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How to deal with underinsured motorist coverage

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Stacker4

Junior Member
Washington State. Date of incident: 5-29-08

I was stopped and a light and rear ended by an uninsured driver at 30mph while in my bench seat pickup. It was deemed 100% his fault.

Are you able to take your own insurance company to court and sue them if they don't want to pay you what you think is fair for pain and suffering, inconvenience, lost wages, etc?

How do they determine what is a fair amount? Is there any standard they go by?

My neck and back hurt all the time and I can't do any of my hobbies (MMA fighting, Rugby, woodworking, welding, work on cars, gardening, driving long distances, camping, motorcycle riding) I was in the prime of my fighting "career" and in the best shape of my life. Now I'm getting fat cause I can't do anything and that is making me depressed. I get migraines now too.

I also have several fights coming up and I am afraid to take them because I don't want the insurance to find out and use that as "proof" I'm not as hurt as I really am or say that I am not doing everything possible to recover from it.

I don't even know what to ask for. Nothing is really going to make me "whole again".
 
Last edited:


ecmst12

Senior Member
If you're still hurt, you shouldn't be fighting. You should be under a doctor's care and complying with your treatment. Something tells me you haven't even bothered with treatment, which means you have no IDEA if you will get better or not, you haven't even tried. And if you fight now, you could get hurt again and muddy the waters of which injuries are from the accident and which are from letting some guy beat on you. So your first job is to get your butt to the doctor and find out what you need to do to get better.
 

Stacker4

Junior Member
If you're still hurt, you shouldn't be fighting. You should be under a doctor's care and complying with your treatment. Something tells me you haven't even bothered with treatment, which means you have no IDEA if you will get better or not, you haven't even tried. And if you fight now, you could get hurt again and muddy the waters of which injuries are from the accident and which are from letting some guy beat on you. So your first job is to get your butt to the doctor and find out what you need to do to get better.
I really have done a lot to recover ER, doctors, MEDS, physical therapy, etc. They say I should make a good recovery. But it's been 3 months and I feel the same.

They said I could train technique but shouldn't fight train. I guess I already know I shouldn't fight and probably won't. My main concern is the other questions, the insurance company would probably be extremely happy to find out I took a fight.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Sometimes it takes longer to get better. Soft tissue injuries can be very painful, but they usually do resolve with treatment, in otherwise young/healthy people. You have to be patient. You also shouldn't be considering settling until your treatment is complete. If you are truly lost, you can hire an attorney to represent you. But there is no magic number. You should have your bills paid, your lost time from work (unpaid only, if you got vacation pay or disability that is not considered lost wages) should be paid, and a small amount for pain and suffering. If you will not have a DOCUMENTED permanent functional disability once your treatment is complete, that is it. If your doctor will certify that you have a permanent functional impairment that further treatment can't improve, you might be able to get more, but I think you're still a while away from being able to say that.
 

Stacker4

Junior Member
Sometimes it takes longer to get better. Soft tissue injuries can be very painful, but they usually do resolve with treatment, in otherwise young/healthy people. You have to be patient. You also shouldn't be considering settling until your treatment is complete. If you are truly lost, you can hire an attorney to represent you. But there is no magic number. You should have your bills paid, your lost time from work (unpaid only, if you got vacation pay or disability that is not considered lost wages) should be paid, and a small amount for pain and suffering. If you will not have a DOCUMENTED permanent functional disability once your treatment is complete, that is it. If your doctor will certify that you have a permanent functional impairment that further treatment can't improve, you might be able to get more, but I think you're still a while away from being able to say that.
Thanks that clears some things up. Can you take your own company to court if you disagree with what they offer for an UI claim? What is a small amount? My friend didn't even ask for anything for the same type collision and they offered him $6,000 to settle after a year of him just getting massages. But that wasn't his insurance offering.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
You can take them to court if it comes to that. But it's impossible to even venture a guess as to amount without knowing what your TOTAL medical bills will be (after treatment is complete), total length of treatment, and functional impairment if any.

By the way, this is UNINSURED motorist coverage, not UNDER INSURED. UM, not UIM.
 

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