What is Pain and Suffering worth in Utah and Idaho:

[SimGordie]

What is the name of your state? Idaho

My Aunt and Uncle were in a head-on collision 3 yrs ago. The other driver crossed over all lanes and was clearly at fault.

They suffered serious injuries, 3-4 surgeries each, 3 weeks in ICU & hospital and 3 months in rehab hospital, all 300 miles from home.

Despite their advanced age (mid 80’s), they traveled internationally a lot prior to accident, and now cannot do any travel. Cannot do own gardening now, home care, maintenance, etc.

They have recovered, however each has permanent remaining health issues:

Aunt: broken neck, and shoulder, has headaches, leg and foot pain and dizzy spells. Broken femur and both ankles broken, both knees broken, continuing ankle pain.

Uncle: Broken hand, cannot close hand or grip well. Broken hip foot. Must use cane to walk, pain in foot.

Total medical expenses were quite low considering: about $60 – 75K each. Not a lot of medical expenses in past year or so. All medical expenses have been paid for.

They did not want to hire a lawyer at this time. Have exhausted all insurance from guilty party & PIP.

Now negotiating with own insurance company on underinsured and umbrella coverage. Has $1M limit.

Insurance co has offered $125K each for pain and suffering and future medical. How much should/could they expect?

 

[moburkes]

They should expect to have an attorney advising them.

 

[outonbail]

They should expect to have an attorney advising them.

I agree, when they were in need of medical aid, they utilized the services and expertise of a doctor correct? Now that they need legal aid, they also need the services of an expert in the field of law.

Unless of course, they are happy with what is being offered.

 

[MikeKV]

I'm mostly playing devils advocate on this issue and many of you would remember that in a number of my posts i recommend obtaining a lawyer especially to help the victims throughout the entire claim(s) process. I'm not so sure with this one. It appears that most of their claims and expenses (including medical and property damage) have been covered and their in the final stages of closing the case. At this point, is it necessary to consult with a lawyer since a lawyer will typically want 1/3 of the pain and suffering money and that would be ($125k/.33 = ~$41k)? I'm not so sure that a lawyer would be that helpful at this stage and to lose over $41k in pain and suffering money would be a lot to lose. I'd recommend consulting with their exisiting doctors to formulate a plan for future, if any, medical care and calculate how much that might be. Then communicate with the insurance co. that offered $125k and counter-offer (higher) if necessary. Just my .02. Thoughts?

 

[alnorth]

It may be worth paying for an hour of a lawyer's time just to get an estimate of how much they think the pain and suffering is worth. If the lawyer thinks its significantly worth more than 125k, they should negotiate the fee. The 125k is already on the table without any effort or incurring a legal fee, perhaps the lawyer would agree to a fee for only anything they collect above 125k. Maybe half of every dollar above 125k?

At a 1/3 fee for the whole thing, he'd have to get 187,500 just for the OP to get what's already on the table, and there's no guarantee that the lawyer would succeed. If the lawyer says no and doesnt make it worth fighting for then just take the offer.

 

[SimGordie]

Thank you for feedback

Thank you MikeKV and alNorth, your comments are useful and constructive. Kind of along the lines of what I was thinking in both cases. I'd be more than happy to pay a lawyer for a few hours of consult if I can find one willing (since it is not likely they'd get their 33%) - I should try that next. I was kind of hoping that I might also get some opinions suggesting that the nature of their case might warrant 1.5 X or 2X actual damages or some similar rule of thumb. Considering their ages, perhaps less? I know this it probably too simplistic a way to look at it.

PS. The first 2 posts look of like a standard "turn it over to a lawyer" statement which led me to believe this forum was a not so lightly veiled forum run by lawyers with the intent of not giving advice but rather trying to belittle people into hiring a lawyer for every event. The second 2 posts renewed my hope that this might be a useful forum.

 

[moburkes]

The reality is that, in the vast majority of cases, you'll need to have an attorney in order to negoitiate a much higher $ amount. Period. The insurance adjuster is NOT going to treat your family members the same way that he would treat the attorney. AND, you've mentioned nothing about what the at fault party's liability limits are, so how can anyone here advise you?

 

[ecmst12]

I don't think the people who advised you to get an attorney (at first) are lawyers. However generally with SERIOUS injuries like the ones here, it's better to have one. For minor injuries, a lawyer might not be worth it, but when there's a lot of money at stake, a claimant with an attorney will get more, period.

 

[SimGordie]

I ran out of characters on original post so could not give all details. Guilty party only had $50K each, which was exhausted. Guilty also paid for property damage. Their own no-falult paid $10K each. Now down to their underinsurred poilcy and umbrella, which has paid balance of medical. Medicare paid some - will have to be paid back I know. This will be handled separate from pain and suffering part.

 

[moburkes]

Their policy limit is $500,000/$1,000,000 or $1,000,000 combined single limits?

 

[las365]

At my firm, when we take the case of a person who has received a firm offer, we agree that we will waive any attorney fees that would result in them getting a recovery that is less than that amount. After all, WE didn't do the work that got the person that money. We do still collect full reimbursement for expenses we have paid out on their behalf to pursue the claims, though.

We also have the person sign an acknowledgement that they understand that if they reject that offer, they could end up with less. Or nothing. There are no guarantees in litigation.

 

[SimGordie]

Policy limit is combined $1M