by jo » Wed Sep 02, 2009 03:38 am
I was involved in an accident that totaled my car. It was s 2000 Monte Carlo and they paid me $6K for it. They said the frame was too badly damaged to buy it back.
I had physical therapy for 4 months with very little improvement. Finally I had an MRI 6 months after the wreck. It showed herniated discs at C3-C4 and C5-C6 both mildly flattening the spinal cord. I had physical therapy for 4 more months with much more relief. I am still in daily pain and I have limited motion in my neck and my right shoulder.
I had no previous injuries, this was my first car accident. I hardly ever go to the doctor, about once a year usually with the flu. I had no pain before the accident and now it's my constant companion. I also have ringing in my ears that's much worse when the neck pain gets worse.
I was supposed to have a stricture in my esophagus stretched the day of the accident. The accident pushed back this procedure 4 months, causing me to suffer from nausea, indigestion and severe difficulty swallowing.
I was active before the accident but now I am very limited in what I can do. Thankfully I have an office job, so I can still work.
My medical bills are $10K and my lost wages $3K.
What would I be looking at for a fair settlement?
I had physical therapy for 4 months with very little improvement. Finally I had an MRI 6 months after the wreck. It showed herniated discs at C3-C4 and C5-C6 both mildly flattening the spinal cord. I had physical therapy for 4 more months with much more relief. I am still in daily pain and I have limited motion in my neck and my right shoulder.
I had no previous injuries, this was my first car accident. I hardly ever go to the doctor, about once a year usually with the flu. I had no pain before the accident and now it's my constant companion. I also have ringing in my ears that's much worse when the neck pain gets worse.
I was supposed to have a stricture in my esophagus stretched the day of the accident. The accident pushed back this procedure 4 months, causing me to suffer from nausea, indigestion and severe difficulty swallowing.
I was active before the accident but now I am very limited in what I can do. Thankfully I have an office job, so I can still work.
My medical bills are $10K and my lost wages $3K.
What would I be looking at for a fair settlement?
Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:51 am Post Subject:
Is it allowable to contact the lady that hit me to ask about liability limits if I get stonewalled by the adjuster or is that a big no-no?
There's certainly no law against it...Is there a way to get the adjuster to be specific?
Well, kind of...they will come up with a 'range', the first offer of settlement will be toward the bottom of that range. You can certainly request how they arrive at their figure, but like the one that you will submit..it's subjective.Punitive damages, are these only if you file suit?
Pretty much, punitive damages are meant to 'punish' the offender for their actions...I've never seen punitive damages paid without a judgement...but it never hurts to ask for anything...This wreck was witnessed by the chief of police and he documented all this in his police report
:lol: oh my gosh! Could you have got a better witness? NOT...good for you...shouldn't be any dispute when it comes to liability that's for sure.
Should I go ahead and get this done? Or would this seem at this point that I'm trying to increase the medical?
If your doc thinks it's a medical necessity..and so do you I'd definately do it prior to sending my demand...Will the adjuster try to hold this out of my settlement? And if so, what do I say?
PIP will be paid from your carrier..not the other (at fault) party..no they cannot hold it.Do I have to decide now if I want the surgery in order to ask for future expense for this? I know for sure I won't have it before next April. What does this do to that part of my claim?
No, you don't have to decide now...If your doc plainly lays out that , 'this is going to happen, some time in the near future, no question about it'..that should be sufficient for them to include future medicals in your settlement.Consortium, should I mention it in the settlement letter? This is not something I would want to discuss in court but I don't expect to go to court. Is this fairly benign to ask for in settlement or will it blow up to be a topic I wished I had not addressed?
No it won't blow up..it's pretty much a stand request, (atleast in my area)...who's going to deny or ask specifics about that? If the adjuster you have is young and inexperienced they may not know what you're talking about..if they ask tell them to ask their boss (or mama) to explain it to them... :wink:I'm sorry to be so long-winded. Thank you for helping.
Not at all...ask anything you'd like.Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 12:43 am Post Subject:
I dropped off my packet with the adjuster yesterday. When I asked her about the limits, she said she couldn't tell me but "there are plenty limits to pay this claim". Any speculation as to what she meant, what to expect from her?
Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 01:02 pm Post Subject:
I'd say she probably has a min. of no less than 50k..
Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 01:21 am Post Subject: ANSWER
They should offer you the maximum! 8)
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 04:09 pm Post Subject:
Just an update, it's been 3 weeks since I turned in my settlement packet. I finally received an email from the adjuster telling me that she was having trouble getting some of my medical records. I gave her what info I had so she can get copies of the records. It's funny, she's twice sent me a medical records release telling me she wanted to have everything together, one over a year ago and one about 3 months ago, but she didn't start gathering everything until I sent her the settlement packet.
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 04:30 pm Post Subject:
Some of those med auth's are only good for a short period of time. And some docs/hospitals (even if not dated) will require a new one every thirty days or so. This might be the case.
Thanks for the update, keep 'em coming, and good luck!
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 06:47 pm Post Subject:
I received a reply from my adjuster. She is requesting additional medical records and clarification on some issues.
She wants to request my medical records for the previous 3 years because the MRI showed “mild degenerative changes”. I have no problem with this because I have had no previous back or neck problems. Fortunately, 4 months before the accident I had a complete physical and everything was completely normal. The “mild degenerative changes” are from the impact that spun my car 180 degrees and launched my bumper over 30 feet. What else could help prove this?
She also says she doesn’t see a work release in the records. I have a statement the doctor completed for my PIP that gives the dates of my disability for days missed the 1st week of my accident and 3 days afterward. The doctors instructions to me on my first visit were to work and resume activities “as tolerated”. Should this be sufficient or do I need to get the doctor to sign off on every day I missed?
One thing I failed to mention in my settlement demand is that I was demoted for missing too much work. The owner felt he could no longer count on me to be at work when he needed me. After this I stopped my therapy and was reinstated to my previous position. Shouldn’t this be considered in the settlement?
Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:02 am Post Subject:
Shouldn’t this be considered in the settlement?
Certainly the difference in pay for the duration you were in the demoted postion.Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:13 pm Post Subject:
Do you think the adjuster could be delaying settlement? She said one of the doctor's told her they didn't have any records for me, but when I called they found them right away. She also says she is having trouble with records from my neurosurgeon because she doesnt know if he's with the hospital or clinic, but the medical records come from one department for both. I called them yesterday and there is no problem with getting the records.
Why would she be doing this?
Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:21 pm Post Subject:
I forgot to mention that she sent me claim documents that I couldn't open. I emailed her and called her and it took me almost 2 weeks to get the information. She said she mailed it but I didn't get that either. I had to go to the office and pester the staff (she wasn't there). Finally she copied to a regular email. That why I get the feeling that she might be delaying the claim.
Any reasoning behind this?
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