by geminigal72 » Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:59 pm
This October will be 3 yrs. since my auto accident. I got 3 estimates for my vehicle and they were all $4500+. The at fault insurance co. sent me $2700, so I decided to get an attorney within a month for my personal injury since the ins. co. was screwing me on the car, I knew they would try to screw me on the injury. I've been under medical care and therapy for almost 3 years now and my lawyer accepted a offer of $20,000. My medical bills still owing are $7300, $2215 my insurance wants back that they paid, Attorneys fees $6598, Attorney costs $762.00. So, that leaves me..the injured one with $3100. Does this seem fair? I never even got what I was suppose to for my car and now they are slapping me in the face again with only $3000 settlement. I'm still in pain, my physical therapist said there wasn't anything else they could do for me and my primary ortho Dr. said that I just have to learn how to live with the chronic neck pain! Did I get a crappy attorney or what? The attorney may want his money, but they can't cash the check if I don't sign this release can they?
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:45 am Post Subject:
If you're not happy with the settlement, you may need to seek the advice of another attorney before you do anything. If there is some type of permanent disability or permanent damage, then I agree $3000 seems a little low. Maybe they aren't taking your case seriously? How did you find your current attorney, and have you been satisfied with him up until now?
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 02:44 am Post Subject:
So many things wrong.....
First, _you_ agreed to pay the attorney 33% and expenses. So the attorneys bill is on you. Since you are paying an attorney several thousand dollars for a few hours work, you need to make sure _you_ choose a good attorney. Again, on you.
You did not feel that the insurance company was paying you enough for your vehicle so you hired an attorney to settle the injury claim. Well, this is not going to change the property damage settlement as they are not related. So hiring an attorney did not solve the property damage settlement as you can see. Hiring an attorney is also not going to magically earn you millions more in the injury settlement... despite what you see on those expensive commercials.
Your attorney _cannot_ (read that again), cannot settle a claim without your consent. You have to agree to the settlement amount. Did you agree? If so, it's a verbal settlement and you need to sign the release. The insurance company made a good faith offer, it was accepted with the condition that a release was signed. If your attorney did not explain this to you, then this is between you and your attorney.
An insurance company should be getting a release signed before the check is sent. But I, and many other adjuster, trust the profesionalism of attorneys and mail the check along with the release. But the attorney is not going to turn over any money without the release being signed. If the attorney is now going to go back on his/her word with the insurance adjuster, the adjuster is not going to pull any punches as going back on a settlement agreement is _not_ a smooth move. Personally, I'd tell the attorney that the claim was settled and now it was his/her problem to hold his/her client to the agreement.
I can't comment as to if this was a good settlement as I know nothing about the situation or your treatment. Your attorney should have added in possible future medical bills when settling the claim. If further treatment would not help your injury, then this should have been considered as well.
Do I think you could have settled the injury claim for $30,000 on your own? Probably. Even if you settled for $24,000 on your own you'd be in the same boat as you are now.
Many (most?) attorneys don't care too much about making money for their clients. They want to make as much money for themselves with as little effort as possible. This means a quick settlement, taking 33% + expenses off the top and moving into the next settlement.
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 05:35 am Post Subject:
Hi geminigal72..
Did I get a crappy attorney or what?
Did your attorney give you any explanation for his acceptance of this offer?
Did you ask him for a detailed estimate of the areas that are being covered finally?
Steven
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 06:28 am Post Subject:
Hi geminigal72,
What happened with the PD settlement? Why didn't you negotiated with the claim when you were not happy that time ?
Now with the injury claim.... had your attorney tried to find out what are the limits of the other driver's policy?
As Tcope has mentioned that the atty needs to get your consent before accepting the claim amount. So, did you agreed that time?
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