does this sound fair?

What is the name of your state? Ohio

in the end of last year I was involved in a car accident. The other person was at fault, I was rear ended at a red light. I had over 7500 in damages, and my car was condidered tottalled by my insurance company. My under 2 yr old child was with me. My child checked out as a well child when went to ER (I was worried, the door wouldn't open), but they didn't even take my child out of car seat to check. They want only offer me less then 500 and my childs medical bills. M child can't verbalize if hurt or not, and since still so young, it might not be til later til I see some possible effects from the accident. I want to know if 500 sounds fair. Everyone else says a couple thousand sounds better at minimum. That is just for my child.

(I hope I did this post correctly)

wolfpup said:

What is the name of your state? Ohio

in the end of last year I was involved in a car accident. The other person was at fault, I was rear ended at a red light. I had over 7500 in damages, and my car was condidered tottalled by my insurance company. My under 2 yr old child was with me. My child checked out as a well child when went to ER (I was worried, the door wouldn't open), but they didn't even take my child out of car seat to check. They want only offer me less then 500 and my childs medical bills. M child can't verbalize if hurt or not, and since still so young, it might not be til later til I see some possible effects from the accident. I want to know if 500 sounds fair. Everyone else says a couple thousand sounds better at minimum. That is just for my child.

(I hope I did this post correctly)

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what does your child need the extra $1500 for?

Who is "everyone else"? Friends? Family? They are not a good evaluation.

If you feel it is unreasonable you can always consult with an attorney. If your child is under a doctors care, what damages did he/she sustain and what are the permanent injuries. Also, I believe you can keep your childs claim open until they are 18 or something like that. The problem with that is that any damages you (or your child) claim later in life must be able to be related to the accident. Let's face it, children will get hurt and bruised as they grow. Chances would be small to get a better recovery when they are older. You would need to have his/her injuries monitored continuously to see, what, if any, injuries are a result of the accident.

I was in an accident with my 2 yr old daughter...terrible accident...flipping, rolling, wife became disabled. My daughter and I walked away with bumps on our head. My point is, children can handle these trauma's much better than adults. Physically and psychologically she is 100%. Every now and then she asks me to slow down when accelerating on a freeway entrance ramp.

If you haven't noticed any symptoms in the past year, and she hasn't been under a doctor's care during that time, then how would you prove an injury? $500 sounds fair to me, if all she ever had was one visit to the ER.

the every one else is my parents and my hubby's parents. They feel that 450 is unfair. An origional offer was 750 plus bills paid, but no one will tell me why it's lower now. I do want this to be fair, and not out to make a ton of money. I do just want this over and done with. BTW Thank you for the advice from everyone here. My child is not under dr's care. I was for quite a few months though (but that's a seperate settlement they have yet to work on)

My aunt was in a car accident with her daughter when the daughter was very young, probably about the same are as yours. The problems my cousin had were definitely obvious; she had trouble walking and required extensive physical therapy to regain near-normal functioning on one side of her body. To this day she has slight weakness in her foot on that side, and the accident was about 8 years ago. Even though your child can't express herself well yet, if she was in serious pain, she'd be letting you know about it, and if she had any serious injuries, you would have been able to tell by the way she was moving etc. If she hasn't required treatment so far, that's a good indicator that she's fine.

wolfpup said:

the every one else is my parents and my hubby's parents. They feel that 450 is unfair. An origional offer was 750 plus bills paid, but no one will tell me why it's lower now. I do want this to be fair, and not out to make a ton of money. I do just want this over and done with. BTW Thank you for the advice from everyone here. My child is not under dr's care. I was for quite a few months though (but that's a seperate settlement they have yet to work on)

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did your child miss any work days? is she having to take medication which would impair their ability to drive or work? Is she disfigured in any way? 500 seems fair to me...unless of course i was hoping for a cash cow.

$500 to take care of the liability portion of this accident claim DOES NOT sound fair to me at all.

It is to your benefit to call a local lawyer and see what they say.

Personally I would never think of settling a liability issue for such a LOW amount. It would be better in my opinion not to settle.

I was rear-ended when I was 12 and got around 20 thousand for that.

But I assume you were actually injured and required significant medical treatment to receive that much. This child went to the ER one time only and was fine.

When children are correctly placed in car seats, they don't feel the same effects of an accident that seat belted people do.

I hope that you have had that car seat replaced for your child's safety.

Hopefully the baby is OK, but like the mother said.... the baby isn't saying about the whole affair

It just seems real silly to settle a liability for such a pittance.

To Wolfpup: If you do settle the liability issue make sure you have it stated in the settlement something to the effect of "This settlement does not effect any future medical benefits that may be due as a result of this accident", but....
Again, If I were you I would call a local lawyer that specializes in auto accidents and get his opinion, and if you like his opinion and he thinks get can get you a lot more than $500 enter into a contingency agreement with him to have him/her represent you and your baby.

To Wolfpup: If you do settle the liability issue make sure you have it stated in the settlement something to the effect of "This settlement does not effect any future medical benefits that may be due as a result of this accident"

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No insurance carrier is going to agree to that, especially in a situation like this.

The child wasn't injured, thank goodness. The fairest settlement would probably be reimbursement for the medical bill only. Any extra is gravy. The child has no damages! If an attorney is handling OP's claim, which sounds like it has some value, s/he would handle the child's claim, too, but the child would still not have damages and it would still be a tough row to try to get a four figure settlement. The child's case alone is definitey not one that an attorney would want to take on. There just isn't anything there.

Towtheline said:

I was rear-ended when I was 12 and got around 20 thousand for that.

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ahhhh, the good old days. I wished we lived in a state like that still. My wife would be getting lots for her accident. Let me tell you, it was a surprise that we are not getting a dime other than actual damages and medical. FL doesn't allow pain and suffering unless permanent injury is proven. They don't care if you had an injury and suffered for months with it. 20K? You must have been seriously injured.

las365 said:

No insurance carrier is going to agree to that, especially in a situation like this.

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Well that is not the case. When I settled the liability portion of an auto accident I was in I had the lawyer put a sentence in the settlement that read "This settlement does not affect (my name) P.I.P. (medical/vocational) benefits"

This sentence saved me from a lot of headache later when I had to bring a suit against the insurance to recover medical and vocational expenses that I incurred and the insurance refused to pay.

I guess the moral here is.... It never hurts to ask

Towtheline said:

Well that is not the case. When I settled the liability portion of an auto accident I was in I had the lawyer put a sentence in the settlement that read "This settlement does not affect (my name) P.I.P. (medical/vocational) benefits"

This sentence saved me from a lot of headache later when I had to bring a suit against the insurance to recover medical and vocational expenses that I incurred and the insurance refused to pay.

I guess the moral here is.... It never hurts to ask

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First of all, Ohio doesn't even HAVE PIP. And, second, PIP is covered by one insurance policy while liability is covered by another, unless they are, coincidentally, the same company.