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Suing for Medical Bill due to Car Accident

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Izel

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? CA

I was in a car accident on 08/04/05, I was not at fault so the guilty parties insurance company paid the damage to my car, however they would not pay the Chiropractor_s bill, it came up to $5000.00.

After months of trying to get the insurance company to pay they finally sent my lawyer a letter saying that they would not pay because there was no way I could have gotten so badly injured if my car damage was not that much ($1600.00).

After more months my layer dropped me and no one wanted to take my case_ every lawyer I contacted said I would have a better chance to get reimbursed if I took it to small claims.

So here is my question_.

Can I also sue for pain and suffering? In reality 2 years later I still have shoulder pain, I stopped treatment because I was not getting better and with not knowing if my bills were going to be paid I didn_t want to raise the bill even more.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks,

Izel
California
 


dcatz

Senior Member
You can't recover for pain and suffering in CA Small Claims and nobody here could tell you if you could recover the full $5,000 for chiropractic treatment. Especially when you relate the facts related here, including the fact that it was not beneficial

There would have had to have been a goodly amount of treatment to reach $5,000, before you came to the conclusion that it wasn't helping.
 

Izel

Junior Member
Thank you for the reply… This has been a question I’ve asked the doctor in the past… why was my bill so high and he agreed it seemed excessive. I called him today and asked him to review this and make sure this is what is owed because I don’t want to go to court and have the Judge dismiss my case because of the excessive amount.

Izel
CA
 

dcatz

Senior Member
It's not likley that a judge would dismiss your case. Presumably, you did suffer injury and require treatment.
It is more likely that, if charges were found to be excessive, the award would be reduced - ie. you might be awarded $3,000 on a claim for $5,000.
This might be further reason for discussion with the chiropractor. It's just a possibility but, if the bill remains unchanged and the award is less than the bill, you not only have to collect the judgment, you're still on the hook for the differential.
Unless you're simply interested in making money from the accident, you might consider offering the chiropractor a lien on your judgment.
 

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