North Carolina Injury Lawyers Blog

North Carolina Department of Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin announced Tuesday that after an investigation into Safeco's operations from 2006-2008, the agency had found that many of it's policyholders statewide had been overcharged. Those affected were not just automobile, but also homeowner and dwelling policies.

The NCDOI states that the main issue for the automobile overcharging were due to a miscalculation in the Safe Driver Insurance Point system (SDIP). Over 2400 automobile policies were refunded the largest portion of the funds, totaling in at $631,080.33.

The second highest payout was made to new business homeowner, this also was affected due to a rating that Safeco has wrongly implemented. Some 8200 individuals were refunded over $360,000.00 for this mistake. Finally, new business dwelling fire was the least affected by this investigation with only 497 policies being affected resulting in about $55,000.00 in refunds.

Continue reading "Safeco Insurance Company Forced to Refund $1 Million To Overcharged Policyholders" »

On Thursday evening, a 3 year old Charlotte boy was struck by a white Cadillac in East Charlotte while crossing the roadway. The child, unidentified, is in critical condition at Carolinas Medical Center.

The incident took place on Monroe Road near East Mecklenburg High. It has been reported that the toddler and his mother had just departed a CATS bus. The toddler broke free from his mother's hand and ran out into the roadway where he was struck by a white Cadillac. Witnesses have told Charlotte Mecklenburg Police officials that the driver of the Cadillac was a black male in his 20's with a medium build around 6 feet tall. It was reported that there were two women passengers in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Witnesses have stated that the driver and two female passengers, exited the vehicle, looked around the scene for a couple of minutes and then drove off when bystanders began tending to the injured child. The driver and vehicle remain at large.

Continue reading "Charlotte Child Struck by Vehicle in Hit & Run Accident" »

After a deadly accident in Virginia on Tuesday, the Federal government cracked down on the bus charter company rendering them virtually inoperable. The accident, which killed 4 individuals and injured more than 50 others was one of the most severe bus accidents in recent history. The bus which was en route from Greensboro, NC to New York City, had flipped over on I-95 less than a half hour north of Richmond, Virginia. The driver of the vehicle, Kin Yiu Chueng was charged with reckless driving and exhaustion is said to be one of the contributory factors leading up to the crash.

The charter, SkyExpress Inc, operates out of Charlotte, NC and has more than 30 fleet vehicles which run multiple daily trips from Charlotte to Chinatown in Manhattan, these fleet vehicles often stop at various destinations on the way up the east coast, this one had just departed the Raleigh/Durham area after picking up additional passengers. Since the accident, the SkyExpress Inc's website has been taken offline.

Continue reading "Fed Bans Charlotte Based Bus Line From All U.S. Highways " »

North Carolina General Assembly would limit the amount of pain and suffering damages to $500,000 to an individual who has suffered any level of medical malpractice. Senate Bill 33(§90‑21.19)states that pain and suffering damages are considered those beyond medical expenses and lost wages/earning potential.

As you can imagine, the backlash is evident among plaintiff attorneys across the state due to this proposed change. If an individual loses use of their vision, hearing, vital organ function or a limb at the hands of a negligent physician or medical facility, shouldn't they be held monetarily responsible for this life-altering mistake?

Continue reading "Proposed Medical Malpractice Reform in North Carolina Irks Attorneys" »

17 year old, Travis Cannon, from Denver, NC was charged last week with misdemeanor death by vehicle in an accident which killed classmate, Haley Campbell.

It has been reported by WCNC that a vehicle ahead of Cannon's had stopped abruptly to make a turn, causing a SUV to follow the same movements. Unfortunately, Cannon was forced with the split second decision of running into the SUV which was ahead of him, swerving right into a car lot or swerving left into oncoming traffic. His turn left into oncoming traffic caused a collision with a truck, killing Campbell.

Continue reading "Charlotte Area Teen Charged in Accident That Killed Friend" »

Finally, after the long anticipated wait, we are proud to announce the official launch of our new Campbell & Associates website. After spending the past few months coming up with designs, content and social network integration, we are proud to have a more appealing website which is both more user friendly and aesthetically appealing. We have added some new features to our site which are more user friendly including: online inquiry submission form; user-friendly drop down menu items; and our blog links on the home page.

In addition to our new website, we have officially launched our Facebook page. Be sure to stop by our page and give us a "like" by clicking here.

Stay tuned, our blog integration will be completed very soon.

What started out as an early morning exercise with a few friends, ended in tragedy this past weekend. The Charlotte Observer reports that around 6 a.m. Sunday morning, Edward Hedrick III was riding his bicycle with a few friends along Poindexter Drive in south Charlotte when he was struck by a late model Toyota sedan.

The friends, who apparently had been ahead of Hedrick, had noticed that he had been struck and was laying on the ground near his bike. The friends turned around to help, and flag down the driver, unfortunately the driver of the vehicle did not stop. CMPD are on looking to the public to help find the individual(s) responsible for questioning in connection to the death.

Continue reading "Charlotte Biker Left Dead in Hit & Run" »

Today more details emerge in the Wednesday morning accident which took the lives of two Pedestrians and seriously injured another in South Charlotte. 18 year old, Sharai Marie Bauer, of Charlotte was arrested and charged with two counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle. It has been reported by the Charlotte Observer that the teen was distracted while driving and reached to pick something up from the floorboard when the accident took place.

The man, identified as only a 66 year old male, had been pronounced dead at the scene. A woman, who has been identified as his daughter, a 27 year old female, was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center with life threatening injuries, she died late Wednesday evening. The child, identified as a 1 year old, remained stable at Carolinas Medical Center. The names of the victims have not been released due to the inability to contact their next of kin.

Continue reading "2 Dead, One Injured in South Charlotte Pedestrian v. Vehicle Accident" »

Snow and ice covered roads are something of rare occurrence here in the Charlotte area, but when they do come, conditions can become treacherous. Unfortunately these road conditions led to the death of a young woman over the Christmas weekend.

Multiple news sources, including The Charlotte Observer report that the victim, 24 year old Winthrop graduate, Hannah Floyd was a passenger in the vehicle which encountered slick road conditions in the early morning hours about 3:30am on Sunday December 26th. It has been reported that the vehicle slid off of the road and struck a utility pole at an estimated 55 mph. The driver of the vehicle, Maegan Dacus, has since been charged with a DWI and last known reports show she was in serious condition at Carolinas Medical Center

Continue reading "Area Woman Killed on I-85 in North Charlotte During Snowy Roads Over Holidays" »

Monday morning, January 3rd, a CMPD officer responding to back up in the Grier Heights neighborhood struck a lawful driver on Monroe Rd in east Charlotte. The driver, Kay Floyd, was thrown from her Kia minivan and sustained what has been said as severe injuries. Currently it has been reported by Fox Charlotte that the woman is in stable condition at Carolinas Medical Center. The officer, Cory Milbourne, a 10 year vetran, sustained minor injuries and has since been released from Carolinas Medical Center.

Continue reading "Charlotte PD Officer Involved in Serious Accident" »

The defendant in a fatal accident which we first wrote about in October had his day in court this week. Kevin O'Hagen, plead gulty to driving under the influence and second degree murder of Daniel Herring in a Union county courtroom on Monday. The Charlotte Observer confirmed that upon his plea, he was sentenced between 17 1/4 and 21 1/2 for this death and DWI.

If you recall, this is the defendant, Kevin O'Hagen's, sixth conviction for DWI in the past twelve years. It seems impossible, but the reality of the situation is that O'Hagen has managed to avoid any jail time in any of his convictions due to suspended sentences, in-patient treatment and probation.

Continue reading "Update: Monroe Fatality Accident Defendant Pleads Guilty" »

Early Sunday morning a Gaston county man attempted to cross the normally heavily trafficked Brookshire Blvd in west Charlotte in the early morning hours where very few cars were in sight. Unfortunately this walk was his last as he was struck by a driver who then fled the scene.

The victim, 68 year old, George Lee Calebro was believed to have died at the scene after being struck by a Ford pick up truck. After the body was discovered, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police flooded the media with street camera photos of the truck in hopes of finding someone who had information leading to the truck.

Continue reading "Charlotte Hit & Run Kills Pedestrian on Brookshire Blvd" »

About a year ago now, the North Carolina State Senate passed legislation to ban various electronics from being used in the vehicle, more commonly known as the "Texting while driving" law. This law was enacted in an attempt to keep drivers more focused on the road and lessen automobile collisions.

After a slow start, law enforcement seems to have stepped up their efforts to curb texting while driving. In May, it was reported by Daily Tech that there were only 71 citations issued statewide, since May that number has skyrocketed. According to the Shelby Star up through October, there were 556 citations given statewide. That's an increase of more than 70% in just 4 short months. Surely either law enforcement was told to crack down harder on these violations, or a whole bunch of reckless "texters" entered the roadways.

Continue reading "Mecklenburgh Texting and Driving Citations Among State's Highest " »

As we discussed in our first post on this topic earlier in the week, insurance is an important thing to have in order to protect yourself in the event you are involved in an auto accident, regardless of who's at fault. In Part 2, we will discuss the remaining available coverages North Carolina Insurance carriers offer for your protection on automobile policies.

3. Under-insured Motorist Coverage (UIM)- This is another coverage that has recently been mandated by the State of North Carolina. This coverage basically is what it sounds like; if someone who causes an accident doesn't have enough coverage, your coverage will kick in. This coverage must be more than the state minimum limits of 30/60 in order to be effective; See Part 1. One tricky thing to remember is that UIM coverage works on an offset; quick and easy description is that you are going to subtract the liable party's coverage from your total UIM coverage and that's what you have to obtain. Most UIM coverages start at $50,000/$100,000 and go up from there, so if you had this 50/100 policy as a UIM coverage, and the at fault party had only minimum limits, you could only get an additional $20,000 from your policy, because it adds up to the $50,000 limit per person.

Continue reading "North Carolina Insurance Coverages- What Do They Mean? Part 2" »

It's no surprise that the a large portion of the population would prefer someone else to make a decision for them, and it's no different when it comes to picking your automobile insurance coverages. some may believe that this indecisive characteristic if a cultural trait, others may believe it's just ignorance for what's in their best interest. No matter which side of the line you fall on, the answer remains the same; Knowledge. The more you understand, the better your decision making will become. The North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) acts as a full consumer guide to answer any issues or concerns you may have which makes it a good cross-reference resource when determining what you need.

It's a common goal for those who purchase automobile insurance to find the cheapest and quickest route to getting covered. Let's face it, insurance is something nobody wants, but everyone needs. You can't hang it on a wall and watch it, most people very infrequently need to use it, and if you don't use it; it's gone. But the fact remains that if you don't have it, or don't have enough of it, you could be in very tough situation.

Continue reading "North Carolina Insurance Coverages- What Do They Mean? Part 1" »