Andy Paras with “The Post and Courier”, reported on an insurance scheme that was uncovered in Colleton County.  It appears the same group of people were reporting similar incidents in the same area.  As the article indicated,

“ The scheme was relatively simple: Run an older car into a tree and claim that someone or something ran you off, then say a bunch of your friends and relatives were injured while in the car with you in order to claim more money, court records show."

I am happy to see that some bad apples were caught so as not to spoil the whole bunch, compunctum cito corrumpit sibi junctum

It is important to remember that if you are in a wreck, the more details, proof, or evidence you can present, the better able both your attorney and the potential at fault driver’s insurance company will be able to assist you. Some helpful tips from someone that has settled, taken to trial, and/or mediated hundreds of wreck cases:

  1. Keep a camera, disposable or digital, in your car!  If something bad happens take as many pictures as you can of the accident site, property damage (both visible and not readily visible[frame] of all cars or things involved), skid marks, witnesses, at fault driver, posted speed signs or traffic signals.  You can buy disposable cameras for less than $2.
  2. Take down any witnesses contact information and DO NOT assume that the highway patrolman or investigating officer has gotten that information.  (People do lie, sorry to break the bad news).
  3. The accident report you are given can not be used in the courts of South Carolina as proof that it is the other driver’s fault, as indicated on the accident report.  Do not depend on this one sheet of paper to prove the other person was at fault. (Take a look at Article IV of our Evidentiary Rules to see what else the jury will never hear about in court).
  4. Are you really taken care of if the at fault driver has no insurance or minimum insurance? Read my article on "Full Coverage".
  5. MIST-Minor Impact Soft Tissue is an acronym some insurance companies use (Allstate) to try and minimize their financial impact and publicize a subconscious thought of an unproven theory.  Their theory is that the correlation of property damage is relative to personal injury.  WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!  Read this article entitled "Low Impact Injury Accidents".

You would not go to "Joe the Plumber" to get your car fixed?  Think long and hard before just consulting with the at fault driver’s insurance company that makes money when they get you to settle for less money than your case is worth.  Consult a personal injury attorney, the CONSULTATION IS FREE!

 

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Photo of Trey Mills Trey Mills

Floyd S. “Trey” Mills III knows that suffering a personal injury through no fault of your own can be a nightmare for the victim and his or her family

Mr. Mills was born on April 24, 1978.  His parents, Floyd S. “Butch” Mills,

Floyd S. “Trey” Mills III knows that suffering a personal injury through no fault of your own can be a nightmare for the victim and his or her family

Mr. Mills was born on April 24, 1978.  His parents, Floyd S. “Butch” Mills, Jr. and Patricia Yarborough Mills, were originally from Newberry, South Carolina, and soon after the birth of Mr. Mills, his parents brought him back to be raised in the same county they grew up in.

Education

Mr. Mills attended Newberry Academy from grades K-3, Gallman Elementary 4th grade, Rikard Elementary 5-6th grade, Mid-Carolina Middle School 7-8th grades, Mid-Carolina High School from 9-12th grades, Clemson University, and Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.

Health Crisis

While Mr. Mills was a junior in high school he was chosen by his school to be a representative to Boys State.  This was a great honor and would have been an even better experience except, while at Boys State, Mr. Mills became unusually ill with blackouts, night sweats, and back pain.  Fortunately for Mr. Mills, his mother was an ER nurse at Lexington Medical Center, but unfortunately, for Mr. Mills that did not change his diagnosis of Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.  Along with his diagnosis, Mr. Mills received a prognosis of two weeks.

Obviously, Mr. Mills has been blessed with his second chance at life and those who have been wronged by health care insurance companies and other types of insurance companies can feel confident in knowing that Mr. Mills can not only empathize with them but fight fervently for their side.  Mr. Mills’ cancer experience and his mother’s arduous yet unsuccessful battle against lung cancer were very trying times.  However, those real-world battles and experiences were nothing compared to the administrative and billing wars he had to encounter with Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance. It seems BCBS would deny any charge over $1,000 without rational reasoning therefore prompting Mr. Mills to go to law school and carry the torch for those that were too ill to fight for themselves while the school yard bully beat them down.

College

Mr. Mills went on to Clemson University where he was very active in student activities along with academic accomplishments.  Mr. Mills was invited to join Calhoun Honor’s College, Sigma Pi fraternity, Golden Key National Honor Society, Student Government, IPTAY Student Advisory Board, and Tiger Brotherhood. Mr. Mills also worked as a student employee with IPTAY Scholarship Fund under the direction of Bert Henderson, formerly the Associate Athletic Director of Planned Giving at Clemson University.

Early Life

Mr. Mills was unsure of where his hard work and life experiences would best provide an adequate return to the outpouring of kindness he received during his cancer experience. Having received many blessings from the American Red Cross, Mr. Mills went on to be an Apheresis Donor Recruiter under the supervision of Barry Pollard at the American Red Cross Blood Donor Services in Columbia, SC after graduating Clemson University.

Running from his true calling, Mr. Mills fled to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico to Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).  Having spent a semester of college in Madrid, Spain, Mr. Mills thought he should be assisting foreign countries. Mr. Mills was certified by the Vancouver Language Centre in Guadalajara for his TEFL training.  Mr. Mills was in Guadalajara only a few months when September 11, 2001 occurred and helped him focus on his life priorities.

Law School

Mr. Mills went on to law school at Mercer University and clerked each summer trying to determine how he could best serve those less fortunate.  The corporate law firms never truly provided him with that personal feeling of assisting the common person in need.  It wasn’t until Mr. Mills became the first law clerk of the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association under the supervision of Linda Franklin and lobbyist Michael Gunn that he realized where his education, life experience, drive, and hard work could truly benefit those who have been personally and directly affected by the negligence of another.  Mr. Mills wanted to be a coveted and much needed plaintiff’s trial attorney.  More importantly Mr. Mills realized the power of the faceless insurance companies, misinformed legislative members, and the true power of money and lobbyist in dictating laws.

What’s the one service you pay for all your life but you are actually penalized if you ever have to use it? Insurance.

Trammell & Mills

Mr. Ernie Trammell gave Mr. Mills his big break at leveling the playing field against the faceless and heartless insurance companies.  Mr. Mills works tirelessly every day in an effort to bring justice to those who have been wronged.  Mr. Mills has worked on both sides of the law and has been through some harrowing life experiences.  Mr. Mills has been tested and tried by many of the more traumatic events that life has to offer and now provides his services to the public.

Who would you rather have on your side? Someone whose resolve has been tested and tried? Or someone who has intertwined their morality and greed in such a way that they can’t tell one from the other?

Why haven’t you hired Mr. Mills to be your attorney yet?

Would you listen to the devil on how to get to Heaven? Then why listen to insurance adjusters?