by godfamilygymnastics » Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:59 pm
35,000 in medical expenses
The person who hit me has a policy limit of 100,000.
Am I entitled for anything additional seeing that I am no longer to do the career I had prior to my accident due to my injuries?
The person who hit me has a policy limit of 100,000.
Am I entitled for anything additional seeing that I am no longer to do the career I had prior to my accident due to my injuries?
Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:53 pm Post Subject:
Additional to what? Your $35,000 in meds or in addition to the person's policy limits?
You are certainly entitled to more then your medical expenses.
Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:55 pm Post Subject:
Will my settlement not exceed his 100,000 policy limits even though the accident has caused permanent changes in my career?
Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:06 am Post Subject:
It might. You can ask for more but his carrier won't pay any more then their policy limits. What will happen is any amount they offer will require you to sign paperwork to settle the claim for that amount. They won't offer more then the limits. If you choose not to accept this you will need to hire an attorney to file suit against the at fault person. You will then pay the attorney 33%-40% of your settlement. So the most the carrier will be able to pay you is now $66,000. If you don't accept that, you move on with the lawsuit. The insurance company will defend their insured and argue that their insured owes you very little. Now... a year or two down the road you might obtain a judgment in excess of $100,000. The other carrier would then pay their $100,000. You'd see around $50,000 of that and then you'd be able to legally pursue the at fault person for anything over the $100,000 up to the judgment amount. Does this person have $20,000 or $30,000 laying around? Some states might allow you to garnish the person's wages until the amount is paid but you'd probably need to pay an attorney to make that happen (many states don't allow this). The picture I'm painting here is that you can pursue a claim for more then $100,000 but it's unlikely that you will see one dime more then that amount. You'd need to get a judgment for at least $150,000 and then still you'd only get $50,000 up front and still have to fight tooth and nail for any more.
Now, if the other carrier won't pay what you want then you may need to hire an attorney anyway. So even if the attorney got the other carrier to pay the $100,000, you'd still only see $66,000 of that. Can you get at least $66,000 on your own?
If your bills are unpaid or were paid by other insurance then you can probably get those bills reduced by 50%. This means that there is less for you to pay back once you get a settlement from the other carrier. You just need to determine what you are going to get/settle for and just prior to accepting the amount, contact those providers or carrier that paid the bills and work out a deal to reduce the amount they will be required to be paid back. They do this as you are doing their collection work for them.
Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:34 am Post Subject:
How did you come up with the figure of 66,000.
Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:42 am Post Subject:
100,000 policy limits less 33% if you hire an attorney = $66,000 to you (to address your medical expenses and everything else.
Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:47 am Post Subject:
I do have an attorney, so I know I'll lose 33.3% to the attorney. I guess I'm just trying to plan ahead for what I can expect to hear from the adjuster, knowing that whatever the offer is, it'll be minus 33.3%.
Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:49 am Post Subject:
If you are paying an attorney thousands of dollars.. you should really be having your attorney answer your questions.
Again...you are paying your attorney thousands of dollars.
Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 05:34 am Post Subject:
I do have an attorney, so I know I'll lose 33.3% to the attorney. I guess I'm just trying to plan ahead for what I can expect to hear from the adjuster, knowing that whatever the offer is, it'll be minus 33.3%.
If your attorney has promised you more than the $100,000 policy limits, you need to ask him where he expects that additional money to come from. Otherwise, you made a big mistake to get an attorney involved at this point.I normally recommend that folks avoid attorneys until they and the insurance company have come to the point where they have agreed to disagree completely. Then it's time for legal action. But not before.
If your situation is as dire as you suggest, your attorney will get the insurance company to offer the policy limits without even breaking a sweat or possibly not even some much as writing a letter. That much you could have done for yourself. And the cost to do that would have been about $0.50 . . . not $33,333,33.
Add your comment