by 2Writeit » Thu Sep 30, 2010 03:58 pm
Involved in an auto accident. Hit broadside. Not my fault. I had a passenger. Have filed suit for uninsured motorist with my insurer. Her insurance company initially disputed her coverage claiming possible lapse in her premium payment. Scheduled to go to trial in November.
My UM coverage is $20/person bodiy injury, $40/accident, $15/ P.D/accident. My BI-Med and B2 PIP is $5k med per person. My coverage is in Texas. Accident occurred in Louisiana.
Trial scheduled in November. My insurer offered $10k for the passenger and $2k for me. I have a minimu of $3k in medical bills, $5,600 in loss wages, expenses due to taxis, bus, personal property, lots of mental distress.
I was not able to see more doctors because I was not medically insured. No one wanted to see me because I was not able to pay them.
Should my passenger and I accept an offer (and one this low) BEFORE her insurer makes an offer or wait to see what they want to offer first. Will negatively affect my recovery from her insurance if I accept my insurere's offer first?
What recourse do I have to get more than what my insurer is offering?
Please advise? I don't know what to do, but this does not seem right.
My UM coverage is $20/person bodiy injury, $40/accident, $15/ P.D/accident. My BI-Med and B2 PIP is $5k med per person. My coverage is in Texas. Accident occurred in Louisiana.
Trial scheduled in November. My insurer offered $10k for the passenger and $2k for me. I have a minimu of $3k in medical bills, $5,600 in loss wages, expenses due to taxis, bus, personal property, lots of mental distress.
I was not able to see more doctors because I was not medically insured. No one wanted to see me because I was not able to pay them.
Should my passenger and I accept an offer (and one this low) BEFORE her insurer makes an offer or wait to see what they want to offer first. Will negatively affect my recovery from her insurance if I accept my insurere's offer first?
What recourse do I have to get more than what my insurer is offering?
Please advise? I don't know what to do, but this does not seem right.
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 05:05 pm Post Subject:
I"m _really_ confused about this who thing for two reasons:
You never mention what the other person's carrier is/could be/might offer. This would change _everything_! As far as well know the other carrier has 100/200 limits. Certainly if they offered that, your carriers UIMBI offer is more then enough. LA has a minimum liability limit of 15/30. If you have an $8k loss and your carrier paid $3k of that, isn't $15k enough? See... we have _no_ idea what is going on.
Which leads me to the second part... if a suit has been filed then you are _paying_ an attorney to answer these questions for you. Have you asked your _highly_ compensated attorney what he/she thinks? Certainly your attorney _does_ have all of the facts.
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 05:43 pm Post Subject: Auto accident settlement offer seems 2 low. Should I accept
Yes. I have an attorney. Every time I tell someone this, they run away from me like I smell bad because of ethical policies. I am not confident my lawyer is truly working the best he can on my behalf. The accident happened in 2008. I cannot switch horses right now. I don't really understand this legal "fraternity". If I wanted to get a second opinion regarding a medical issue, there would be no problem doing so. However, in the legal profession, everyone gets on hush mouth when I tell them I have an attorney. I'm trying not to cause an antagonistic relationship with someone who is supposed to be on my team. I just want a second opinion. There is certainly the possiblity that he is overloaded or friends with the opposing attorney and just trying to rush this through to get it over with. I have to look out for my best interest.
Well, that wasn't even the point of my question. I don't want to get off track and start a thread on that. I just want some help. Honestly, after the accident, dealing with the legal system has felt like a second violation.
The deal is a young girl hit me. Her insurere said they were late making their insurance payment so she wasn't covered. I don't know if that is resolved. I was deposed by her insurer's lawyer and my insurer's lawyer for about 2 hours. My lawyer deposed her for about 20 minutes. Then, told me, "Well, she was just a kid. It was an accident." WTH??!!
So, we have filed a UM suit with my insurer and one with hers. My lawyer told me she has $10 max coverage. I suppose it is per person. He also told me I had $10 max coverage. When I looked at my policy, I saw I have the coverage listed above. His response, "Oh, yea you had Texas coverage." Duh, didn't he remember that? He is just going by the standard in Louisiana where the accident was. Hasn't he been reviewing my file?
IS IT WISE TO ACCEPT AN UM OFFER MY INSURER BEFORE THE OTHER DRIVER EVEN MAKES AN OFFER? IS THIS THE ORDER THIS SHOULD BE DONE OR SHOULD I WAIT TO SEE WHAT HER SIDE OFFERS AND EVEN THEY WILL EVEN COVER HER BEFORE I RELEASE MY INSURER FOR LIABILITY? He says, if we go to trial, lawyers were both sides would be present and it would all be resolved then.
I'm not trying to bad-mouth. I just want this over with. It's been 2 years. I was the caregiver of my passenger and this has caused a lot of mental stress for both of us. I want this over, but I haven't endured 2 years of sleepness nights to rush through this and make the wrong decision. I hope you all can understand that.
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 07:15 pm Post Subject:
My lawyer told me she has $10 max coverage.
Yes, it does look like limits were increase from $10k to $15k in 2009.IS IT WISE TO ACCEPT AN UM OFFER MY INSURER BEFORE THE OTHER DRIVER EVEN MAKES AN OFFER?
Here is the thing... I really don't think you have all the facts... and as such, there is no way to answer your questions. Here is why I say that... what I this _is_ happening is that your attorney is not going to accept any offer from your carrier under UIMBI until he knows what the other person's carrier is going to pay under BI. Your carrier can make an offer but that does not mean it needs to be accepted right then and there. Where are you getting this info that you need to decided to accept the UIMBI offer before the other carrier makes an offer under BI? This is what I mean when I say that you really need to sit down with your attorney and have a discussion with him. As I said, you are _paying_ this person to keep you informed and answer your questions.I just want this over with. It's been 2 years.
I hear you and I can understand where you are coming from.The other problem is that the accident happened in LA. LA laws are really different from other US states. LA still has some Napoleonic laws (French civil laws). While I don't think this changes the answers to your questions... I don't know for sure.
Here is what I think is happening... since your carrier is also in the suit (which is correct... go to court once with both carriers... not two times with each carrier) they need to see if they can settle their portion of the claim. They don't want to see this go to trial. So it seems like they are making an offer based on the other person's carrier offering their limits. Look at it from your carriers point of view... they want to pay what they owe. This also means they don't want to pay you too much and that they want to keep as much of their money as possible. So of course they are currently going to operate under the impression that the other carrier is going to offer their limits. Your carrier is not join to make an offer thinking the other carrier is going to pay nothing because if the other carrier does pay something, then your carrier paid too much. So your carrier is offering an amount as if the other carrier is going to pay their limits and, yes... this would be a low offer from your carrier. So your carrier has this offer out there. Your attorney knows and he's just going to sit on it. Eventually everyone will know if the other carrier is going to offer their limits and based on that, your carriers offer may stand or they may offer more. In the end only _you_ can accept or reject any offer. Your attorney is obligated to present each and every offer to you.
The point I'm making with the attorney is that _you_ are paying this attorney 40% of your settlement. Despite what attorneys want you to think... yes, _you_ are paying them. I guess some people don't even think about this until the very end. The person hears the settlement, thinks "great!" and then at the end they see just how much 40% (plus expenses) really is. Granted, you have no choice if the claim needs to go to suit but my point is that you are paying your attorney a lot of money... he needs to answer _any_ questions you may have.
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 08:23 pm Post Subject: settlement
Thank you all.
It does seem like time for an in-person meeting with my attorney.
He informed me that my carrier made an offer of $10k for my passenger and $2k for me. He said this would put pressure on the other driver's carrier. He suggested I take my carrier's offer and that would put pressure on her carrier. He strongly recommended I accept the offer (which is low) from my carrier. Then, deal with her carrier. This seems to me like it should be the other way around. SHOULDN'T I SEE WHAT HER CARRIER IS OFFERING FOR FIRST BEFORE I CLOSE THE DOOR ON MY LAST RESORT, WHICH IS MY CARRIER.
(1) I need to meet with him and ask what happened with the question of whether or not her carrier was even going to cover her since initially they said her coverage had lapsed.
(2) I discussed my attorney's fee with him, he said, it is 33 and 1/3, but since it has gotten this close to trial it may be the 40% charged for his representation in court! WHAT?! It's not my fault they waited until the approaching court date to start negotiating. SHOULD I HAVE TO PAY HIM 40% IF WE DON'T STEP INTO A COURT ROOM JUST BECAUSE HE PREPARED FOR COURT? Is this right?
Thank you all, again. If anyone else with expertise on this topic wants to weigh in, feel free.
Signing off-CAN'T WAIT TO GET OUT OF LOUISIANA!!!!!
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 08:49 pm Post Subject:
Several situations....
Lets say you were to accept the $2k from your carrier.
Two things could happen with the other carrier......
They offer less then their limits, lets say $5k. If you had not taken the $2k from your carrier, you carrier would then turn around and say they don't owe anything as you were made whole by the BI carrier.
or
The other person's carrier offers their $15k... but this should not change anything as far as your carrier is concerned... because they are already making an offer as if the other person's carrier is going to offer their limits.
or... and this one is important!
If the other carrier denies coverage the your UIMBI claim turns into a UMBI (uninsured motorist bodily injury claim (as opposed to UIMBI, underinsured motorist bodily injury claim). Your carrier then needs to consider your _entire_ loss. That is, what the other carrier would have paid (much more then $2k) and anything over the other person's limit.
So I see no reason to accept the UIMBI offer until you know if the BI carrier is going to extend coverage.
Also, I don't see why it would take 2 years for the BI carrier to decided if they are going to extend coverage. Also, if they were not... why would they be providing their insured a defense? I'm assuming they filed an Answer to your complaint and moving forward? See... there is a ton of information which we can't know. But perhaps this gives you questions to ask your attorney.
Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 11:17 am Post Subject:
Every time I tell someone this, they run away from me like I smell bad because of ethical policies. I am not confident my lawyer is truly working the best he can on my behalf. The accident happened in 2008. I cannot switch horses right now. I don't really understand this legal "fraternity". If I wanted to get a second opinion regarding a medical issue, there would be no problem doing so. However, in the legal profession, everyone gets on hush mouth when I tell them I have an attorney
Yes, this is a situation mostly of your own making. Once you have an attorney involved, everything must flow through that person. Even the Dept of Insurance must apply a hands-off approach to certain aspects of a complaint.
You are not forced to keep an attorney. You can always change attorneys, although this will complicate matters significantly. But if you believe you are not being properly represented, you have every right to hire another attorney.
Many PI attorneys have no trial experience, as may be the case with yours. They may be a "litigator" (one or two rungs below an alligator in LA), but scared to death to stand in front of a judge or jury. And so they are willing to settle for the first offer that comes along.
But there is so much going on here that makes no sense. If the at-fault party's insurance company conducted a deposition, it is apparent to me that they have accepted some liability here -- otherwise they would not be involved.
A late payment and a lapse in coverage are two different things. If there was no lapse, there was coverage. If there was coverage, then claiming anything against your own UMBI would only be necessary if the actual expenses exceeded the at-fault party's liability limits.
Sounds like this whole incident was handled wrong from the get-go.
Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 07:39 pm Post Subject: Questions about settlement
Your responses certainly do help. I'm meeting with my attorney in an hour and will seek clarification. Your responses help me present more intelligent questions. Also, they underscore my intuition that my attorney is not working as well as he should on my behalf.
I'll be back.
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