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Automobile Accident-Insurance question

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lulu82

Junior Member
Indiana. I was a seatbelted passenger in my future in-laws car during an accident where I was severely injured. It was my future in-law's (the driver's) fault. I was visiting them from out of state during the accident and now I am back to my house on the East Coast. Medical bills for me are currently around 200,000 and I am still receiving weekly treatment, it has been over six months. The insurance company has been paying me loss wages and covering my medical bills and has assured me a "fair settlement" when the claim is ready to be settled. They have not rushed a settlement and say they are waiting for me to be done with all medical treatment before offering their claim (for my benefit). However, now they want to hire me a personal nurse case worker to, in their words, "make sure I am receiving the best care possible"... Personally, I don't mind having an unbiased nurse around to ask the questions I don't think of, however, I don't know how likely it is that the nurse will be un-biased. What are my legal rights ? How should I handle this situation. Is this standard practice?

Also, Is there any legal/settlement reason why I should not get married to my fiance while the claim is unsettled?(In other words, will I be giving up any power as claiment if I am legally part of the family?)

Thanks for any help
 


moburkes

Senior Member
What are the liabiliity or medical payments limits on their policy? Getting married shouldn't have anything to do with the claim, since it will occur AFTER the date of the accident.
 

lulu82

Junior Member
Is it ever too late to hire an attorney?

Is it ever too late to get an attorney? Would an attorney on a consultation/hourly basis be sufficient during the settlement portion? Sofar the insurance company has been pretty good about paying all the medical bills and approving all the expensive MRI's, EMG's, physical therapy, counciling, etc. as well as giving me my lost wages and paying for me to go to summer school (as the accident pushed me back in school at least a semester). I have been consistent in making records of all conversations with the adjuster and making sure my dr.'s are taking specific notes. I don't need to get the full amount of their policy, I just want to be sufficiently paid for an accident of this magnitude...Do you still think that is unlikely without a lawyer?
 

stephenk

Senior Member
What does your primary doctor say about you needing a personal care nurse? Who will the nurse be reporting to? Who will be overseeing the nurse's duties?
 

lulu82

Junior Member
Personal Nurse

The Insurance company wants to hire the nurse case worker. So, technically the insurance company will be watching over the nurse. The nurse case worker will not be giving me any kind of medical advice/treatment she supposedly is around to ask the drs. the "right questions" and make sure each of my five physicians and my physical therapists are all on the same page about what is wrong with me, as tests have shown a bunch of little things wrong that don't seem to link up. The nurse case worker will then report my progress or lack of progress directly to the insurance company, who is across the country.


I would benefit because I do believe I could have better care with at least one of my physicians, and only good would come out if my physicians worked together to find out exactly what was wrong with me. The Insurance company would benefit by having somebody in the same state as me looking after me...and that is fine as I have nothing to hide. I just wanted to know if this was ever standard practice or if I should be worried about the nurse being bought by the insurance company so much that could/would somehow put a spin on my injuries? The insurance company already has access to my medical records pertaining to the accident only, so I assumed they would be able to access the same information as the nurse case worker. Am I being paranoid or naive?
 

weenor

Senior Member
If you are discussing workers' compensation, this is entirely normal. The company has a right to make sure that your caregivers are not taking advantage of the fact that an insurance company (with lots of money) is the entity footing the bill. As far as spin, there is none. Either your condition is related to your accident or it is not. The company is just trying to make sure that it is not paying for conditions associated with the aging process rather than accident related injuries.
 

lulu82

Junior Member
Thanks to everyone for the response. It isn't a workmans comp, its from a car accident where I was passenger... my first post explains it more fully, but I have gotten a lot of people telling me the nurse case manager is a good thing so I am allowing it... I would still like to know if it is ever too late to hire a lawyer on car insurance case?
 

moburkes

Senior Member
lulu82 said:
Thanks to everyone for the response. It isn't a workmans comp, its from a car accident where I was passenger... my first post explains it more fully, but I have gotten a lot of people telling me the nurse case manager is a good thing so I am allowing it... I would still like to know if it is ever too late to hire a lawyer on car insurance case?
Nope, unless you've already signed the settlement papers.
 

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