hubby driving 1954 ford (a nice one!), me following in different car, we are travelling down highway at speed limit of 50 mph, an oncoming durango swerves into our lane(they were going too fast and were trying to avoid a car stopping in front of them) they were cited. he tries to avoid it by heading for his shoulder and gets rammed on back panel behind driver’s side. the car is majorly bashed. he hit his head, bloodied both knees.. went to ER via ambul. and had negative CAT scan. mostly just sore and bruised from it. I witnessed the whole thing.. pretty scary i tell ya. Personal injury insurance guy shows up yesterday and says, we’ll give you medical expenses plus $800. take it or leave it. the car will be covered by a different adjuster. so.. having never been in anything like this before does this seem like the fair amount? assuming he feels fine should we find a lawyer or no? i’d really appreciate some ideas on this. thanks
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In A Car Accident … Does This Sound Fair?
8 Responses for “In A Car Accident … Does This Sound Fair?”
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Let me start by saying I handled auto claims for over 10 years.
If I understand this correctly, only your husbands car was damaged and he was injured. You only witness this since you followed him.
If only the car and your husband only, then you will get 2 checks. 1 for the damages to your husbands car and 1 for your husbands injury.
From the injuries stated, husband is treated and released, which is good.
Since he hit head, needed CT to confirm no concussion, was taken by EMS which is standard after an accident and checked out. The hospital probably said to come back if any problems and he is ok now, just sore and bruised. This is how an adjuster will see it, which sounds awful, but it is true. (Treated and released and ok)
The reason for the quick settlement is that if you settle and later complain of other injuries, you are SOL, since when you settle, claim is closed forever.
Also by now, I suspect you have gotten at least a dozen beautiful brochures and letters from all of these lawyers that guarantee they will make you millionaires. I have seen them and they are garbage. They will just send a letter, make offer and collect 1/3 of the settlement and believe me that is about all they do.
My suggestion is to wait. Even if he needs no more treatment and he is fine, wait at least 3 months to confirm no other problems. Most states you have 2 years to settle, so there is no hurry.
The medical expenses you state will most likely be around $3,000 to $4,000 total, so in effect he is offering anywhere from $3,500 to $5,000 for this injury including your medical bills.
All adjusters have “room” to negotiate. So my guess is that they value your pain/suffering ($800) to around $1,200 to $2,000 max. It all depends on each company, since some pay more, while others will pay almost nothing and will not budge. (I have worked for 6 different companies, so I know from experience) Don’t believe the others when they state $10K or more, it depends on each company.
Tell him you want to wait for the time being and may consider settling in about 3 months. This way you will know for sure he is ok and take the pressure off. If they state we wont pay more, say ok, no problem, not willing to settle right now. But at some point, they want to close claims and go on to the next claim so they have 1 less claim to settle.
good luck
Get legal consultation. That offer is a rip. $800 won’t fix your husband’s car! Will the medical expenses cover for life? Probably not, because your husband will probably have problems with his knees as long as he lives. My mom did. The insurance companies usually settle a whole claim, not just a part of it. Watch out, whoever this guy is making the offer is scamming you and looking for a VERY easy out.
Yes you should get an attorney! HOW can you not know this? You should NEVER talk to the other side, you may have said something that could hurt your case. You should have referred them to speak to YOUR insurance company, it’s what you pay them for!
People who work for insurance companies NEVER give the highest offer that they are allowed to. They always go in as low as possible to begin with. Don’t accept the offer.
he sounds like a slimeball, if they offer you 800 that probably means you can get close to 10,000 dollars if you take them to court
Get a lawyer and ask them, most should take a case like this for free then take 40 percent of the payout.
Yes you should see a lawer.
DO NOT TAKE IT!
I don’t even think you need a lawyer….last year I was a passenger in a car accident and I wasnt majorly injured, but I did see a chiropracter 2 times a week for two months (which by the way your husband should do…they found some whiplash related problems in my neck..that if left untreated could have really caused me a lot of trouble later in life)..it wasnt even my car so I didnt have any problems having to deal with that and I didnt miss any work and I still got $2,000 over the chiropractor bills just for my trouble…they offered me around $900 at first and I didnt accept it..i told them I was going to talk to a lawyer and waited a couple of weeks..they called me back with an offer of $1500..I didnt take it..I said I needed to talk to someone and think about it and about a week later I got a letter in the mail with the offer of $2100 ish over the medical bills..so i signed it and sent it in..i thought I came out pretty well..but make sure your husband is positive there are no injuries associated with the accident that are going to continue to cause him trouble BEFORE you sign anything (like back or neck problems..i wouldnt even sign it until the pain was completely gone just to make sure!) because they will have you sign papers to release them from all and any liability so that you can never ask them for money again.