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iscandelaria

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? CA



Question:
I went to mediation vs. the insurance company of the party who hit me (they did not respond in the demand time, so they opened the policy). Apparently her policy was only 15k. I am 32 and I suffered a lower disc displacement and cervical spinal stenosis with depression due to loss of job, etc. The ins. company started with 100k as settlement and reached their max of 365k. My meds are 234k. Can I withdraw from the settlement if I signed something already? I have not recieved a check, got a copy of what I signed nor do I know how the monies will be distributed. I have not been released from my neuro as I'm only 3 months out from spinal fusion and that really bothers me as I still have a few more appointments and have not started PT.
 


iscandelaria

Junior Member
YES, I have an attorney and he thinks it's a good settlement. However, I have a few uncles who work in the Ins. industry and they say that it is too small as that doesn't compensate for future med bills
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
YES, I have an attorney and he thinks it's a good settlement. However, I have a few uncles who work in the Ins. industry and they say that it is too small as that doesn't compensate for future med bills
You should listen to your attorney...not an anonymous internet forum.
I am curious though, how did you convince their insurance company to offer 365k when the policy max is 15k?
 

iscandelaria

Junior Member
well they pretty much were in a "bad faith" situation. For the first 5 months, I was dealing directly with the adjuster and then when I found my diagnosis I got an attorney who was very easy going for 3 months. That did not sit well with me so I retained another lawyer. With all 3 of us trying to accomplish something with the other ins, nothing was produced even with a 30 day demand. So pretty much they were not protecting their insurer in a timely fashion. The lady who hit me was served court papers and her ins company was very scared that she would turn around and sue them for "bad faith" so they wanted to deal with us directly instead of suing her, not only would they have 1 lawsuit from us they would have one from her.
 

teflon_jones

Senior Member
Only you can decide what is enough money.

On the subject of disc fusion, did you already do it or is it 3 months away? If you already did it, I'm sorry to hear that since a lot of studies are now showing that it doesn't work, and in a lot of cases makes things worse. I would not go to a doctor again that ordered it done. I've had 10 years of back problems and have seen 5 back specialists in the last month due to problems and every single one of them has brought up fusion and said while it is an option, they would not recommend it because it doesn't tend to help, just hurt.
 
Last edited:

ecmst12

Senior Member
Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't.

If you signed the release, that's it. You can't un-sign it. It's a miracle that you got that much money out of a 15k policy and you should be thanking your lucky stars. A possible bad faith claim is NOT going to invalidate the policy limit!
 

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