Seeking contingency insurance attorney can you help?
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Seeking contingency insurance attorney can you help?
I am a disabled 54-year-old female due to an auto accident in 1994. Recently my auto carrier paid a construction company directly to provide ADA bathroom which including redoing my water therapy that I have been in and they have always paid for since 1998. The contractor received the money in October 2017 from the insurance company directly and quit approximately 2 days later leaving the bathroom gutted and unsafe. Do to the 3 different levels of flooring left in that bathroom and the nature of my disability I lost balance and fell through open framing needing more surgery. The insurance company took responsibility for the bills due to the injuries because I fell in what should have been my ADA compliant bathroom which was kind. After unable to get the bathroom done due to numerous violations of that contractor and the insurance unwillingness to help with the bathroom at that time, my condition progressively started worsening and now need dwelling modifications or housing that accommodates wheelchair as well as therapy. I have been doing everything the insurance has requested of me since my surgeon and doctors have been letting the insurance know that this is urgently needed and the longer they take the worse I get and that it may be harder to get back to a good functioning level delaying their request. This has been going on for several months now. I found a contractor that was will do the medical modifications to my home and accept less than 30 down as long as the rest of their standard fee schedule was met. The insurance has stated that they will only pay a certain amount a year and that If I can’t find a contractor to take payments, they can’t help me. I tried to explain to them that there is no contracting company willing to accept payments for 10 years for the work that is needed and the corrections that need to be done due to the last contractor they paid directly. They did not care even though there are more than enough funds available on my policy to pay for my medical need for the modifications and still more available to take care of medical requirements for another 15 years afterward. I am on a fixed income and cant afford the modifications required and they know that. Can someone please help?
Asked on May 15, 2019 under Insurance Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
To find an attorney, all you can do is contact lawyers and ask if they will take this case on contingency--you can get lists of lawyers through your state and country bar associations, or simply "Google" them. But you can't make attorneys take a case on contingency, and they will only do so if it is worth their while--that is, their share (generally around 30%) of any amounts won will be large to make it worth their time, worth waiting potentially months or years (until the case is done and any appeals over with), and take the chance of getting nothing at all--since no case is certain, and if you lose, the lawyer will get nothing.
I am a NJ attorney and will not even consider contingency cases where less than $150,000 is at stake--and even a $150k case, I'd only consider if I think it is strong and likely to be resolved sooner rather than later. If you're only talking a few tens of thousands of dollars, you are unlikely to find a lawyer wiling to take this on contingency.
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