I have an accident court

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 09:45 am Post Subject:

Insurance companies normally use third party software to determine the value of an accident. The normal cost for a particular type of injury is calculated by putting the information in your medical bills into software which then calculates the approximate amount.

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 09:45 am Post Subject:

The payment depends on the negotiations with the insurance companies. You will be reimbursed for the following losses in general

. Medical care
. Loss of Income.

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 09:46 am Post Subject:

Since the accident happened quite a long time, you would be paid according to the current market value of the insurance.

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 05:36 pm Post Subject:

If it were that easy to say how much a claim is worth with such limited information, why would anyone need an attorney. You could have a broken back... you could have a sprained ankle. These claims would have a "slight" difference in settlement value.

Some main factors are considered when determining the amount payable on an injury claim; the nature of the injury and how it impacts the course of someones life, the extent of the treatment and recovery time, the permanency of the injury, and the area where the accident happen. Too add to this, there are two different views as to what should be paid... yours and those issuing the payment.

Your attorney is vague as he/she really does not know that the carrier is going to offer and if that offer will get close to an amount you (or the attorney) is willing to accept. If the attorney were to place a dollar amount on the claim and the amount taken/award was much different then the attorney looks bad. So it really does not behove him/her to commit to a dollar amount. Still, your attorney should at least be able to give you a ballpark figure. IMHO, most attorneys will argue a little with the insurance company and then just accept the last offer if they feel it's a decent amount. _Very_ few cases every go to trial (in Florida the last figure I heard was 3%). Keep in mind, filing a complain in court is usually done to protect the case against the Statute of Limitations, which was probably done in your case.

Don't get me started on insurance companies using programs to obtain amounts to offer. I've been handling injury claims for about 8 years now and I agree with plaintiff attorneys... any carrier that use those programs should be sued! Every carrier claims they are used as a tool but they are not. There is no doubt that they set the bar as to what amount should be offered on a claim. It then becomes _very_ difficult to justify a payment above this amount. Also, insurance companies track claims that are settled for more then those programs allowed for. They also track (to a lesser degree) when claims are settled for less (as they think this indicates that the information entered into the system was "inflated" to get a higher authority and make it easier to settle the claim with the range allowed).