by srmunchie » Wed Aug 31, 2011 02:25 am
I was stopped and a car rear eneded my car crushed in the trunk both in and up, caused about 8 k worth of damage, and pushed me into another car in front of me. i have numbness in the left arm, head ache blurry vision stuff like that, the er says muscle strain and the chiro just seems to be wanting to do as much as he can in a little bit of time, but the pain isnt going away. should i hire a lawyer? I feel bad for the guy who hit me but he was not paying attention and i am in pain. We are both USAA members, but my 4 month old car is not going to be worth anything what i paid for it when it is done. i am at a loss. what does something like this pay out, and is it actually beneficial to get a lawyer?
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 04:05 am Post Subject:
If the other driver was at fault then you are supposed to get compensation, from the other driver insurance for your losses.
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 04:29 am Post Subject:
I'm not sure what answer you are looking for or more importantly, why. Should you get a lawyer after you have been involved in an accident? With just that bit of info, only you can decided.
As far as your car... an attorney won't usually help with this as there is no money in it for him/her. If it was a new car, it depreciated about 20% when you drove it off the lot. No way around that. The value is the value. Your problem is that USAA uses CCC to determine the value. In that it's new, you may not have an issue. You _need_ to review their report and make sure it's correct. They should not a deduct a "base line adjustment".
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 04:37 am Post Subject:
Has your car been totaled?
In any case, whatever damages you and your car have suffered in the accident, may be claimed against the driver at fault.
Since you belong to a tort state, you may claim against the other driver for your bodily injury, pain and suffering as well as property damage.
You may hire an attorney, if you feel your loses are a lot compared to what is being compensated to you. An auto accident lawyer would also be of help in determining how much you should claim.
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 05:43 am Post Subject:
more on the subject is the problem that i am having is that i went to the ER i was seen and the sprained neck and back with perscriptions was the case. The problem that i am having now is that the insurance company is telling me that my insurance will only cover the first 1000 of the bill, which i will be more than overjoyed with if the bills from the chiro and the er are only 1k, but they are not so happy that i dont have health insurance at the moment so after all 5 yes 5 adjusters called me each had a different story, each wants something different, and then came the disclosure statement, which i didn't mind filling out, but what is bothering me at the moment is that they want me to sign over access to all my medical records forever, as the paper states, dental, mental, and physical records all recordings, x rays, etc... they are going to pay for the car, well as far as i last knew, but i am getting conflicting correspondences daily from them. I have no problem signing over my records with the accident, but i do have an issue with them digging through my records and( as they write) using it as they see fit to underwrite insurance policies, i guess that mixed with the never steady answers, and the notice of non hippa compliance with the annotation of we can use these records however we see fit just dont seem to go well with me. As for the car, there is a depreciation on driving it off the lot but there is a further depreciation for the fact that the whole front and rear end including some of the actual frame are having to be fixed, and i usually get a new car each two years, this isnt going to fare well when i go to trade it in.
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 05:46 am Post Subject:
As for the car no it is at 8100 dollars worth of damage so far, it is 4 months old, the reason i am asking if i should get a lawyer is because i have never been in an incident like this before, and i was wondering what the correct thing to do is. If they are going to want to dig through my past medical history to try to get out of paying for my hospital bill which was a direct result of the accident, and they are trying to charge my insurance i guess for it, it just seems strange to me. Not to mention some of the questions and comments that have been made to me throughout the phone calls that i have received. I am reaching out to people who i hope know a little more on the process so i dont get run over by the big steam roller that i dont know about.
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 06:27 am Post Subject:
Seems like you are confused about what you should do. As i mentioned earlier, you may hire a car accident lawyer and help you deal with this.
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 05:31 pm Post Subject:
the reason i am asking if i should get a lawyer is because i have never been in an incident like this before
You should avoid a lawyer at this point. Until you are at an impasse with the at-fault driver's insurance company, you do not need an attorney.
Your statement about only being entitled to $1000 for medical claims may be in relation to your own auto insurance medical payments (or PIP) coverage. Your full damages are the responsibility of the at fault party. Their auto policy will pay your damages up to the limit of the policy, which is certainly well above $1000.
Even if the "two insurers" are one in the same company, it's still a matter of you vs. the at fault party.
Work with the claims person to obtain what you believe is fair. You do not seem to have a permanent injury, and your aches and pains will probably subside over time. You do not have a "million dollar" case here. Payment of your medical bills and a few thousand dollars for "pain and suffering" would be reasonable to ask for.
Using an attorney will not get you significantly more, and will cause you to give up 30% or more of whatever you do get. That's called a LOSE-LOSE situation. Without an attorney you are looking at a WIN-WIN possibility.
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