Can anyone give a ballpark for pain and suffering?

[medievalsoldier]

What is the name of your state? SC

About 3 months ago, my wife was involved in an auto accident (she was at a stop sign in our compact sedan and was rear-ended by a 15-passenger van going about 30 mph). The other driver was at fault. My wife had no serious injuries (by serious, I mean life-threatening or requiring surgery). However, she has had to go through about 12 weeks of physical therapy in order to relieve back pain. She has visited our doctor 3 times, and he has diagnosed her injury as whiplash. My wife does not have a permanent outside job; however, she typically babysits about 10-15 hours a week in order to bring in some extra income. (The insurance company is not going to pay for lost wages, and I don't see how I can press that.) For the first month, my wife was very limited in what she could do. Ideally, she wouldn't have been out of bed for more than an hour at at time. She tried to stick with that as much was possible. About 2 months after the injury, my wife was able to babysit a little, though still on a restricted basis. Now (3 months later), she appears to be back to normal, although the Physical Therapist did suggest she go occasionally for massage therapy for the next few years. Here are some of the more important facts:

1. Car: $3,300 in damages
2. Rental car: 3 weeks
3. Doctor Bill: $220 (3 visits--he essentially prescribed Physical Therapy)
4. Physical Therapy: $1,900

The other insurance company is paying for all of the above and will include $500 additionally for pain and suffering. Neither my wife nor I have any experience with working with insurance company. I have tried to give as many details as possible (please let me know if I can provide more). Can anyone give me an idea if $500 sounds reasonable or sounds like a "low-ball" offer for "pain and suffering." My general feeling is that does not sound sufficient, but, again, I have no experience with working with an insurance company. Any input you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I'm not looking for a cash cow, but I do want the settlement to be fair.

[ecmst12]

It does sound a bit low. I can't give you a ballpark, but your wife did have significant "down time" and treatment, even though her injuries were soft tissue and no permanent disability resulted. Give them a counter offer that sounds on the high side of "fair" to you, and negotiate from there.

[medievalsoldier]

Thanks for the advice. My general feeling (really based on nothing but a guess) is that $2,000 - $3,0000 is reasonable, so would I submit a counter of $4,000, or is that just ludicrous? I'm just trying to get some sort of a feel for what is reasonable.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by medievalsoldier

Thanks for the advice. My general feeling (really based on nothing but a guess) is that $2,000 - $3,0000 is reasonable, so would I submit a counter of $4,000, or is that just ludicrous? I'm just trying to get some sort of a feel for what is reasonable.

**A: too low.

[medievalsoldier]

Originally Posted by HomeGuru

**A: too low.

Care to expound?

[mike_lee]

three times the total cost of medical bills and out of pocket expenses(but not car repair or car rental which the insurance company is already paying for) is a common formula.

1900
220
___________
2120
2120x3=6360

[ecmst12]

Except formulas are dumb and not actually used by anyone.

[SnowCajun]

Originally Posted by medievalsoldier

1. Car: $3,300 in damages
2. Rental car: 3 weeks
3. Doctor Bill: $220 (3 visits--he essentially prescribed Physical Therapy)
4. Physical Therapy: $1,900
I'm not looking for a cash cow, but I do want the settlement to be fair.

My girlfriend was driving down the street and some elderly lady ran a stop sign, my gf couldn't miss her and t-boned her totaling our car and hurting her knee. She couldn't walk for two months and had pain and physical therapy for three months following. The elderly lady's insurance gave us the blue book value of the car, then for pain and suffering they offered her $10,000.00 .. I told them that my attorney, which I actually had none at the moment, said it was worth at least $30,000.00 and they came back with an offer of $20,000.00, which we accepted. So who knows, I guess it depends on who you're dealing with. Maybe we could have gotten more, but we weren't looking for a cash cow either. Good luck.

SnowCajun

[medievalsoldier]

Thank you all for the help so far. From these posts, it looks like I might be thinking more in the 5-10k range. Honestly, my wife's injuries were relatively minor (they could have been a lot worse); however, it did take a lot of time and hassle to make sure she healed correctly. Today, I'm hoping to talk to a friend of mine who is an attorney--though she focuses on criminal cases not personal injury ones. However, I'm hoping she can help direct my thoughts. I'll let you know what she says. Thanks again. Please let me know if anyone has any additional thoughts.

[mike_lee]

BTW Did you ask your insurance agent or claims adjuster.

[medievalsoldier]

Originally Posted by mike_lee

BTW Did you ask your insurance agent or claims adjuster.

No, we haven't. Our insurance company is State Farm. Would they be able to give any direction?

[ecmst12]

Your agent, probably not. If you filed a claim with them for this accident, and have an adjuster, maybe. And maybe not. But if you haven't filed with them, even if you could get an adjuster on the phone without a claim (not likely), there is no way one would comment on a claim they've never even looked at.

[medievalsoldier]

I was able to talk to my attorney friend, and she said most lawyers she knew would start a counter-offer at 6-7k and negotiate from there. Her thoughts were that in the end I'd see about $1-2k. She did offer to write the letter for me just so the insurance company would see an attorney's name and take me a little more seriously.

Like I said earlier, this attorney doesn't work with personal injury cases, but it seems like her advice is on the conservative end of the spectrum from what I've heard here.

[ecmst12]

When you don't have an attorney, it's better to approach from a conservative standpoint. Unrepresented claimants do not have as much negotiating power as those with lawyers. If they really lowball you, you can always hire a lawyer (as long as you don't wait until a month before the SOL expires), just keep in mind that they'd have to get you at least 50% more then you could get on your own in order for it to be worth it for you.

[JennyP410]

I'm thinking their are "lost wages" and "loss of earning capacity". Although you can't technically prove lost wages, could you pursue the loss of earning capacity as a way to justify the amount you are asking for?