by bigdaddy21_956 » Wed Oct 20, 2010 06:31 pm
i was involved in a car accident (rear ended) i got a herniated disk(l5) and a herniated disc on my neck. everyday im in pain ive gone to physical therapy and it just made me feel worse i cant even fall asleep quick cuz i need to find a right spot to sleep in every night. right now my total bill of medical therapy and stuff is at 22,000 . the car was total loss they paid for what i owed on the bank for it and i received a check for 3400. they havent gave me an offer yet my attorney is still on the case. the insurance company of the fault says that the policy was just 25000. my main concern is that if im going to get compensated for my injuries and how much or so could i recieve from it.
Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 07:12 pm Post Subject:
Here is what I can tell you based on what you posted...
Herniated discs are almost always to some degree, pre-existing. If so, they certainly can be made worse by an accident and this is probably what has happened in your case. The insurance company owes for the injuries that occurred in this loss (exacerbation).
With that said, $22k in meds and a #25k policy limit... I see them simply offering up the $25k. Do you have underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage? If not then you will probably only get $25k.
Problem is... you have an attorney who will take 33% of the $25k, leaving you with about $17k. Hopefully your attorney can get your medical bills reduced but as you see, your settlement might very well leave _you_ with no money and _your attorney_ with about $8k. My guess is that the other insurance company will simply offer the $25k. Not trying to be rude but as such, you could have simply asked for the $25k (or it probably would have been offered) and saved yourself $8k for the couple of hours your attorney will have spent.
Now if you have UIMBI, then you can also seek additional payment from your own carrier.
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 02:52 am Post Subject:
can my attorney still file a lawsuit for the body injuries agains them. cuz i was on perfect condition before the accident and now i cant even do the stuff that i used to do and this really sucks.
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 03:23 am Post Subject:
You can but it plays out like this...
The other insurance company owes their insured a defense. If you choose not to accept their offer, you can file suit. They then withdraw their offer and you get nothing at that time. Your attorney files suit, everyone goes through discovery, depositions, mediations, etc. If the other carrier has offered their limits then they simply stand by that offer to settle... but they still defend their insured. After weeks or months a judge or jury renders a verdict. This might be less then the other person's policy limits, it might be more. Court is _always_ a roll of the dice. If it's more, then the other carrier gives you their $25k and you get a nice piece of paper from the court called a judgement. Your attorney then collects _40%_ of the settlement plus expenses (will probably be a few thousand more). You can then attach your judgement as the state allows. Some allow garnishment of wages. Some allow it to be attached to real property. There is no guarantee that you will see any of that money. Did I also mention that your attorney gets 40% of that as well?
You really need to see if you have under insured motorist bodily injury coverage under your own policy.
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 06:31 am Post Subject:
Court is _always_ a roll of the dice.
It can even be worse than that. When you cobble together the folks that make up a jury -- and in civil court it doesn't even have to be a unanimous decision, just a simple majority, like 5 out of 9, and where "beyond a reasonable doubt" is not even the standard of proof -- you can discover that those persons listening to all of the evidence and testimony, combined, don't have as much common sense as a box of rocks.
For example, a criminal court jury in San Diego County (CA) about six or seven years ago hearing a manslaughter case involving two street racers who were estimated to have been traveling on a two-lane city street in excess of 100 mph (a rate of travel exceeding 150 feet per second), one of whom collided with, and killed, a 20-something woman who made a left turn into their path, bought their defense attorney's argument that the woman was entirely at fault for the collision because she chose to make her left turn at just 15-20 mph instead of letting the approaching cars go past -- so slow, the argument went, that it was a negligent act on her part and there was no way for the defendants [aka: real criminals] to avoid the collision (both drivers were charged under "criminal conspiracy" even though only one actually collided with the woman), the jury ignored expert testimony that it would be nearly impossible to discern the closing rate between the vehicles, and instead acquitted the defendants of manslaughter/second degree murder charges even though they pled no contest to reckless driving at excessive speed. [The entire trial was broadcast on the Court TV channel.]
As tcope has correctly observed, making the mistake of involving an attorney also leaves you with less money than you easily could have collected on your own, given the low limits in the at-fault party's policy. I don't know when people will "wise up" and stop using attorneys unless, and until, absolutely necessary -- which mostly means when the insurance company refuses to accept the obvious liability for a claim.
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 08:43 am Post Subject:
if you look in other similar cases motor vehicle accidents the majority of the people majority of them they get good compensation for their injuries . i talked to many people about my case and stuff that have gone to this same incident i am going thru right now they say that the insurance company always try to give the least they dont want to pay for anything but they say that the attorney needs to file a suit in order for them to pay for my body injuries because they have to pay for them they like it or not.
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 07:50 pm Post Subject:
if you look in other similar cases motor vehicle accidents the majority of the people majority of them they get good compensation for their injuries
And in your case, you will probably get $25,000 and your lawyer will take up to $10,000 of that, leaving you with about $15,000. You could attempt to take it to court, and you could win a $1,000,000 judgment. And all you're going to get from the insurance company is $25,000 -- since that, apparently, is the limit of liability on the policy covering your loss. The other $975,000 would come from the poor slob who hit you with only $25,000 of coverage.
So, the question to ask yourself is . . . "How much do I think that guy has in the bank?"
tcope explained it all to you very clearly in his post above.
Your mistake is trying to compare your case to anyone else's. Ever heard the expression "It's as similar as apples and oranges"?
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