Getting annoying and unsolicited calls from attorneys or doctors after you have been involved in a car wreck is illegal in most states. Many attorneys and doctors pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to advertise only to be undermined by unethical attorneys or doctors who use illegal runners to contact potential clients or injured parties. I can’t say for sure if its a epidemic issue, i know in some areas of the country it may even be legal. A good rule of thumb to follow is if you did not call them, they should not be calling you.
Calls from doctors or attorneys
At one time, i was a legal investigator for a large law firm here in Georgia. We would see clients, get accident reports, fill out paperwork, etc. I can remember meeting a client at Atlanta PD to pick up an accident report and go over it with her. There was a nice dressed gentleman standing outside of the records department approaching people as they left. How do i know this, he approached me asking me if i needed any legal help with my auto accident. I asked him which attorney he worked for and he fell silent.
If you are solicited by anyone, ask them which attorney or doctor would be representing you, or treating you in your auto accident. The majority of the time if they called you, they will hang up. If they approached you in person, they won’t tell you.
These runners are paid for a every signed case delivered. They are paid a dollar amount per case they bring in. This necessarily does not mean you will get bad representation, but if they will cheat the system, what makes you think they won’t cheat you.
We have been hearing a lot of complaints about Doctors or representatives of doctors office calling auto accident victims. In one case in Douglasville, GA i was actually meeting with a client when a doctor’s office called, the client told me what was going on and i told her to hand me the phone. I explained who i was and wanted to know who they were, the abruptly hung up. In another case a illegal runner actually went to the clients house and knocked on the door. As said earlier, a good rule of thumb is if you did not call them, they should not be calling you.
Doctors
Pip or personal injury protection can bring out the worst in people. Doctors would call you in those states because they are guaranteed payment for their services rendered. They bill your auto insurance company for those services. Call it greed, if you will. These doctors dont care about you, they care about your PIP. They wont you to come in and treat with them so they can exhaust your pip benefits and send you on your way then go look for another victim. You should never treat with a doctor that calls you directly.
Florida is trying to change the law as we speak to get rid of personal injury protection. One reason is the high cost of auto insurance and the corruption that comes with having pip. Since 2015, rates have gone up 25.7 percent. Meanwhile, all liability coverage has gone up 23.4 percent the past two years in FL. Doctors and attorneys have staged accidents to be able to treat and represent people who were paid to stage these accidents. Do you think Doctors or attorneys who stage accidents are looking out for your best interest.
How do they get my phone number
They can get your phone number from a number of places. A lot of people dont understand how this happens, i tell you how it happens, it’s called cash. Everyone who has been involved in your accident from the officer who wrote up the police report to the er nurse who treated you is suspect. A records clerk was arrested out of Dekalb county for selling police reports to an illegal runner.
There are a number of ways to get your contact information
- Police officer
- Tow truck driver
- Health care professional
- Records clerk
- Friends
- other parties related directly to the accident
I personally have never heard of an officer doing such a thing, but it is possible. These people sell your information to a runner who then uses this information to start calling you or soliciting you. The calls themselves never come from an attorney or doctor directly. They want to insulate themselves from this type of activity. They generally use a third party individual with no ties to here office to do the calling.
Many accident victims dont know who they can trust after they have been bombarded with unsolicited calls. Many ethical attorneys and doctors spend thousands of dollars advertising trying to bring in new business. There job and their future are far more important to them than making a quick buck.
What can you do if this happens to you
As said earlier, if you did not call them, they should not be calling you. This is always the best rule to follow because if you did not call them, how did they get your information? Now, if you call a doctors office or an attorney’s office and they call you back, even if you change your mind, they can still call you. They spent a lot of money to get that phone to ring so they will aggressively pursue anyone who calls it. Now keep in mind, in some states it’s not illegal for a doctor or attorney to call you after an accident.
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