This webpage will discuss what’s wrong with the legal system in Hawaii regarding auto accident injury cases.

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There are many flaws with Hawaii’s legal system when it comes to the rights of those who have been injured in car crashes. Indeed, Hawaii is not the worst state in the country regarding the rights of those who have been injured; however, Hawaii’s legal system could use much improvement.

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The lobbying efforts of Hawaii injury lawyers over the past couple of decades have been very helpful when it comes to legislation designed to protect those who have been injured in accidents.  Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, they are against powerful, multi-billion dollar insurance companies.  

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These insurance companies no doubt spend much more time lobbying than Hawaii injury lawyers.  Their investment in these efforts over the years has yielded substantial results.

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One major flaw in our justice system is the requirement that those injured in auto accidents must accumulate at least $5,000 in medical payments paid by their No-Fault insurance.  

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Those who have been injured in accidents cannot file lawsuits in court unless they have met this requirement. Many times, this law results in accident victims not receiving any compensation for their injuries.

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Another big problem with the legal system in Hawaii is that when there is a settlement for injuries, the medical insurance companies expect to be reimbursed for the bills they paid.  This is a sad scenario when the settlement is not very substantial but the health insurance company expects to take a considerable percentage of the settlement funds.  

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The “make whole doctrine” should apply, meaning that if a settlement is insufficient to compensate a victim for their injuries fully, then the medical insurance companies can’t take part of the settlement.  

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Unfortunately, many judges in Hawaii don’t apply this doctrine. As a result, billion-dollar insurance companies receive compensation while the victims receive very little compensation for their injuries.

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Another injustice in the Hawaii legal system is that the court system makes it very costly for injury victims to pursue their claims in court.  The vast insurance companies don’t mind paying lawyers to fight claims in court for years.  They don’t mind paying all the costs of litigation.  These costs, which amount to thousands of dollars in each case, are trivial for large insurance companies; however, these costs can be a heavy burden for injured people of limited means.

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The covered loss deductible is one of the worst parts of the legal system in Hawaii.  The covered loss deductible in auto accident cases reduces arbitration and jury awards by up to $10,000.  An arbitrator or jury often doesn’t even realize their prize will be reduced under the law by $10,000.  

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When we settle cases, it is always for the “net of the CLD”; however, when a case is in arbitration or trial, the covered loss deductible can drastically reduce the amount that the injury victim receives.  

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Are Hawaii Juries Fair?

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Our clients ask us this question when they are trying to decide whether to accept a settlement offer or take their case to a jury trial.  

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The first thing to keep in mind is that most people on a jury have not been injured in an accident before.  Most of them will not understand how much an auto accident injury can disrupt one’s life.  They will have a hard time understanding how upsetting and stressful an auto accident can be.  They will not understand how long the court process is and what you have been through with your physical injury, as well as the mental and emotional pain that you may experience due to your injuries and the long claims process.

 

The next thing to remember is that the general public does not favor injury lawsuits.  For decades the media has tried to convince the public that people who claim they have been injured in car accidents are probably just faking it.  For years, there have been jokes about the lady who sued McDonald’s because she was burned by their hot coffee.  Countless movies and television shows poke fun at people who are faking injuries to get money.  Constant media reports are pointing out people who intentionally fall in stores or stop their cars quickly to cause an accident and fake an injury.  

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One thing to remember when it comes to juries, and people in general, is that most people act out of self-preservation.  By this, we mean that most people will make decisions that benefit themselves.  In the case of a jury trial, most jury members think that injury lawsuits are why their insurance premiums are high.  This false assumption will often lead juries to not award significant jury awards to people who are injured in accidents.  Of course, juries don’t understand that their insurance premiums are high due to the insane amounts of money that insurance companies spend on advertising and the large amounts of money they spend on insurance adjustors and lawyers to avoid paying people what they owe them for their injuries.

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Another potential problem with juries in Hawaii is that many people serving on juries are losing money by being there because they aren’t able to go to work.  Some employers allow their employees to serve on juries and not lose pay.  Unfortunately, many self-employed people own businesses and are losing a lot of money by serving on a jury.  Juries do receive a very small stipend, but it is nothing compared to how much they are losing from being unable to work.  Because many jurors are unhappy due to losing income, they aren’t usually in the mood to award significant jury awards.  

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These are some of the issues that we discuss with clients when they ask if juries are fair.  It’s not that we want to be hostile or encourage them not to take their case to a jury trial, but we want them to know some of the obstacles they are going up against.  People must step back and realize that the whole world is not on their side, ready to award them significant jury awards.  Each jury member walks into the room with their own biases and personalities, which can either help or hurt you in your injury lawsuit.  Of course, we do everything we can to overcome a jury’s biases and concerns to obtain the best possible jury award for our clients.

 

One of the complicated parts of an injury case in Hawaii is medical liens. Most of us have health insurance, and we think that our health insurance company pays the bills they receive and will never ask to be reimbursed for bills they’ve paid. This assumption is usually valid; however, one exception is when you’ve been involved in an auto accident in Hawaii. The medical insurance companies in Hawaii, such as HMSA, Kaiser, and HMAA, have clauses in their insurance contracts that state that if you’ve been injured in an accident and you receive compensation for those injuries, then you have to pay them back for the bills that they’ve paid. The initial reaction by most people is that this isn’t right. You pay your health insurance premiums, expect your insurance company to pay the bills, and not ask to be reimbursed when settling your injury case. We can also look at it from the medical insurance company’s point of view: they lost money because of the impaired driver, so they think they have the right to be compensated for their losses.

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These health insurance companies hire collection companies to get the money back they’ve spent on someone’s injuries due to an accident. The agents for the collection companies receive commissions based on how much they get back from the health insurance companies. One of the techniques used by the collection companies is to do anything they can to get information about the car insurance companies involved in the case. Their main goal is to place a lien on the case with the car insurance companies. Once a lien is placed on the case, the car insurance adjusters won’t settle the case unless the injured person agrees to have them take out the medical lien amount from their settlement proceeds and pay the collection company the amount they’ve requested.

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We do everything we can to get the collection companies to discount the amounts they request. If the collection company has placed the car insurance company on notice of their lien, getting them to reduce their lien is very difficult. This is because they know that they are in a position of power. They know the case can’t be settled until their lien is resolved. In these situations, they will usually only reduce their lien by about 10 percent at the most. If the collection company hasn’t placed the car insurance company on notice, we are in a much better position to get them to reduce their lien amount. This is because they know that we’re in the position of power. When we settle the case, the client usually requests that we hold funds from the settlement in our client trust account to resolve the outstanding liens. We can then take as much time as we need to get the collection company to reduce their lien. In these situations, we usually get them to reduce their lien by about one-third.

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This is an area of law that is constantly changing. A recent Hawaii Supreme Court decision greatly limited the ability of health insurance companies to get compensation for the medical bills that they paid. Whether the health insurance plan is an ERISA plan or not makes a big difference in how much medical bills must be paid back.

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Medical liens from Med-Quest (Department of Health Services) are supported by statute, but the good thing about Quest liens is that they must be reduced by one-third. Quest liens are known as super liens because statutory law requires that they are paid back.

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Medical liens from Medicaid, Medicare, and Tricare are also considered super liens because federal law requires that they are paid.

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Each health insurance company and government agency has different processes and procedures for requesting reductions and paying back liens.