Bodily Injury Settlement Process

[mistaP]

[QUOTE=tammy8;2430881]With *all* that medical care, your bills were only $4500? And you make $4300 a week in wages?

Sorry about the accident, but gotta ask, what do you do to make that kind of money? I need a new career!


$11500 is a MORE than fair settlement with only $4500 in medical.

Basically what I am getting at is that these money amount seem really fishy**************..[/QUOTE]


To answer your first question / accusation, the ER visit was about $2200, $450 for two physicians, seems like $400 in radiology, $675 for ambulance, around $800 for the later glass removal, and $46 in wound care supplies from CVS. Thanks in advance for refraining from further impugning my character. I'm just looking for some advice and friendly debate.

 

[ecmst12]

Greed on the insurance company's part would be wanting someone to pay THEM more then they are reasonably owed for something.

Perhaps you mean "stingy". Their initial offer could be considered stingy. But your demand was greedy. See the difference?

 

[steel9]

You deserve a decent settlement. DONT let the foul at fault ins co rip you off. I got burned on both my property & bodily injury settlement. DONT trust The Hartford!

 

[mistaP]

Greed on the insurance company's part would be wanting someone to pay THEM more then they are reasonably owed for something.

Perhaps you mean "stingy". Their initial offer could be considered stingy. But your demand was greedy. See the difference?

A distinction, perhaps, but no substantive difference.

 

[ats2009]

the adjuster is working in the best interest of the company. if you don't have a lawyer they are not going to offer you much. they seem to offer lots of money to keep from going to court. going to court cost them lots of money to counter your claim. most lawyers in these cases work based on what you get.
as a settlement. you should look into getting a lawyer and you will see your offer increase greatly.

 

[ecmst12]

Getting a lawyer will increase your offer, but 1/3 of it (at least) will go to the lawyer. So consider carefully.

 

[steel9]

The mistake i made was not getting a lawyer. When i finally did talk to a few of them they said it was too late. I screwed myself big time. Dont make that mistake. Get a lawyer!

 

[ats2009]

look at an example:

my mother physically got hit by a car ended up in hospital. had trouble walking ended up having an operation on her leg. didn't get a lawyer an the adjuster gave her 10,000.


lady who caused accident with me, a fender bender, got all medical and transportation expenses paid by no fault has done this same thing 5 years ago
got a good lawyer and got 75,000 settlement. although i was personally being sued i had no say or knowledge of what the adjuster offered even the lawyer didn't know. so adjusters make small offers to people but seem to be afraid of dealing with lawyers. get one fast

 

[ecmst12]

The two examples you give have nothing to do with each other. I don't know how the lady you hit ended up with such a large settlement for minor injuries, the most likely scenario is there is something about her injuries that you don't know about. Insurance adjusters are NOT afraid of lawyers. Insurance companies have lawyers too.

 

[ats2009]

insurance companies do have lawyers. he didn't know anything about the settlement until he called her lawyer to confirm the depistion. He said the injuries were degeneritve in nature. she cut in front of me and stopped short in traffic. I was only going at max 10mph. Her first queston was did I have full insurance, which she asked 3 times because i didn't understand what that meant. I now know that means how much can i sue you for. the adjuster informed me that her did this 5 years ago also in my state and got money then too. Don't forget that this is just for her. all medical expenses are paid thru no fault which also paid $25 per day for household help & transportation to doctors. The sugery she had was a scraping of the knee.

she got so much because she had a good lawyer.

 

[ats2009]

also the examples have nothing to do with one another except to show the difference in having and not having a lawyer. There were no injuries she has done this before. She didn;t have surgery for 6 months and then there were new injuries.

 

[ecmst12]

If she had pre-existing conditions that were WORSENED solely from the accident, in other words she would not have needed the surgery if not for the accident, then you are fully responsible for that worsening and the resulting surgery. It is definitely possible for a low-speed, minor accidents to cause major injuries. While her having a lawyer was helpful (to her), it's the need for surgery that really increased the value of the case. Without the surgery, the best lawyer in the world wouldn't have gotten her a settlement that large.

 

[ats2009]

this type of surgery is something i could have and even most older people. my insurance company's lawyer said it is degenerate in nature besides, her foot was on the brake therefore could not have hit the dashboard. this is a person with lawyers who know what they are doing. Not forgetting that she has done this before. both accidents were in new york 5 years apart when she
is supposed to live in North Carolina. She also could have done this before because accidents only stay on your record for 5 years.

the point for misttaP is that he should get more money if this lady could get so much

 

[mistaP]

If in my negotiations with the adjuster I suggest that I may hire an attorney, how, other than saying "go ahead, but you claim is only worth x dollars and then you'll have to split it with him.", would this affect the negotiation process. Would the adjuster likely up his offer if he thought I was serious?

What about negotiating the best deal that I believe I can, then offering an attorney 50-60% of anything over and above that figure? Logically it makes sense to me, but does this happen in reality? Thanks.

 

[ats2009]

ask people you know if they know a good lawyer
call the lawyer for a consultation. Which is usually free
see what he thinks. based on his experience he can tell you what he believes you can get. you can also go over with he his fees. you may be able to work something out with him but you will never know unless you ask.
you can then tell him you would like to think about it.

then call the adjuster and tell them if they are not willing to make a fair offer you can then hire a lawyer and let him handle it.

i am pretty sure you will get more with an experienced lawyer.