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Do criminal charges have influence on settlement amounts?

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JennyP410

Member
What is the name of your state? Georgia

I was recently in a motorcycle accident - see previous thread:
https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=375429

The other driver was charged with DUI (prescription drugs) and making terroristic threats (a felony). He came out of his house after the accident (that happened at his driveway) with a shotgun and threatened everyone. I got a call from the DA's office, and they are adding "serious injury by vehicle" to his charges.

Can I use this to my advantage when negotiating with his insurance company (the "good hands" folks) for more money? Or do they just focus on the injuries?

JenWhat is the name of your state?
 


Ozark_Sophist

Senior Member
No. In fact, the terroristic threatening is completely seperate from the accident. You would have a claim for a civil action against him, but unless you had documented damages stemming directly from the terroristic threatening incident, there is nothing more to settle for in my opinion.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
The DUI only goes towards establishing liability, not damages. Since they are probably already accepting liability, the only thing you have to negotiate now is damages.
 

JennyP410

Member
What about claiming future lost wages for meetings with the DA's office? We are both witnesses, so will be missing time here and there.
 

JBK in Georgia

Junior Member
I disagree. DUI certainly would affect the settlement amount because of the possibility of punitive damages. A less clear issue is the threat issue. However, a good attorney could probably increase the settlement amount (or amount obtained at trial) because of this factor.
 

moburkes

Senior Member
I disagree. DUI certainly would affect the settlement amount because of the possibility of punitive damages. A less clear issue is the threat issue. However, a good attorney could probably increase the settlement amount (or amount obtained at trial) because of this factor.
So, what are the limits of liability that you are basing this on?
 

JBK in Georgia

Junior Member
I'm sorry, moburkes, I don't know what you mean by "what are the limits of liability that you are basing this on." If the damages suffered (which would, in most cases, include potential punitives) are within the insurance company's coverage, limits would not come into play. Of course, if damages exceeded limits, any excess would need to be collected from the tortfeasor.
 

JennyP410

Member
I decided to mention the charges in the demand letter, and the fact that the DA's office added "serious injury by vehicle". It may not matter, but I didn't figure it hurt to put it in there to remind her of the possibility of going to trial and punitive damages. I am hoping that they will just settle for the policy limit of 50K. Total med bills are right at 10K (using the FULL charges, not the lower insurance negotiated charges which are about 6K), and lost wages are just over 10K, so about $20,500 in verifiable losses.

Does that sound unreasonable to want the 50K? I spent four weeks completely immobilized due to the pelvic and acetabular fractures. Fractured coccyx still hurts. I also had a banged up elbow with permanent scarring (couldn't ever confirm a fracture, but couldn't rule it out, either). Not to mention the possibility for arthritis in the future in my hip, and any childbirth issues due to the two pubic bone breaks.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
JUST based on the 10k medical bills, maybe not, but based on the 4 weeks of immobilization, I'd say yeah, the full 50k is reasonable.
 

JennyP410

Member
My auto insurance company pointed out that my injuries were similar to broken ribs in that my pain was severe, recovery was prolonged, but medical bills are minimal because there isn't any treatment. The fractures just have to heal on their own.

I'm making this point, also, in the letter. Maybe she will take it to heart.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Well you DID have treatment, it's not like broken ribs, 10k in medical bills isn't nothing! But it's not proportional to your suffering due to the activity restrictions during recovery. If you were claiming 50k for broken ribs with NO treatment, you would be a lot less likely to get it.
 

JennyP410

Member
I had considered going back to the lawyer we initially consulted with. He sent a letter to the company to get the policy limits, but we had not hired him at that time. When the insurance company received the letter, they refused to deal with us and even backstepped on the property damage and said they'd never approved for anything to be done. The property damage had been agreed upon for over a month at that time. It took three weeks and another letter from the lawyer to convince them that we hadn't hired him.

So after seeing their reaction, I became hesitant about using him. We had decided to use him hourly until that happened.
 

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