by acedoc » Sun May 29, 2011 07:17 pm
Hi im a Solo practice Veterinarian in Georgia, on Fri 5/20 I was hit from behind while stopped, by a young lady on a cell phone, fortunately I was in a larger vehicle( Escalade Truck with $5500 worth of damage, currently @USAA approved repair shop, received a rental) she was in a honda civic that peeled like a sardine can with air bag deployment .police report stated she was inattentive and driving too fast for conditions. As she approached I looked up in the mirror tensed up and as a result hurt my shoulders, with the R being hurt worse.Rode ambulance to ER, took a few xrays ER Doc DX shoulder sprain, given injection for pain, Flexarill and couple scripts for pain. Started hurting worse Sat/Sun. Called Orthopedist early monday morning , was examined around 8:00 a.m. (luckily I treat his pets :o)) DX Shoulder impingement and possible AC joint injury due to clicking heard with movement. Cortisone injections in both bursa and shoulder joint(whew,hurt like hell!!) MRI scheduled @ hospital and recheck in 10days. advised not to perform surgery , move arm much and lift dogs for a week ( impossible for a vet) I had to cancel appointments and surgeries, loss about $15,000 for the week,I can document via tax returns for last 5 yrs, and total daily reciepts for weeks prior via my computer program, arm feels better probally 80%, had MRI dont know results yet, I have State Farm,and my PIP is covering my medical, dont want to be excessive but would like to cover my real losses, because I still had payroll,lights,etc and other business expenses, have not hired a lawyer,wondering if I should?
Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 08:07 pm Post Subject:
have not hired a lawyer,wondering if I should?
This is an individual choice... I'm not sure what you are asking.One thing I would check on is the other person's policy limits. They may be low... i.e. state minimum. If so, then the other carrier might need to just offer you the policy limits. Or perhaps the limits are close to what the claim is worth anyway. If that were the case, you'd be paying an attorney 33% of the settlement for nothing. Unless you have UMBI. Do you? None the less, I'd first ask USAA if they will tell you what the other person's BI limits are or if they will tell you if they think the limits are an issue. They should give you this info.
Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 08:31 pm Post Subject: "Individual choice
@tcope .......I do have UMBI ($100,000), Ga bi minimum is $25,000,just been reading and researching to assure myself that I could at least handle initial negotiations myself .everthing Ive read have said that they(USAA adjuster would be hesitant to give the info on their inured limits )but I will ask,also been gather info from accountant, also heard I would have to jump through hoops to prove my losses, will continue without a lawyer for now , thanks
Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 10:13 pm Post Subject:
They may not want to give you the exact limits (some states require it) but in the least they should let you know if they might be an issue (i.e. something like minimum limits). If they tell you they might be an issue, put your carrier on notice of a possible UMBI claim. Add up your loss wages and medical bills to date add in wages and a guess on your treatment cost in the future and let the adjuster know these are you "specials" (actual losses) in order to see if limits might be an issue.
You can always hear their offer and then get an attorney. It's up to you.
Since you have loss wages at some point you want to sit down and write your entire loss down on paper. Write down the total of your medical bills, loss wages, etc. All of your expenses broken down. You'd also want to make an outline of your medical treatment and the highlights of what you went through. This will help you better understand what you are looking at. It would also make it easier to negotiate with the USAA adjuster as you can point these things out. To put it bluntly, making a demand is a little like playing pokar. You want to make your hand sound like it's the best in the world but you don't want to make it sound like a bluff. Lawyers are good at what they do as they don't (usually) take things personally. If the USAA adjuster comes in with a low offer, just realize that this is their job. It's just an offer... not a final amount. When you buy a car do you offer your top dollar initially? An injury claim is no different.
If your PIP does not pay for all of your medical bills and the medical providers don't put USAA on notice of the medical bills then you should have USAA pay you directly with the understanding that you will satisfy all liens. You can then ask the medical providers to reduce your bills. That is, USAA looks at the total amount outstanding... lets say $10,000, and makes an offer on that. Before you accept the offer you go back to the medical provider and see how much they will reduce their bills (shoot for 50%). You then can better understand how much that settlement will really be.
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 02:22 pm Post Subject:
@ tcope...went to Ortho this a.m. said MRI revealed tear in the rotator cuff, and possibly would need Surgery to repair.and a 2 month downtime, advised him that would be almost impossible for a single practioner. will recheck in 2 weeks, Spoke to USAA about it, and also spoke to them about policy limits they refused to give them,thinking I may have to get a attorney to get them at this point
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 04:04 pm Post Subject:
But did you ask the adjuster if, based on what your injury and treatment was, if policy limits might be an issue? Let the adjuster know you have UMBI coverage so you'd like some idea.
Personally I don't see why some adjusters are so guarded about this info. Yes, its "personal" information but you have a need to know. If the insured has $25,000 in coverage and the person has more then that in bills, then why not just give them the heads up. If the claim is worth $50,000 and the insured has $100,000 in coverage then why not at least say that limits should not be an issue. That way everyone is on the same page and no personal info was given out.
Id call back and see if the adj will tell you if its an issue. If they won't, see if their supervisor will tell you this. Let them know you need to know as yoh have UMBI (or UIMBI to be more exact)
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 04:46 pm Post Subject:
also heard I would have to jump through hoops to prove my losses
andthinking I may have to get a attorney to get them at this point
I think you're a bit premature in your thinking. You won't have to jump through hoops, but you will have to document your monetary losses -- "specific damages" -- which you should have absolutely no problem doing according to your earlier posts.
The time for an attorney is far down the road from here . . . if and when you and the at-fault party's insurance company come to an impasse over the value of the claim -- not one minute sooner.
As tcope has said, if that party has only minimum liability limits, the insurance company will pay that amount to you without blinking an eye. To get an attorney involved at this point for that ridiculously low amount means giving up 1/3 of it . . . and then where will you be?
On the other hand, if your eventual losses appear to be mounting to more than both the at-fault party's limit AND your own UMBI limit, then, perhaps, you might consider a civil action against the at-fault party for the greater full amount -- which is likely to be uncollectible -- but at least you'd have a judgment that would only fall victim to the bankruptcy court.
With a little bit of guidance, you might even be able to handle that case in civil court on your own . . . proving fault is unlikely to be difficult in light of the available evidence, and proving damages would be just as simple. An attorney would still swallow 1/3 of the gross judgment, leaving you with far less than you could obtain on your own without ever going to trial.
Id call back and see if the adj will tell you if its an issue. If they won't, see if their supervisor will tell you this. Let them know you need to know as yoh have UMBI
This is excellent advice. Do whatever you need to do to get this resolved on your own. Phone calls are cheap, and if you have to recuperate from any surgical procedure, you'll have more than enough time to wait on hold for an answer.
You made it through vet school . . . this should be a piece of cake in comparison.
Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 10:20 pm Post Subject:
@tcope...@Maxherr.....Ok, First off want to say thanks you guys, I was persistant and after calling and asking for the past two days I was finally able to get the USAA adjuster to give me the limits and they are the minimum.($25,000).I explained to her that I may be having surgery and she said let her know because she may have to send the claim to a different adjuster if i was going to have surgery.I also put my insured on notice that I may be having surgery,I checked and have $100,000 UMBI. Checked on my Truck and should be ready next week, cost about $6000 to fix, saw her car in same shop wow, luckily she survived, she may want to invest in a blue tooth!! still haven"t hired a Attorney,Adjuster @ USAA said to just call her in 10 days when I go back to Doc,and decide if im gonna have surgery, just gonna think about my options and pain threshold for next few days...would love any input. again thanks guys
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 05:24 am Post Subject:
When it comes to a settlement, it is always better to take more time before accepting the initial offers. Now, if you'd need to undergo a surgery then you'll need to list things all over again. So, you'll need to add up your current expenses with the ones coming up.
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 08:23 pm Post Subject:
If your physician says the only way you're getting better is through surgery, then you let USAA know, they'll limit out her policy, and any balance of unpaid expenses will come from your UMBI. You may have to argue a bit with them over "general damages" such as pain-and-suffering.
But remember this . . . if any of your bills are being paid for with your own medical insurance, that insurer will have to be repaid from whatever monies you receive from one or more auto insurance companies. That's known as subrogation.
Your personal medical insurance is for your own "first party" claims/expenses, not those caused by a third party.
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 01:52 am Post Subject: veterinarian personal injury update!
Hi all, been about 4 months since i wrote about my accident just giving a update and followup. MRI revealed rotator cuff tear, shoulder impingement, labrum tear. USAA repaired my truck .I worked as best I could through the pain and gave Physical therapy my best shot for 2.5 months, however decided to have the shoulder surgery las Fri. Sept 9. I sent demand for policy limits to USAA on Sept 5 with med records, futures and loss wages/business losses , received offer from them for full policy limits of $25000 Sept 14. I listened to info from Tcope and Maxherr and still haven't hired a lawyer.Things went a lot easier/smoother than I thought they would. I havn't signed papers for limited release from USAA yet, just putting a letter in to state farm for a UIM claim and and asking them to allow me to accept check. really clueless on how much to ask for from UIM..so far documented $20,0000 med bills, $47,000 salary/business loss, I have tried o mitigate loss by hiring vets to help me while out for surgery at a cost of $6300 ,plus much pain and suffering, I have 100,000 UIM on each of my 5 vehicles , Ga is a state that allows UIM stacking ,dont want to appear greedy,but dont want to low ball myself, I am open to questions and suggestions.
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