by Guest » Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:43 am
My son was a front seat passenger in a singal car accident. He is a very nice looking young man, he was thrown almost completely out of the windshield. His face is scared very badly his eyelid is severe it will not close all the way and has a V in it. He is going to have plastic surgery. I have never had to get a lawyer for anything before in my life, the highway patrol said we needed to find one. my son was hurt the most out of the 3 young men, the driver had an airbag the passenger in the backseat had my son's seat as a shield. the attorney says that the max policy the driver has is 50 thousand, my insurance is paying 10 thousand of medical bills. i want to make sure my son's face is repaired and that he is ok, the attorney is ready to seattle with the 50 thousand before my son has even had his first appointment at the plastic surgen. any good advice i am grateful though I don't have a clue about any of this leagal stuff. I am confused that it happened so quickly. 2 months ago. i am not sure if in the long run the cost of all the medical bills will be paid and the health of my son. he was knocked out for God only knows how long. took at least an hour to get him to the hospital because the driver was scared he was going to jail and the people that picked up the 3 boys had to take the driver and the other passenger home before they could get my son to the hospital. my son was bleeding very badly, his eyelid laid open his forehead cut badly and the whole side of his face awful. thank you all in advance
Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:11 am Post Subject:
the attorney is ready to seattle with the 50 thousand before my son has even had his first appointment at the plastic surgen.
Because this is the absolute max. you can get from this person's policy....unless the responsible party is very very very wealthy this is the most you can hope to collect. UNLESS if you have UIM BI (Under insured motorist) coverage on your own policy you can present a claim there...but the most you can get from the at fault party is their policy LIMIT which in this case appears to be 50kPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 02:18 pm Post Subject:
First, go kick the highway patrol officer in the nads for sticking them where they don't belong. I should not mention this as what was done is done but on a claim like this, the carrier would have offered up their policy limits without any problems. Your attorney really did not have to do anything but put together a short letter and send it to the carrier. For that, he gets 33% of $50k (leaves about $33k of that $50k). What the attorney _should_ do for that $16k is follow up with your medical providers and get them to lower your bills.
If the other people in the car were injured and were able to file an injury claim, they should get an extremely small portion of the payment. That is, each person should be paid a pro-rated amount based on the their loss (cost of treatment).
If your son is covered under health insurance, all of the medical bills should be submitted to them 1st.
Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 03:09 pm Post Subject: thank you
I have the cheapest insurance. and had know clue that my insurance would pay anything because he wasn't in my car, the lawyer did that for my son. the driver of the car was on probation and we knew that, what none of us didn't know was that he was on house arrest. was why he was going to leave my son laying in the car, the other passenger that was in the back seat made the driver help get my son out of the car and help carry him until he woke up and they got service on the cell phone to call another one of there friends to come take them to the drivers home, where the drivers father could call for a doctor to make a house call. the other friends that picked them up said no he (my son) is going to the hospitol and we are calling his momma. the next day the backseat passenger went to the doctor for bruising. the driver never went. the highway patrol never presued the case he let it go as an abannded wrecked car, i blessed him out and asked him how could he not file anything so i can get help with the doctor bills because i don't have that kind of money he let it go. for 2 weeks of me trying to get this patrolman back on the phone and calling his seargent and cheif is how i got a crash report to get the insurances on the ball. now having that said the drivers daddy has a pull here in our county don't know what or how but he does. the driver has a lawyer for an uncle, which will be sworn in as 3rd judical judge january 09. the car was in the daddys name the boy drove it all the time and the daddy was saying the boy took it without his premission. the same boy in another car driving without a licence and drunk i wonder if he kills his passengers next time will the law try and cover it up
Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 03:19 pm Post Subject:
and i want to thank you both very much for your advice. i wish i had found this place a lot sooner. are there anything or any advice for me to the lawyer, i had taken a lot of pics of my soon when i got him home they said the wreck happened between 12 and 1 am he got to the hospital a few after 2am. but i took a lot of pics during all this after he got his stiches out and healing the lawyer has those, i have to pay out of pocket for the first visit to the plastic surgey appt. they say i will get that back from my insurance. the surgery its self will come out of pocket they say i will get some of that back from my insurance.
Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:10 pm Post Subject:
a doctor to make a house call.
wow what country are you in? Haven't heard of house calls here since the early sixties!So the car is in daddy's name huh? Is the driver a minor? Does daddy have a lot of assets? If not then if it were me I'd tell my attorney lets just get this 50k in our pockets...and will you attempt to negotiate down the medical bills for me, and how about we negotiate down your fee as well because clearly this is a slam dunk that will not require too much of your time.
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:20 am Post Subject:
how about we negotiate down your fee as well because clearly this is a slam dunk that will not require too much of your time.
Amen!Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:39 am Post Subject:
THIS IS WHY MY PARENTS WOULD NOT LET ME BE IN A CAR FULL OF TEENAGERS, THANKS MOM AND DAD (30 YEARS LATE) AND THIS IS ALSO WHY SEATBELTS ARE SO IMPORTANT. I AM DISCOURAGE WHEN I READ A WEBSITE THAT HAS SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE AND CORRECT INFO THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS SAID THESE POINTS.
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:45 am Post Subject:
I'm discouraged when every state I know of requires a seatbelt to be worn but at least a few states don't allow liability to be placed against a person not wearing their seatbelt.
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 05:20 am Post Subject:
I totally agree with Lori and think you should settle for the 50k right now. Make the claim as soon as possible. Get your attorney to do the legal stuff before you lose out on time to make the claim. Get as much details about the car your son was riding and the driver's insurance and ask your attorney to use this information to your benefit. Wish your son a quick recovery.
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:14 am Post Subject:
THIS IS WHY MY PARENTS WOULD NOT LET ME BE IN A CAR FULL OF TEENAGERS, THANKS MOM AND DAD (30 YEARS LATE)
If they are still around be sure and pick up the phone and tell them that :wink:AND THIS IS ALSO WHY SEATBELTS ARE SO IMPORTANT. I AM DISCOURAGE WHEN I READ A WEBSITE THAT HAS SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE AND CORRECT INFO THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS SAID THESE POINTS.
Honestly Bidwist thought that was like pointing out the obvious...One of the rules at my house when I had teenagers was first six months driving NO ONE but mom or dad were passengers...if ANYONE in their vehicle did not have on a seatbelt they lost the car for a month...happened one time, daughter had a friend in her car that ''just wouldn't listen to me mom!" well after she lost her car for a month, she learned to tell her passengers 'put on the belt or get out of the car'...pretty simple...and since all teenagers are a selfish lot, appealing to their selfish nature (losing MY car because of someone elses actions? :shock: )...only took the once...after they were out of my house, and bill fold I have no control...but do know they are both (to my knowledge) very very seatbelt concious...
Another thing that wasn't in the post, did the young man know that the driver was drunk and was he drinking as well? I have seen some claims where the liability percentage had some shifted to the injured party for KNOWINGLY getting into a vehicle with a drunk driver....
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