by Gfoyle » Tue Nov 20, 2007 06:47 am
Sadly I'm back here for help. The reason this time is very similar to my last problem. My father was in an accident. He made a left turn across traffic and was hit by an on coming vehicle. He was sited for failure to yield the right of way (this is the flip side of what happened in my previous problem). My concern is for his liability and what advice I can offer him in this situation. He's a senior citizen and though he does have automobile insurance and some savings, I don't want this to put him in a financial bind. The driver of the other vehicle initially said he was not injured but then complained of pains in his back and neck and went to the hospital. I'm not familair with how auto coverage would work in this case. The state this occured in is West Virginia if that makes a difference. What info should I get from my father to help him and what advice should I give him? He's not really a computer person but I'll try to get him on this site with any questions he has or relay them myself. Any advice you can give would be great.
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 07:58 am Post Subject:
Gfoyle, I'm not really sure what you can do for your father except be there for him. In this situation be thankful that there is automobile insurance. Depending on the damage to the other vehicle, there will probably be no way for the insurance company to deny causation when it comes to the injury since this is probably a front end to side impact there was probably a fair amount of damage. Obviously your father's rates are going to go up if he is at fault for the loss and he will have to pay his deductible to get his car fixed or subracted from his total loss value if the car is not salvageable. The best thing for him to do is cooperate with the insurance company and let them take care of the rest of the situation. Hopefully your father is physically okay?
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:04 am Post Subject:
Well hello Gfoyle, glad to hear from you but sorry about the circumstance.
What are Dad's limits? His state requires 20/40/10, so if he has the min. could have some trouble if the other vehicle has A LOT of damage. More than likely his BI limits will be fine, since the other guy wasn't rushed from the scene in an ambulance. Sounds like a soft tissue injury and 20k should more than cover that (especially with Christmas coming ha ha...I'm only half kidding people that aren't hurt too bad seem to create a 'rush to settle' around the second week of Dec). Doesn't appear that WV is a PIP state, so dad's BI coverage will take full care of the claimants injuries.
Really nothing you need to do right now (other than check those limits)...Only problem is if his limits are low, lets say 10k on pd and the damage is 12k, dad has to pay that 2k...same with the injuries...so would be a good time to review this anyway...if he has the state min. RAISE THEM that's not enough coverage to protect him...
Let us know when you have more details (ie damage to clmt vehicle, and injury claimed, were there passengers in other or dad's car)?
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:20 am Post Subject: More Info
This makes me feel better. My Dad's car was totaled but the other vehicle was a large pickup truck and most of the damage looked confined to the left side (from the tv report I saw on the web) but you never know about that stuff. I was more worried about the medical claims, what does a PIP state mean?
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 12:25 pm Post Subject:
PIP, stands for Personal Injury Protection, some people call it no fault as well. PIP is required in about 12 states I think, and optional in some others.
In a PIP state (required), all injuries are paid by your own policy rather than the 'at fault' parties (even if they are at fault), this is (I think) an effort of some states to keep fraud, runaway injuries and presumably rates down. PIP also may cover (state dependent) other expenses associated with the injury like child care, mileage, loss of wage. Unless and untill it hits the PIP (tort) thresold. States have preset limits 5k 10k whatever....If the PIP coverage is exausted (and in some states) meets other requirements then and only then can you pursue the other ''at fault'' carrier for your injury.
So if you have a minor injury thats medical and any other allowed expenses are under the threshold then your injury claim will be paid under that (your own) policy rather than the other guys...understand? And I don't think that PIP is subrogatable either, or not in the states I've dealt with. It's really complicated (i think, i had to work some pip claims early in my career a neighboring state is pip, and i hated it there are many rules associated with pip re:how long you have as an adjuster to do certain things etc)...Clear as mud huh? Doesn't apply to your dad anyway, but hopefully you (kinda) understand it now..
I'm glad you feel better check on dad's limits please...also let us know if we can be of further assistance.
Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 01:57 pm Post Subject:
Lori,
May I ask why you are so comforting regarding the bodily injury? I am in a very similar situation factually to GFoyle's father, except I am in a suburb of San Francisco. My "victim" was absolutely fine at the scene, declined medical attention and told the police he was fine. One week later I get a letter from a lawyer. My insurance adjuster, despite some favorable evidence, has chosen to call the accident my fault and has no idea what kind of injuries the "victim" is claiming. How high can so-called soft tissue damages go? My limits are pretty good so I am not all that worried, except that my insurance adjuster has me thinking I need to engage a lawyer to make sure she is not writing the other side a blank check. So I guess I actually am worried.
Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:26 pm Post Subject:
Hello FThomson,
Well I guess I'm not real clear what you mean by 'comforting'
May I ask why you are so comforting regarding the bodily injury?
The posters father was clearly at fault, and appeared to be a substantial impact
...My father was in an accident. He made a left turn across traffic and was hit by an on coming vehicle. He was sited for failure to yield the right of way
My Dad's car was totaled
You don't state the facts of your loss nor the scope of damage.
My insurance adjuster, despite some favorable evidence,has chosen to call the accident my fault
Such as?There are times, when you can be in an accident, and at the time feel no effects, then the next morning be barely able to move....And these are not bad claims, this just happens.
Your case however, doesn't necessarily sound like that. It may be, but I am ALWAYS suspect when the first notice of any injury is accompanied by an attorney rep letter!
How high can so-called soft tissue damages go?
It depends of course on the injury it's self, the recovery time, treatment etc. I personally have never handled a true sof tissue injury (meaning no other injury at all) that was higher than 10k...And I'd say the average of say a whiplash (that didn't treat with a chiropractor for years :roll: ), generally are in the 2-4k range.except that my insurance adjuster has me thinking I need to engage a lawyer to make sure she is not writing the other side a blank check.
I don't know what you would do with an attorney at this point, if there is any suit, your company will appoint an attorney to represent you and pay for the attorney as well. Are you saying you might want to hire an attorney, in an attempt to make sure the adjuster doesn't pay more than you think she should for the claim? If that's what you mean, would be a waste of time and money, and doubtful any attorney would take it anyway. No insurance company or adjuster is going to listen to anything an attorney has to say about how they evaluate and pay their claims...So I guess I actually am worried.
What exactly are you worried about? That the adjuster will pay too much for the injury? That you were NOT at fault for the loss at all? That they will or have paid too much for the vehicle repair? Let me know...Also I'd be interested to know the facts of the loss. Since you feel you weren't at fault for this loss.WOW, I checked CA min. limits they are about avg in the BI coverage, at 15/30 but only 5k property damage...i'm shocked about that part! You can't fix a moderate hit for 5k!
Your adjuster should take due care in evaluating this injury...If there is excessive treatment that should be reduced (the amount paid)...If there is a substantial injury they will need medical records, reports, and on and on. Each injury is different. I agree though from appearances it looks that your 'victims' know what there are doing...one more thing all insurance companies ''index'' injuried parties to see if they have had similar injuries...(which don't pay nearly as well as the inital one!)....so your adjuster will find out if these folks are professional insurance injury victims.
Give us a little more information and hopefully we will be able to assist you more..
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