How much should I accept for settlement from a car wreck?

Question

I was driving with my 6 month old and got hit head on after he came across the yellow lines. the impact flipped and rolled us and we slid on my roof. I crawled out on my knees on my roof and then had to sit and watch my baby hang inside the car until they finally got her out. very scary. she had glass in her mouth and i had neck, knees, back,wrists and ankle pains and cuts all over me. i had physical therapy and xrays etc totaling 11,000 and i hear about this "general rule" of 3x medical- but i have 2 other kids and a husband and a life that took a while to get adjusted to. im in college and it hurts in my knees still when i walk and so much more inconveniences. like i'm scared of cars hittiing me now- i even jump if they come too close. what do you think?

Answer 1

check with a lawyer. You never know if you will come up with additional injuries.

Answer 2

What are the policy limits for the car that hit you?

If they are 15,000 - then you would probably be offered 15,000 and told to contact your company and file an under-insured motorist claim. If they are 100,000 - you're not going to get that but you would not have to file against your own policy.

I hate multipliers (3x melds rule). Adjusters really don't use that.

Think about it: Person A goes to the hospital and ais diagnosed with a fractured sternum - meds 1500.00. Now every time you breath, move, stand, sit, walk, bend - your chest moves and it is painful. You can't to physical therapy on a fracture sternum all you can do is let time heal it.

Person B goes to the hospital - has a whole bunch of diagnostic tests done -ct scans, mri's - all are normal. Meds total 10,000. He has a sprain strain that resolves itself with time and Advil.

Does Person A have a claim that is only worth 4500 and Person B should be paid 30,000? Of course not. Person A should be paid more for pain and suffering than Person B.

With out seeing what your injuries are and what the melds are - it's hard to tell you how much you would get.

The best way to resolve this is through open and honest communication with the adjuster. Tell him/her about how it upset you to see your baby in the car. The adjuster was not there - they can only understand what you felt if you tell them. Sometimes this can help them value a claim.

I once handled a claim for a lady that had 2 broken arms. I did not realize how hard her daily life was with 1 long arm cast and 1 short arm cast until she told me - that it was hard for her to brush her teeth and eat b/c she was right handed and that was in the long arm cast. Taking a shower or washing her hair required help from another person. Once she told me that, it helped me to place a value on her claim.

You need to do the same thing with your adjuster. Let him/her know what you saw, felt and how it has affected you.

As far as a lawyer goes - a lawyer will take 1/3 of your settlement + expenses. Usually you end up with more money working with the ins co directly yourself.

An adjuster evaluates an injury based on the injury- a lawyer being involved does not change the offer - just changes who the adjuster talks to.

I would recommend working with the insurance company directly yourself. If you don't like the offer you can always hire an attny at a later date and give him 1/3 of your money then.

Answer 3

Based on what you stated....I would go see an Orthopedic Surgeon for your knees. For the record, X-Rays doesn't help you at all. You need MRIS for your knee, Cervical Spine, and Lumbars Spine in order to determine the extent of your injuries. Also if you are nervous or scared of being hit....go see a Psychotherapist. You can't say that your body hurts but there's no proof of it, physical therapy doesn't help much. There is no General Rule of 3x the medical bills....it's if you are injured. Just because you were in an accident and it wasn't your fault, doesn't mean you are entitled to be compensated. Also....what is the other person's policy limits...your not entitled to more than they unless they have a minimum policy, which then you can sue your own insurance company for Underinsured Motorist Coverage. But that's only if your coverage is more than theres.

Also...you mentioned your husband...he can sue for Loss of Consortium...meaning....you can't perform the way you used to. Speak to your lawyer about that. Of course, throughout this all there must be proof. I think if your proofs determine you were seriously injured then don't allow your attorney to accept a little bit of money.

Unfortunately, for your child how can you determine her injuries. They would probably offer you a few bucks just to close it out. However, the statute of limitations runs, in most states, 2 years after they turn 18. So you still have time, if its unacceptable. Either way, if your child gets compensated more than 5K, it will be put away in a fund until she turns 18.

Answer 4

My wife is paranoid after us being plowed into by a redneck with a cattleguard on the front of his truck. DSestroyed our car. It was an older car and strong. I was thrown against the dash and the back seat was up in the front. They offered $5000 to walk away. I told them $500 for my car, then we will talk inury. they paid all the medical bills and hava a reserve for 90 days for anything else that might comeup. My suggestion is to have them pay all your medical bills now and for the next 2 years as well as any thah are a result of the accident. Counseling for the children and you, loss of wages, mental anguish, pain and suffering, etc

Answer 5

Do you even know their policy limits? They may have very low bodily injury like 10k so we wouldnt even need to discus this questions.

Lets make believe they have no limits.

Obviously youll be owed atleast 11k (if your treatment was reasonable for your injury)

NOw... the "sob story" is sad.. yes.. accidents are traumatic... but seeing your baby dangle has nothing to do with your injury.

The permenancy of your injury and how it will affect you for your life affects what you get over medicals.

You didnt even tell us what your actual injury is. Will it never get better? does it affect your life?

If its not a serious injury (if its only soft tissue) please dont think that you won the lottery... you will MAYBE get a few thousand bucks over medicals.

Answer 6

first piece of advice: get a lawyer if you don't have one.
to answer your question: as much as you can get, sounds like you have them over the barrel and i've seen a lot of extremely large settlements. also be advised if you do get a large settlement there is a way to take your punitive damages and turn them into tax free cash flows that can be very effective (you can tell i have experience with this kind of thing) google for "structured settlement" (some people don't like to use it but in my experience people who take large lump sums and don't funnel any into an annuity type vehicle generally burn through the money really fast and end up worse off--also be advised that there are very few people able to establish a structured settlement, one must have a special license to do so.)

Answer 7

If your medical bills alone total 11,000, then I would expect at least 13,000. I think your rule of x3 is great, go with that if you can. You've got a great case ahead of you. Sorry about the accident, but you've got a lovely payout coming your way. Cheer up.