Settlement Advice for Car Accident

[sunzt]

I would appreciate any input from people who had to deal with medical and auto insurance companies offering a settlement.

Last month I got into a car accident and totaled my car (guy rear ended me and said he had a charlie horse... whatever). I had a sore/stiff neck and back immediately after he hit me so I went to the hospital to get x rays. Nothing serious and I was out by the night. Doc said I'll be sore and advised me to take a few days off. Also gave me some valium and IBprofin.

My medical bills end up being about $2,124 and my health insurance will pay about 671. I have a 1,000 deductible and so I will pay $1,115. Now the auto insurance wants me to settle for $2,475.

My health insurance they will be submitting a bill to the auto insurance and they said that they would would be taking a cut of my settlement to pay for their costs, and it was up to the auto insurance to readjust my offer if they decided to do so.

So now here are my choices.

1) take the offer as it stands now, before the health insurance submits their claim to the auto insurance. Would the health insurance then come after me for the amount they paid due to the other driver's fault? The health insurance's lawyer i talked to said they are 'entitled' to get money if it was the other person's fault.

2) wait for health insurance's lawyers to contact me back after they submit their claim to the auto adjuster and see if it's higher.

3) decline any offer and renegotiate. How would I justify a higher settlement? How do I determine pain and suffering? I'm not sure what number to give them and what guidelines to follow.

Help would be appreciated.

 

[BoomerD]

IMO, lawyer up.

Do NOT call one of the big "personal injury lawyers" that advertise on TV or billboards. Find a good local attorney who does personal injury. MOST will give you a free consultation and charge you a percentage (often negotiable) of what they get for you. (they may tell you the offer is fair and to take it...but not likely)

Next, once you settle, you will have to repay your health insurance for what they've paid on your behalf. (subrogation?) It's a normal thing...

NEVER sign anything provided by the other party's insurance...you could be signing away all your rights.

Lawyer up.

 

[1sikbITCH]

I would appreciate any input from people who had to deal with medical and auto insurance companies offering a settlement.

Last month I got into a car accident and totaled my car (guy rear ended me and said he had a charlie horse... whatever). I had a sore/stiff neck and back immediately after he hit me so I went to the hospital to get x rays. Nothing serious and I was out by the night. Doc said I'll be sore and advised me to take a few days off. Also gave me some valium and IBprofin.

My medical bills end up being about $2,124 and my health insurance will pay about 671. I have a 1,000 deductible and so I will pay $1,115. Now the auto insurance wants me to settle for $2,475.

My health insurance they will be submitting a bill to the auto insurance and they said that they would would be taking a cut of my settlement to pay for their costs, and it was up to the auto insurance to readjust my offer if they decided to do so.

So now here are my choices.

1) take the offer as it stands now, before the health insurance submits their claim to the auto insurance. Would the health insurance then come after me for the amount they paid due to the other driver's fault? The health insurance's lawyer i talked to said they are 'entitled' to get money if it was the other person's fault.

2) wait for health insurance's lawyers to contact me back after they submit their claim to the auto adjuster and see if it's higher.

3) decline any offer and renegotiate. How would I justify a higher settlement? How do I determine pain and suffering? I'm not sure what number to give them and what guidelines to follow.

Help would be appreciated.

The reason you cannot answer these questions is because you are not a lawyer. This is why people hire lawyers. The insurance company knows you do not have a lawyer, and are laughing at you as they prepare to butt rape you. As soon as you get a lawyer they will stop playing games and negotiate a fair settlement.

You have 2 choices. Either listen to half-ass advice you get off the internet and remember to buy some vaseline, or get a lawyer and get the true value out of your settlement.

 

[FoBoT]

if you weren't really hurt, then as long as your costs are covered, you should be good with that, anymore and you are milking the system

 

[mugs]

if you weren't really hurt, then as long as your costs are covered, you should be good with that, anymore and you are milking the system

This. Come on, a sore back?

 

[James Bond]

This. Come on, a sore back?

It is VERY common for issues to arise after the accident. This has happened to several people I know, and myself.

I was in an accident almost 3 years ago and I'm still dealing with all of it. It's a huge fucking hassle.

That being said - I was SO close to settling before I had a lawyer. At the time, I really had almost no pain and they offered me something like $3000. My mom's friend is married to a lawyer, and when my mom asked her how much I "deserved", she said about $6000 (estimate, obviously). It pissed me off that they were low balling me, so I declined.

A couple months later I had a lawyer, and more problems with my back and neck started popping up. I'm hoping to settle within the next couple months, and it will likely be for above $10K now.

 

[sunzt]

Thanks for the responses all. I'm going to get a consult with a lawyer next week

Should I let their insurance know I'm talking to one?

 

[Genx87]

You can, really doesnt matter at this point. Talk to the lawyer before signing anything.

 

[Ausm]

Get the slimiest bottom sucking lawyer you can find and sue that person's ass.

 

[JTsyo]

I think it's BS that your health insurance is trying to get paid too. When you get health insurance it shouldn't matter how you got hurt, they should just cover what they agreed to. If you had been at fault would they say no coverage since it was your fault?
Which insurance company is trying to settle, yours or theirs? I would also be sure to have a clause in there that if there are medical complications later the case would still be open.

 

[Adrenaline]

Lawyer up.

A Harvard study was done years ago (I read an article on it) and found that pain and suffering from car accidents is 3 times medical expenses.

1/3 to you
1/3 to lawyer
1/3 to bills

I got rear ended while sitting at a red light, guy was going 45+ mph easy. I had to go to the ER (I never got out of my car. I never even saw my car.) in am ambulance on a stretcher and 2 weeks of physical therapy.

 

[rudder]

if you weren't really hurt, then as long as your costs are covered, you should be good with that, anymore and you are milking the system

I had a nearly similar thing happen to me. The other guys insurance came to me the week following the accident. They brought a check for like $1400 for medical stuff + fixing my truck. With time off, doctors visits, the $1400 would not had covered it... plus if anything developed down the road I was screwed. Being a nice guy I wrote a letter, sent it certified and said I would settle for around $3000 for medical expenses/time off etc. They gave me a big FU and told me I could pick up the $1400 check. I had to get a lawyer and ended up with $9000 after the lawyers fees. Insurance companies are dicks... milk the system.

 

[squirrel dog]

What you might need to know is that 1,5,10 years from now you may need back or neck
surgery for a fractured vert.So yes get a good lawyer.The reason his ins. co. is on you now,they hope you will grab at quick money.Don't do that,sue for the max you can get.

 

[rudder]

I think it's BS that your health insurance is trying to get paid too. When you get health insurance it shouldn't matter how you got hurt, they should just cover what they agreed to. If you had been at fault would they say no coverage since it was your fault?
Which insurance company is trying to settle, yours or theirs? I would also be sure to have a clause in there that if there are medical complications later the case would still be open.

Why is that BS? It does matter if someone else causes you to incur medical expenses. They are not in business to just give money away. But this all should not even affect the OP. My insurance company contacted me for details and that was it. They then sued the other drivers insurance company for reimbursement.

 

[sunzt]

Lawyer up.

A Harvard study was done years ago (I read an article on it) and found that pain and suffering from car accidents is 3 times medical expenses.

1/3 to you
1/3 to lawyer
1/3 to bills

I got rear ended while sitting at a red light, guy was going 45+ mph easy. I had to go to the ER (I never got out of my car. I never even saw my car.) in am ambulance on a stretcher and 2 weeks of physical therapy.

Same thing happened to me. Except I didn't need to go to physical therapy and only went to ER to get things checked out.

 

[wiredspider]

This is why I do not provide my insurance info when it is the other party's fault. No reason my insurance should pay for something I did not cause! (I just gave the medical providers the claim ID or # for treatment and they were ok with that, so they billed the insurance directly).

 

[lykaon78]

Lawyer up.

A Harvard study was done years ago (I read an article on it) and found that pain and suffering from car accidents is 3 times medical expenses.

1/3 to you
1/3 to lawyer
1/3 to bills

I got rear ended while sitting at a red light, guy was going 45+ mph easy. I had to go to the ER (I never got out of my car. I never even saw my car.) in am ambulance on a stretcher and 2 weeks of physical therapy.

QFT

My wife had similar bills from an accident (other driver's fault) we ended up with a settlement of almost exactly 3 times the total medical bills disbursed exactly as mentioned above.

Best of all we never dealt with the insurance company. The lawyer did all that.

 

[Epic Fail]

It is VERY common for issues to arise after the accident. This has happened to several people I know, and myself.

I was in an accident almost 3 years ago and I'm still dealing with all of it. It's a huge fucking hassle.

That being said - I was SO close to settling before I had a lawyer. At the time, I really had almost no pain and they offered me something like $3000. My mom's friend is married to a lawyer, and when my mom asked her how much I "deserved", she said about $6000 (estimate, obviously). It pissed me off that they were low balling me, so I declined.

A couple months later I had a lawyer, and more problems with my back and neck started popping up. I'm hoping to settle within the next couple months, and it will likely be for above $10K now.

Your case is still open after three years? How do you even prove any pain is from the injury any more?

 

[Newbian]

Lol, $2,124 for some aspirin.

 

[JEDI]

I would appreciate any input from people who had to deal with medical and auto insurance companies offering a settlement.

Last month I got into a car accident and totaled my car (guy rear ended me and said he had a charlie horse... whatever). I had a sore/stiff neck and back immediately after he hit me so I went to the hospital to get x rays. Nothing serious and I was out by the night. Doc said I'll be sore and advised me to take a few days off. Also gave me some valium and IBprofin.

My medical bills end up being about $2,124 and my health insurance will pay about 671. I have a 1,000 deductible and so I will pay $1,115. Now the auto insurance wants me to settle for $2,475.

My health insurance they will be submitting a bill to the auto insurance and they said that they would would be taking a cut of my settlement to pay for their costs, and it was up to the auto insurance to readjust my offer if they decided to do so.

So now here are my choices.

1) take the offer as it stands now, before the health insurance submits their claim to the auto insurance. Would the health insurance then come after me for the amount they paid due to the other driver's fault? The health insurance's lawyer i talked to said they are 'entitled' to get money if it was the other person's fault.

2) wait for health insurance's lawyers to contact me back after they submit their claim to the auto adjuster and see if it's higher.

3) decline any offer and renegotiate. How would I justify a higher settlement? How do I determine pain and suffering? I'm not sure what number to give them and what guidelines to follow.

Help would be appreciated.

wtf are you doing dealing with this yourself?! hire a lawyer ASAP you idiot!!

this is how it works:

$ from his insurance $ is split 3 ways:
1/3 to hospital bill
1/3 to lawyer
1/3 to you

get a lawyer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

more hospital bills = more $ to you!!!!!!!!!!! up to his liability max. it's their fault. get yourself fixed up to as close to 100% as possible.


edit:
what they said above


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