Automobile Accident

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 05:02 am Post Subject:

You don't mention what your total medical bills are. You certainly need to know this before attempting to settle. While there is no good way for anyone here to know what you should settle for, I don't think $500 is correct. I'm thinking your medical treatment is at least $5000. An MRI is around $2000-$3000. If the rest is chiro care, I think your settlement range is around $7000-$8000 including $5000 in medical bills. Why not explain that you had loss wages. Don't argue against yourself. Keep in mind, the adjuster will probably offer you something just above your medical bills. Your counter needs to be higher then the lowest amount you will accept as it's then a negotiation... which each person giving up a little. Time is on your side. If you don't like the offer, don't accept it. Don't shut down the negotiation... simply tell the adjuster that the offer is appreciated but it's too low. What you need to do is play pok-er and act like you have the best hand. Don't insult the adjuster, just play the game. When you play pok-er you bluff... but you usually don't bluff way over the top.

Once you settle, you need to speak to your medical providers and negotiate what you own. Look for a 50% - 20% reduction in their charges. You just mention that you'd like to pay them back but you cannot pay the full amount, what will they take. Now you do the same with the medical providers.

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 03:18 pm Post Subject:

Thank you very much for explaining this further to me. I believe the medical bills are around 6000.00. I thought if the adjuster offered 6500.00 that would be fair for everyone. I did not know I could talk to the medical providers about reducing the bills for treatment. Maybe they will give me a little discount.

I really appreciate your advise and feel much better now knowing what I should do.

Thank you.
Mia

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 03:41 pm Post Subject:

Soft tissue injuries are not worth as much as other injuries... but with several month of chiro care I'd say you should be paid more then $500 above the meds. I say with $6000, you are probably looking at an additional $1500-$2000. You also need to consider that day of loss wages and your time away from work while treating. While you did not lose money did you need to make up that work somehow? Perhaps you don't want the world (and that is fine) but you need some bargaining chips to get what you want. The adjuster is probably going to shoot for a low settlement (this is their job and there is nothing wrong with that) so you need to shoot for something at least a little higher then you want to take. The adjuster expects to go up in their offer... you expect to come down and you both meet about where you thought you would be.

You need to play it by ear when talking to the medical providers and do what you feel comfortable with but you may not want to even mention an insurance settlement. If they ask or you tell them, you may want to mention that the settlement was not much and that you still might not be able to come up with the money to pay the outstanding bills. Let them know you want to pay... but can they reduce the bills by 50%. If so, you'd pay them within 30 or 45 days. Many people can't afford to pay their medical bills. Medical providers spend a lot of money to collect anything. All of these expenses are built into those bills. So when someone offers to pay their bills, why should they also pay those collection amounts that are built in?

In all, you'd spend just a few minutes with the adjuster and the medical providers. This could get you a few thousand from the adjuster and could save you several hundred on the medical bills. Granted, sometimes medical providers won't budge on their bills... but most will. Keep in mind, you will need to call each billing entity and see if they will reduce their bills. But it's really not difficult and they get those calls all of the time.

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 08:22 pm Post Subject:

tcope is mostly correct. If your medical expenses were already paid by your health insurance, then you only need to negotiate with them -- it's too late to negotiate with any of your service providers unless there are unpaid bills.

Your insurance company will be less likely to negotiate a reduced fee, since they are entitled to recover 100%. But they may cut you some slack. You HAVE TO TALK TO THEM FIRST!! Don't settle with the At Fault party's insurance company until you do, or you could end up with exactly $0 in your pocket after your health insurance company takes its 100%.

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 09:40 pm Post Subject: Thank you

Thank you Tcope & Max. I feel 100 percent better having been educated in this matter. My friend is a member of your site and she is letting me use her computer to correspond with you. She said that ampminsure is a great place to get honest assistance.

I will let you know how it turns out and thank you again so very, very much.

Mia