truck accident

[himlives]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in OK but the accident took place in Indiana.

I'm a truck driver. My truck broke down, I was parked on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck, when another trucker slammed into my rig totaling it. Turns out the other driver was high on illegal drugs and taken to jail immediately after the accident.
My collar bone and nose were broken, I have scars on my face and did physical therapy. I was off work for 3 months.

I have a lawyer going after the truck company's insurance, my law firm demanded the policy limit, which is $1 million. They have delayed in making an offer for over 3 months now since the claim has been submitted. They are not contesting it, but say they haven't been able to interview the other driver so they can close their investigation and make an offer. That's bogus because the other driver has a pending court case in Indiana over this accident and of course her attorneys there have all her current contact info.

Anyway, my lawyer said she believes they definately won't pay out the full policy limit and has no idea of what their offer may be. My question is how much do you think my lawyer should reasonably be able to get them to pay? 1/2? 2/3rds? And how long does the negotiation process take once they do make an offer?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[ecmst12]

Your injuries were significant, but you're not going to get anywhere NEAR the policy limit. Offers are not made according to a proportion of the policy limit, but according to what your medical bills & lost wages were, what your permanent damages are, how long you treated for, etc. You haven't given enough information to even wager a guess and really, your lawyer is the only person who can give you a truely educated guess.

As a totally wild guess though, I'd say somewhere south of $100k for what you've described. $1mil would be if you lost a limb or something TRUELY life changing, as opposed to painful and inconvenient but ultimately causing minimal permanent disability.

[himlives]

If I had been in the drivers seat or sleeper I would be dead as they were both completely destroyed, the sleeper was smashed up into the front of the truck and the roof was torn off. The only reason I'm alive is because I happened to stand up on the passenger side at the moment of impact.
I was parked using my triangle flares, flashers on and was all the way inside the shoulder. As I said the other driver was found to have illegal drugs in her system and was taken to jail and is awaiting criminal trial.
When I initially got hit I was terrified and covered in blood. I didn't know if I was going to have brain damage or what. I feel I should get compensated for the emotional and physical scarring, pain and suffering, personal property I lost and the broken bones.
My personal injury and property damages were aprox $12,000, I was treated for about 3 months including er, ent, wc dr. and physical theapy. I was given a 5% perm partial disability rating from workers comp. Lost wages were aprox $11,000, although I did get checks from wc.

[ecmst12]

The value of your case is not affected by what MIGHT have happened or what COULD have happened, the value of your case is based on what ACTUALLY happened.