by steel09 » Fri Oct 09, 2009 03:49 am
I was in a auto accident last jan.09 & got whiplash. I did 15 visits to the hospital (10 were physical therapy). This ended late aug. My total med bills is 3,700.00. The at fault ins co offered me $3,000.00 for pain & suffering & will pay the med bills. Is 3k a fair or bogus offer ?
Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 04:05 am Post Subject:
No one can tell you what is fair and what is bogus. 3K is a nice chunk of change that you can believe in. You can always ask for 5K and see what they say. If they say no 3K final offer then you have to decide. It really depends on what you went through for the last 8 months.
Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 04:18 am Post Subject:
I did ask for 5k. I actually started at 10k. He would not budge below 3k. His orig offer was 1k. I know if i sue the people who hit me in small claims court i may not get what i ask. I would ask the max of $7,500.00 (ca). My pain from late jan through late aug was moderate & i had mental anguish. I have not signed any papers yet. I got $1,556.00 for my totalled car (90 Tbird). Im perfectly fine now. The at fault lady didnt yield to cross traffic (me).
Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 04:33 am Post Subject:
If they are not going to move from 3K... then you have your choices. Take the 3K, chance getting less from a conservative judge/jury (who knows it is CA), or get an attorney and get less after thier cut. It really depends on the time and energy that you want to spend on this. 3K doesn't sound bad, but then again I didn't go through it.
Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 04:42 am Post Subject:
I thought the way to figure out pain/suffering is muliply the med bills x,s 3 & if i negotiate right ill get at least half of that. So it would be $3,710.00 x 3 =$11,130.00 divided by 2 = $5,565.00 for pain & suffering.Or is it $5,565.00 - $3,710.00 = $1,85500 for pain/suffering ?
Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 05:25 pm Post Subject:
Most companies or at least companies that I work for don't use those calculations anymore. In a claim your size, they are going to offer what they feel it would cost them to defend it and then a little less since you don't have an attorney.
if i negotiate right
It sounds like 3K is their last offer, if they are not budging. If that is the case, then there really is no more negotiating. So you take it or sue.
Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 06:50 am Post Subject:
From what i have read on this site & others it seems 3k is a fair offer for pain/suffering. I didnt have to go to court & it lasted 7 months. I would of liked more but i dont see that happening even if i went to court. If i sued in small claims i would also have to sue for med bills ($3,710.00). The ins co will not pay the lien unless we agree on a settlement. Small claims in ca is max $7,500.00. So i would sue for that amount but i highley doubt it if the judge would award the full amount. If he did then it would only be $800.00 more then the ins co offered. Plus i then have to go after the at fault people for the money. This is quite a hassle & gamble all for a xtra 800 bucks. Plus the courts in san bernardino county are quite busy. Ill pass.
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