Wife, Daughter, Sister in Law Rear End Collision

[frostmail07]

Accident in Waterloo, IA. Rear end collision with wife sister 1 yo daughter in car. Sister in law had surgery through the neck attaching metal plate, wife is now permanently handicap due to the pain and numbness that shoots down her leg after even short amounts of walking, only pain killers and alot of chiropractic care ease the situation when it becomes troublesome, sometimes chiropractic care twice a week. Insurance Adjuster looking to settle, wants wife to provide a settle amount to consider. What is appropriate settlement for this case involving pain/suffering/medical bills current and future etc etc, a breakdown would be very helpful.

 

[seniorjudge]

What amount do you want?

Was the accident 100% the other person's fault?

Did the injured parties work outside the home?

 

[ecmst12]

Those are serious injuries, IMO hiring a lawyer is the best way to get a fair settlement, unless they're already offering you the policy limits or something.

 

[teflon_jones]

The first rule of negotiating is to always let the other party make the first offer. Have you gotten estimates from doctors for what care will be needed long-term for your wife? What % permanent handicap has her doctor said she has? What about your sister in law, is the settlement going to be a joint affair or individual settlement to each party? What long-term effects is she expected to have? Any more care that she needs?

In a case like this it's probably a good idea to get a lawyer, though you can expect they'll take 1/3 of the settlement. The first step I would take is to tell the adjust you expect him/her to make the first offer to you so you can decide if you need to get a lawyer or if you can settle this amicably. Do everything in writing certified return receipt. It makes a much stronger impression than talking to them on the phone. Also ask them to send you everything in writing. The other thing I would do if I were you is to add up all of the expected medical bills for the rest of your wife's life. Then ask your wife how much she would like for pain and suffering. I'm guessing they've already paid for you property damages (i.e. car)? Add the medical and P&S together and see how that compares to what the adjuster offers. Then take the total you and your wife come up with and triple the P&S and offer that to the adjuster (in writing) with a breakdown of exactly how you came up with the amount, but of course don't mention that you tripled the P&S. There used to be a formula in cases like this that P&S was worth 3X the medical bills, but that doesn't really apply any more. It is more up to the discretion of each judge or jury. I find it's a much better place to start to simply triple whatever will satisfy the injured party and negotiate down from there (as long as they're realistic and not greedy!).

Some people I've worked with have lucked out by trying this tactic and have ended up getting more than they would have ended up with by having a lawyer involved and losing 1/3 of the settlement to them, plus you have to consider the time it will take to involve the lawyer. That will most certainly drag the settlement out much longer because the lawyer will try and get every dime. Don't negotiate on the medical bills. Those are fixed costs you will have to pay and make it clear those are non-negotiable in your letter to the adjuster. Give your wife's doctor's name, address, and phone number and talk to the doctor and let him/her know that you are settling the case and that they are allowed to corroborate the treatments required in the letter.

Best of luck to you.

 

[moburkes]

The amount of liability coverage that the at fault person has is where you need to start. For example, the state minimum for bodily injury is $20,000 per person, no more than $40,000 per accident REGARDLESS OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE MEDICAL BILLS, PAIN & SUFFERING, ETC. So, there won't be anything to negotiate about if the insurance is not adequate. Your sister in law will get $20k and your wife and daughter will be negotiating the other $20k that is left.

So, how much coverage do they have?

 

[frostmail07]

Thanks for all the advice

This claims adjuster waited for the last minute before wife had to file lawsuit, we have been corresponding by email, the first offer was less than 10K, wow. You hear of a lady that spilled hot coffee on herself and got over 100K. Anyways, She is not going for this and requesting a better offer.

 

[MikeKV]

I'm very sorry about you wife, daughter and SIL. I know a little about what your family is going through. My wife and daughter were also in an accident (not their fault) where it totalled our SUV. It is not fun to go through recovery.

I agree with "ecmst12" as far as hiring a lawyer. Also, I've learned that adjusters want to attempt to settle sooner than later to try to avoid future claims (especially medical related). You never know how long therapy may take to recover. When my wife was in an accident our lawyer told my wife to get better then we will concentrate on a fair settlement as long as it doesn't surpass the time limit with legal settlements. Concentrate on recovery then settle.

 

[JustAPal00]

This claims adjuster waited for the last minute before wife had to file lawsuit, we have been corresponding by email, the first offer was less than 10K, wow. You hear of a lady that spilled hot coffee on herself and got over 100K. Anyways, She is not going for this and requesting a better offer.

That woman never collected that money, the settlement was reduced. The problem with going after the driver of the other car with an attorney, is he takes 1/3. If the other drivers insurance is offering the policy limits then I would try to determine if he had assets you could go after. You will probably win a fairly large suit, but if you can't collect anything over the policy limits, then you are just going to be forking over 1/3 of what you could have gotten on your own to a lawyer!

 

[ecmst12]

The coffee lady was awarded over 2 million, it was reduced and I think she collected about 250k.