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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL Options following an automobile accident Dear Mr. Rockefeller, My car was totaled in a rear-end colli sion. The other driver did not own the car and the owner’s insur ance is Jr 9* ** W !® Jim Rockefeller The “Law" man refusing to pay to my medical bills. What can I do about this? Dear Reader, Your ques tion raises some common concerns we have all prob ably had to face at one time or another. When there is a car wreck, keep in mind a few basic concepts. First, the FACT of a car Your beliefs, your expectations - Part 3 You may be won dering, “What did I miss in parts 1 and 2?” If you’d like a copy of those articles contact me. Here’s a brief review. Part 1 described the ori gins of your beliefs Dennis Hooper Leaders Building Leaders and expectations. Your per ceptions of yourself come from your parents (when you were young), important others in your life (friends, bosses, family members, the media), and adjustments you’ve made in your adult life. Part 2 addressed how leaders are likely deceived by their beliefs and expecta tions. This week, we address how leaders can improve the limiting beliefs and expecta tions of the contributors in their organizations. Obviously, the hiring pro cess should be designed to reject individuals whose expectations and beliefs don’t align with the val- WR man gets 20 years -10 to serve - for crimes Special to the Journal Ledal Hogue, 22, of 199 Carolina' Avenue, Warner Robins, entered a guilty plea this week to armed robbery, aggravated assault and aggravat ed battery related to 3 HOGUE the armed robbery of Bob’s Package Store in Bonaire on April 26. The armed robbery was for robbing Alpesh Patel, the owner of Bob’s Package Store, of the cash proceeds of the day. The aggravat- — 1... ... •••.__ Roxanne Hinson If you have been seriously injured in an automobile or truck accident, you need professional representation. CALL Roxanne Hinson for a free consultation on the phone or in our office located in the Wachovia Building on Watson Blvd. Her years of experience will help you obtain a prompt and fair resolution of your claim. Appointments are also available for Social Security claims as well as Wrongful Death claims. Telephone 478-328-8300 Westmoreland Patterson Moseley & Hinson LLP 1211 Watson Blvd, Warner Robins GA 31093 wreck, even if you think the other driver was clearly at fault, does not “automati cally” entitle you to any com pensation; you have to sue the other driver to assign responsibility, although you can negotiate a settlement without suing. Second, except in limited circumstances, if there is insurance, you do not sue the insurance company - you sue the negligent driver. An insurance company is the negligent driver’s protector, providing a “free” attorney and financial protection up to the applicable policy lim its. For your purposes, insur ance is a source of money to pay for your losses, without which you might never be compensated. ues of the organization. Sometimes, however, you inherit responsibility for an individual who somehow managed to slip through those filters. First, you have to realize that only the individual can change his or her beliefs and expectations. The con cepts the parents instilled will be there for life - unless the individual can recognize the impact and chooses to change it. Further, you can’t control a person’s self-expectations, though you may be able to influence them. You can certainly influence the envi ronment in which a person works. And you can observe the influence of others, such as a person’s co-workers. You can also control the clarity and quality of expec tations you have of the indi vidual. Early in the rela tionship, establish expecta tions clearly and provide feedback frequently. The expectations you gen erate and your enforcement of those criteria provide the entry point for address ing an individual’s limiting beliefs. It is very appropriate to point out the difference between what was expect ed assault was for point ing the firearm at Sandhta DAVID OVERTON JEWELERS <^ > We Buy Gold Scrap!! Bring It In And Let Us Weigh It. PAY SANTA WITH SCRAP GOLD! 905 Downtown Carroll St. • Perry 478-987-1392 Westmoreland Patterson Moseley & Hinson llp ATTORNEYS AT LAW Injured or Disabled? Third, you are general ly not suing the owner of the car - the owner does not have to anticipate the driver’s negligence. Classic exceptions are where an owner gives the car keys to a drunk driver or, perhaps allows an unlicensed, under age, and untrained driver use the car. In fact, an owner might also be specifically liable, under a law called a “Dram Shop,” for letting a drunk driver operate a car (it usu ally applies to a bar that permitted a drunk driver to drive away from the bar). Fourth, insurance coverage can still “attach” from either the car and/or the driver. What this means is that you can seek compensation from the car owner’s insurance ed and what was actually delivered - and why that difference is unacceptable. Over time, if expectations are not met, it is your role to investigate and deter mine a reason. If you find a simple cause and can cor rect it, great. Otherwise, the problem may have its genesis in some limiting belief that may be hard to discover. Most individuals are not able to articulate their beliefs and expectations. If you ask them, they’ll respond with what they think you want to hear. You’ll have to penetrate beyond this superficial description. And you’ll need the cooperation of the indi vidual to do that. If the person insists on maintaining an “I’m okay!” perspective and is unwill ing to work with you, then continued employment depends on meeting your performance expectations. If the person isr willing to do some self-exploration, however, I encourage lead ers to work with the indi vidual. It may take several weeks of introspection and reflec tion before the individual starts to understand what Mehta, the clerk, and forcing See CRIMES, page <)A •Jewelry' Repair & Cleaning •Watch Repair . Hours: •Engraving Mon. -Fri. •Appraisals 9:3oam-s:3opm •Estate Jewelry Sat " 9:3oam-2pm •Class Rings OPINION/NEWS policy, the driver’s policy, or even a policy owned by some one in the driver’s (or even your own) household. Fifth, there may be a spe cial policy coverage to pay your medical bills called “Med-Pay.” This is no-fault coverage, usually from SI,OOO to SIO,OOO, to cover ANYONE’S bills involved in a wreck (even the negligent driver’s). It can come from any of these sources of insur ance and can be “stacked.” This means that, if there were three policies involved, each with SIO,OOO Med-Pay coverage, there would be a total of $30,000 in medi cal bills that could be paid, which you could use, even before you asked any health insurance you might have to pay your bills. You do not is causing the low confi dence or inadequate perfor mance. As the person is able to zero in on the limiting belief, together you can explore: ■ How does the person currently benefit from hold ing this belief? ■ What would the per son lose in giving up this belief? ■ What would the person gain by adopting a different belief? These questions are not easy to answer, of course. Yet the clarity will come if you will ask supplemental thought-provoking, open ended questions and the individual sincerely seeks understanding. By working together, the probability is high that performance will improve. Further, you will both know that you’ve contrib uted to a more satisfying career and life Tor the indi vidual. Dennis Hooper is a certi fied leadership development coach, helping leaders build organizations of excellence and future leaders. Contact Dennis at dhooper2@juno. com or at 478-988-0237. 1 1 " - J " -4 - $ ' > S , : V ; ■ • ■ ; , ■ •' sHk. 1 MSB Jjifc I * sfjpfrv 55576 s)] THE BANK OF PERRY 1006 Main Street • Perry 1110 Highway 96 * Kathleen 24-hour ATM at 908 Washington St., Perry Convenient Saturday lobby hours, Kathleen 9 a.m. to noon. Call us at 478-987-2554 www.bankofperry.com 54920 Earn 3.75% APY from your checking account! Wall Street Checking Enjoy big benefits like a 3.75% APY interest rate for your balances of $2,500 or more. Lower balances earn .25% APY. You never pay a per-check fee and there's no monthly service charge with only a SI,OOO balance. Plus, you get 6 FREE ATM withdrawals every month from any ATM anywhere. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2007 ♦ need to file a lawsuit to use Med-Pay benefits. Finally, there are circum stances where there is NO insurance coverage available (which is why we should ALL have maximum Uninsured Motorist’s Coverage!). An insurance policy is a contract. For a host a rea sons, the contract could be violated (non-payment, per mitting an “excluded” driver to drive the car, etc.) and the insurance company will deny coverage. In these cases, you will almost certainly have to sue the driver. Let’s put this all together in your case (I am assuming you have no health insur ance). For medical bills, look first for Med-Pay coverage from all sources. These are paid Assessing Your Leadership Skills -SBS/person r 1 i 'A FOR SALE STUCKEy’S fINESTKAW We deliver and spread Located at: Houston Lake Rd. South near Feagin Mill Rd. £ Cell: 478-258-4705 Cell: 404-217-4654? • PROFESSIONAL AUTO REPAIR, LLC BILL BREWER, JR. i • Engine Diagnostic & Repair • Time Belts, Tune Ups & Heating Repair ; • Charging & Starting Diagnostic Repair •Japanese Import Specialist ASE MASTER MECHANIC 300 Smith Drive (478) 988~8686 when the bills are submitted (just like health insurance). If that fails, try to find a free clinic. Either way, seek appropriate medical treat ment, as even small wrecks can cause life-changing inju ries. Sue only as a last resort. Should you have any fur ther questions, send me an e-mail. Good luck! Local attorney Jim Rockefeller owns the Rockefeller Law Center and is a former Houston County Chief Assistant District Attorney, and a former Miami Prosecutor. E-mail confidential legal questions to ajr@rockefellerlawc.enter. com. Visit www.rockefeller lawcenter.com for Frequently Asked Questions and Jim’s blog, The Rockefeller Report. F. Dennis Hooper Certified Leadership Development Coach Building leaders and organizations of excellence (478) 988-0237 Open your own Wall Street Checking account today. • Get a FREE George Foreman" Champ Grill! • We’ll pay you $lO for unused checks from your account at your old bank. Annual Percentage Yield (APY) effective 11/5/07. Rata* may change after opening Bank rule/ and regulation* apply Fees may reduce earnings Ask for details. Member FDIC 5A 5433 S dho»per2(»Jjuno.com 54079