals $10,000 over five years) regardless of the amount of debt, or (2) the debtor has at least $100 of such income ($6,000 over five years) and this sum would be enough to pay general unsecured creditors more than 25% over five years. For example, if a debtor had exactly $100 of “current monthly income” left after deductions and owed less than $24,000 in general unsecured debt, then the presumption of abuse would arise, [see 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(2)(A)(i)].
If a presumption of abuse is found under the means test, it may only be rebutted in the case of "special circumstances", [see 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(2)(B)].
There is Hope, If You Have Wrongly been Dined a Settlement
Until recently lawyers for victims of credit damage had little possibility to collect for damages beyond medical treatment, lost wages and property loss. Insurance companies threw up their hands in sympathy, claiming victims can only be compensated for what can be measured — tangible goods and services. But, what happens when the victim has lost considerable time from work, the family bank is broke and monthly payments on mortgages, car loans and credit cards payments are missed? Regardless of the haggling between lawyers and insurance companies, it’s the credit victim who ends up having to live with a bad credit rating.
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