Settlement For Auto Accident

[Curious and Clueless]

I would appreciate any opinions on this as I am completely clueless. Here are the details. My wife was in an accident (we are in TN) in which a 16 year old male crossed the center line and hit her head on. Our car was totalled and she had to be cut out of the wreckage. They immobilized her and took her to the emergency room. She suffered minor cuts and abrasions and some pretty severe bruising. She had new bruises appear 3 to 4 days after the accident. Thankfully nothing was broken. She was 4 months pregnant, too, so the baby doctor came and examined her. He said that to the best of their ability to determine, the baby was ok. She was off work for a week, and was sore and bruised for 3 to 4 weeks. The insurance compnay said we could wait until the baby came if we wanted before settling. We thought that would be best, too. The baby came, and he is fine, thank God. Her medical bills came to appx $1700. I called the ins co today to discuss the settlement. They have paid the medicals. They said for lost wages, pain, suffering, inconvenience, etc... they could pay, at most, $1500. My question is this, does this seem to be a fair settlement? I honestly don't have a clue. And while I do not want to be greedy, I also do not want to be short-changing myself, so to speak. We will be far from restored to where we were before the accident, as we had to replace our car, and they would only give us book value. We only had 8 months of payments left and now we are back to years of car payments. Plus there was the anxiety of worrying about our unborn child. I honestly want your sincere opinions on this.

Thanks in advance.

 

[prairielaw3]

Your question is really in some ways very hard to answer. There is simply no formula for a claim as the value of any claim is ultimately what a jury would likely award based on all the evidence; and, many factors go into it. In addition to all gone through and with the med bills and lost wages and all the stuff of life gone through, what do the docs say about the future-while there are no crystal balls, what is their best estimate? will there likely be problems in their professional opinion? will things all likely resolve? etc. If problems, what likely affect on income? what future med care likely. These are just a few of the factors; if you not gotten these answers yet from the treating docs, consider getting this info first;although be mindful of statute of limitations for your state, also important before settling that you as good a picture of future as possible. It would be wise to consult with an experienced injury lawyer in your state first. many will give an initial consult for free. Good luck!
George Senteney