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Settlement advise

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emartin890

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? GA

Hello all,
I have been reading forums for days trying to get an idea of how to proceed.

Will try to give as much detail as possible.. was in an accident 4/22/04. Moron who's foot slipped off the brake onto the gas shot in front of me and I t-boned him doing about 50.. He admitted full responsibilty and it states that on the accident report. My car was totaled and I have been paid..
Injuries are another story.. I have been going to doctors.. real doctors.. ortho's Family docs physical therapists.. pain management seems like every other day since the wreck.. I have 8 broken ribs.. a strained and dislocated sacro joint( that epidural steriods are not helping) I have 2 bulging discs in my lower back, that I can prove by MRI films were not there before the accident.. I have been a wreck for 7 months now with constant pain.. It Sucks.. I am most angry that I had had a very successful back surgery a year prior to this wreck and was for the first time in years totally pain free and now Here I sit with all these problems in new areas( Thank God the surgery site survived intact)..
I have tried free consultations with 2 attorneys and got nowhere except we will send you a package to review( 3 weeks later nothing from either of them yet).. Neither of them would give me any idea what my claim is worth.
I have done alot of research and not been able to get much idea of where to start as far as what to ask for. At this point I am toying with asking for the max on my own and seeing what happens, if they lowball me I can go back to an attorney for more advise.
I have done alot of the work myself getting records and letters from my docs and bills that now total right at 14k.. My docs say I will have arthritic pain in my ribs and due to the fact of my prior surgery it is likely that the discs above the surgical site that were injured here will need medical care, pain management, exercise and possible surgical intervention down the road and they put it in writing for me. My back injuries are perm.
I wrote to his insurance and found out he carries 100k per person liability. I have not had any discussions with his ins. about injuries or settlement figures.

My question is where to start,and I know from what I have read so far that there is no set amount. I am 7 months post accident and still very much in pain and worried about ever returning to pre- accident condition.
Do you think I am being greedy or unreasonable in asking for policy limits of 100k here?
Thanks
Dazed and confused in GA..
 


BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
I would strongly suggest NOT handling this yourself. What I WOULD suggest is a question in fact. What has YOUR insurance company done to represent you in this matter?
 

emartin890

Junior Member
BelizeBreeze said:
I would strongly suggest NOT handling this yourself. What I WOULD suggest is a question in fact. What has YOUR insurance company done to represent you in this matter?
My insurance company has done nothing but take the accident report for the file.. since it was not my fault they have not been involved.. My medical insurance has paid for most(except about 3k) of the medical bills.
 
Last edited:

stephenk

Senior Member
What is your future prognosis from your doctor regarding your injuries? Is surgery recommended at the present time or something that may happen in the next 10 years or so? Have the ribs healed? I don't understand about arthritic changes to the ribs if they have completely healed.

If surgery is highly recommended by your ortho, go ahead and ask for the policy. However, understand that by asking for the policy you limit the amount of negotiating the carrier can do with you. By negotiating with you after your demand, the carrier may open up the policy and expose themselves to paying above their policy limits.

Ask for 99,000 and see what response you receive.
 

emartin890

Junior Member
stephenk said:
What is your future prognosis from your doctor regarding your injuries? Is surgery recommended at the present time or something that may happen in the next 10 years or so? Have the ribs healed? I don't understand about arthritic changes to the ribs if they have completely healed.

If surgery is highly recommended by your ortho, go ahead and ask for the policy. However, understand that by asking for the policy you limit the amount of negotiating the carrier can do with you. By negotiating with you after your demand, the carrier may open up the policy and expose themselves to paying above their policy limits.

Ask for 99,000 and see what response you receive.
The ortho is not recommending surgery at this time, and have no way of predicting a time frame..The bulges are new from the wreck and I will always have some pain there that I did not have before. Since my back has shown in the past that a bulging disc went to herniated then had to be fused.. the predisposition is there.. As far as the ribs (7 months post wreck) no they are not healed and are very painful.. docs are scratching their heads as to why.. but think it may be calcium deposits that they have prescribed meds to try and aid in healing.. Also have me on tens unit to try and stimulate the muscles and bone healing.
Thanks for your reply.. first hint ever on where I should start with a ettlement figure..
 
Contact the other drivers insurance company and file a claim. An adjuster from his carrier will contact you, and at that time you can present him with copies (keep your originals) of your medical bills. They will most likely try to settle for considerably less than $100k. At that point you can either accept the settlement or contact an attorney to start negotiating.

Don't waste anymore time. Contact them right away.
 

emartin890

Junior Member
newlywed03 said:
Contact the other drivers insurance company and file a claim. An adjuster from his carrier will contact you, and at that time you can present him with copies (keep your originals) of your medical bills. They will most likely try to settle for considerably less than $100k. At that point you can either accept the settlement or contact an attorney to start negotiating.

Don't waste anymore time. Contact them right away.

I can't file a claim just yet.. They will pay no medical bills or process the claim until I have reached Maximum Medical Improvement.. I still have alot of pain and have more treatments to go with the doctors.. Just Trying to get some of my ducks in a row before that time comes.. Besides that I can't do much else so Here I am LOL..Statue of Limitation here in GA is 2 years. I have informed them that a claim will be filed once I am done with treatment.
Thanks for the imput
 

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