In a car accident … does this sound fair?
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
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
Guide to making a Personal Injury Compensation Claim – Simpson Millar Solicitors