How to negotiate the settlement?

[k23h9723]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I was involved in a car accident 7 months ago, an SUV was making an illegal right turn from the left lane and hit my on my driver side (I am the cross traffic stopped at the light). The damage to my vehicle was over $8000 and my medical bill was $over 3500. My main complain was the neck pain and associated shoulder pain, which caused me to have a hard time to sleep at night. I couldn't drive safely cause I couldn't turn my head left to make turns. I have been seeing a chiropractor for the time being and still on going. The at fault driver's insurance took full responsibility to cover my car repair and the medical bills but even before seeing the doctor report, they offered me $1000 to settle the case. What do you think is a reasonable # to settle this kind of damage? My car lost its value since now carfax would note it had an serious accident. Not to mention that I took time to see the chiropractor twice a week from work and the pain I had to suffer during the day and lost of sleep at night. Please advise

 

[sandyclaus]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I was involved in a car accident 7 months ago, an SUV was making an illegal right turn from the left lane and hit my on my driver side (I am the cross traffic stopped at the light). The damage to my vehicle was over $8000 and my medical bill was $over 3500. My main complain was the neck pain and associated shoulder pain, which caused me to have a hard time to sleep at night. I couldn't drive safely cause I couldn't turn my head left to make turns. I have been seeing a chiropractor for the time being and still on going. The at fault driver's insurance took full responsibility to cover my car repair and the medical bills but even before seeing the doctor report, they offered me $1000 to settle the case. What do you think is a reasonable # to settle this kind of damage? My car lost its value since now carfax would note it had an serious accident. Not to mention that I took time to see the chiropractor twice a week from work and the pain I had to suffer during the day and lost of sleep at night. Please advise

If the other driver was, indeed, at fault, then you are entitled to be made whole. Your medical bills should be covered to the policy limits allowed. You *MIGHT* be entitled to a little bit for pain and suffering, but that won't be a huge amount since the injury was not that severe. As for your car, you are entitled the lesser of the cost to repair OR the depreciated value of the vehicle if those repairs exceed the value of the car. Note that your car lost a significant amount of its value the minute you drove it off the car lot, so its highly unlikely that the current value is anywhere near the amount you paid for it. Most dealerships offer something called GAP insurance that is intended to cover the gap between the current value and cost to replace that same vehicle at current prices - if you didn't have it, that's something you may never recover.

 

[k23h9723]

If the other driver was, indeed, at fault, then you are entitled to be made whole. Your medical bills should be covered to the policy limits allowed. You *MIGHT* be entitled to a little bit for pain and suffering, but that won't be a huge amount since the injury was not that severe. As for your car, you are entitled the lesser of the cost to repair OR the depreciated value of the vehicle if those repairs exceed the value of the car. Note that your car lost a significant amount of its value the minute you drove it off the car lot, so its highly unlikely that the current value is anywhere near the amount you paid for it. Most dealerships offer something called GAP insurance that is intended to cover the gap between the current value and cost to replace that same vehicle at current prices - if you didn't have it, that's something you may never recover.

The other driver was issued a ticket after the police arrived and his insurance admit at fault. His insurance agreed to cover the medical cost once they receive it too. I understand my car lost value the minute I drove off the lot, I am not asking for that. My car was worth ~$11000 blue book trade-in value before the accident. After the repair, I drove to the dealer that I bought from and tried to trade in for something else (since I don't feel that car is safe anymore). The dealer asked me questions and I told them yes it was in an accident, they offered $5k for the car. So who am I going to ask for that difference? I am now stuck with a car cost $8000 to repair.

I guess my question was, is $1000 a reasonable offer, and if not, what can I do? Thank you for your reply.