Auto Accident Personal Injury Claim Help?

Question

So, I was driving home, when a girl came speeding around the corner in my apartment complex on the wrong side of the road. Long story short, it got ruled 100% her fault. Now I ended up doing 6 months of chiropractic visits and 2 months of physical therapy. I don't feel different and I am going to have permanant back and neck damage (not severe just not comfortable to be on my feet a long time, sleep, or do strenuous activities, I'm a Chef). That's not it. My wife was about 37-38 weeks pregnant, and we went to a doctors visit a couple hours after the accident. She wasn't in the car, but freaked out when she heard the accident and came out of the apartment and saw it was me. The doctor diagnosed her with preeclamsia (high stress during pregnancy) because of the accident and had to induce her that night. The drugs slowed the baby's heart rate, so they had to give a c-section. They only offered $3k to start and they say my wife doesn't matter because she wasn't in the car. suggestions?

So to answer a few questions.
First of all both the cars were totaled. I have soft tissue damage, and my back seems to mis-align easily. I had not had any health problems prior at all. I only went to the chiropractor that long because my insurance said to just see if it helps, even though I told them 2 months into it that it hadn't helped. I had visits 3 times a week. An IME was done, and they said to go to 10 visits of PT and if that didn't help they may have to rule it as a permanant injury. Though, to get proof, what should I do? It was ruled 100% her fault so it doesn't really matter with my policy. The medical bills were probably about $5000 total. I most likely can get a letter from my wife's OB which was also the on-call doctor, saying it was related with the accident. When we went in that day, thats when she was diagnosed, the OB actually asked what the hell happened that day. Do you think that would do the trick? Sry if I missed a question but I'll try to answer any more. Th

So to answer a few questions.
First of all both the cars were totaled. I have soft tissue damage, and my back seems to mis-align easily. I had not had any health problems prior at all. I only went to the chiropractor that long because my insurance said to just see if it helps, even though I told them 2 months into it that it hadn't helped. I had visits 3 times a week. An IME was done, and they said to go to 10 visits of PT and if that didn't help they may have to rule it as a permanant injury. Though, to get proof, what should I do? It was ruled 100% her fault so it doesn't really matter with my policy. The medical bills were probably about $5000 total. I most likely can get a letter from my wife's OB which was also the on-call doctor, saying it was related with the accident. When we went in that day, thats when she was diagnosed, the OB actually asked what the hell happened that day. Do you think that would do the trick? Sry if I missed a question but I'll try to answer any more.Thx

It happened in Washington State

Answer 1

Sorry to hear about your accident. It is a bit tougher to assess your claim because you indicated the duration of your treatment (6 months of chiro and 2 months of PT) but not the frequency (# of visits incurred during this time frame). I also don't know the "legal market" of where the accident occurred because you didn't mention it. Most importantly, I would like to know the total amount that your medical bills came to. If the $3000 is for general damages only (pain and discomfort) I would generally consider it to be an appropriate offer, however if it is also intended to pay for the costs of the treatment you had to undergo I would say no way. Unless you incurred a fracture or some kind of nerve root compression brought on by the accident, six months of chiropractic treatment would be considered excessive even among the chiropractic community itself whose literature indicates that the average soft tissue injury (muscle strain or sprain) can be resolved through eight to ten weeks of chiropractic treatment. It could be that your chiropractor has overtreated you expecting to get paid whether the insurance company determines that the charges were reasonable and customary or not. They have the right to determine for themselves whether the medical documentation you have provided them with indicates any valid reason why the chiro treated you for 6 months when the chiro literature out there indicates that 8-10 weeks on average would rectify your complaint (again, this is assuming you had a "simple" strain or sprain type injury and nothing involving a medically substantiated nerve problem). The insurance company is not obligated to give any financial consideration for your wife's condition because as you said, she wasn't in the vehicle and unless there is provable or defendable medical evidence to support not only that she had high stress during pregnancy but specifically that this stress occurred as a result of your accident, they would not figure this into their evaluation as they owe only for reasonable and customary medical expenses arising for treatment you underwent from injuries sustained in this accident. If you believe that such provable or defendable evidence does exist that would show the insurance company that your wife's condition definitely was related, provide it to them. Otherwise, if you can't prove it to the insurance company chances are you won't be able to prove it in court either. Sorry to hear about your wife's condition but it'd be a stretch for even an attorney to prove to a jury specifically that your being involved in the accident was the sole cause of the high stress that resulted in her c-section. There is basically "one degree of separation" in the relatedness of her condition which is basically that it was you and not she actually involved in the accident. Had it been her in the vehicle, it would be a no-brainer. Also, for a third party bodily injury claim, insurance company has only a full and final one-time settlement with you and can only evaluate the medical records, notes, and bills for treatment you have already incurred and not for any future treatment. If you are still undergoing treatment as a result of your injury and/or if you plan to continue, and if you feel your medical providers can continue to furnish you with medical documentation indicating that these continued treatments are reasonable, customary and related to injuries you sustained specifically as a result of the auto accident, my recommendation would be to postpone settlement until you make a complete recovery and finish all your treatments so that the insurance company can consider these in their evaluation. In most states, there usually is a two year statute on pursuing bodily injury claims so you would have to get an attorney and file suit to extend this statue of limitations if you are nearing the statute date. The insurance company is not your enemy, they are trying to find a suitable settlement for you to keep this out of court but in their evaluation they are subject only to include those factors which in court would be proved to be accident related. You also didn't indicate the amount of damages to your vehicle, which is something the insurance company would take into consideration. The greater the damage to your vehicle, the more likely that the physical forces involving the vehicle would've cause your injury and the easier they can rule out other non accident-related factors as causing you to have to seek treatment. Also, they'll give more money for an injured person in a badly totalled vehicle as they know the shock value of the jury seeing those photos would bias them towards the injured person if the case went to court. If the $3000 offer is specifically for general damages (pain discomfort etc.) I'd encourage you to consider their offer seriously and if your vehicle sustained less than $2500 in damage, I'd definitely encourage you to do so. The company is trying to be fair based on the info you've given them to evaluate and unless you have a case substantial or significant enough to warrant attorney involvement (they generally don't take cases to court unless the claim value is over $15000 or unless there is some type of "emotional" component such as DUI or drugs), you can probably settle this directly with them since an attorney will probably do comparatively little for you other than help collect your medical notes/bills/records and furnish them to the insurance company, and they will take 28 - 33% of your settlement to do this, which sounds like it's already been done if the company's now making you an offer. Good luck with your claim and it sounds like one that can and probably will be able to handle on your own.

Answer 2

Your wife was not in the car with you. Any claims that she has will be a subset of your claim. Can you prove that she had absolutely no stress in her life at all except that your car accident happened? Proving that this accident caused the early delivery of your baby is a very very very long shot and not likely to happen.

Think of it this way.....you cook a meal using peanut oil. It does not say on the menu that this ingredient is in the meal. The husband eats it and has a horrible allergic reaction to it. His wife gets so stressed about her husbands condition that she drops dead of a heart attack. Should her estate be able to sue you?

No. The husband could have a cause of action against you and the restaurant b/c it is reasonable for a food Establishment to be aware that peanut allergies are common and can be deadly. You and the restaurant should have been able to foresee that not disclosing the use of the peanut oil could cause injury to a patron who eats it. Could you have reasonably for seen that the wife would drop dead of a heart attack? No. Should you be responsible for causing her death?

How much damage was done to your car? If the chiro did not help - you should not have continued it. A chiro is not a medical doctor. You may should have seen an MD.

What is the nature of your injury (soft tissue?).

If your treatment was excessive and is out of line for the amount of damage to your vehicle- then you will probably get an offer that maybe just enough to cover your medical bills.

We don't have much info to help you with - but if their opening offer is 3,000 - there is some kind of problem with your case that you have not told us about.

Answer 3

Yep sorry.. your wife has absolutely NOTHING to do with it and her injury wont come into play what so ever in this.

Alot of what hurt you hear was going to the chiro and PT for so long. There is no reason for a person to go to a chiro for 6 months.. if it doesnt resolve with them in a few weeks.. its not going to. So alot of the money that you would have pocketed for "pain and suffering" is now going to your humougous chiro bill.

You didnt tell us your exact injury. Is it just soft tissue? If this is the case and there is no evidence it will last forever... sorry.. your not winning the lottery. How do you know this will affect you for life? Whats your evidence? What is worng with you?

Its really simple. If the injuries your claiming dont match up to the severity of the accident or treatment is excessive.. it can really hurt you. Huge settlements are for people truly affected for life... broken backs... faces burnt beyond recognization from a fire in the accident... not soft tissue back injuries.

I suggest you sit back and really listen to why they are offering you 3k. Do they say your injuries arent permenant? Do they say you had a preexisting condition? Are they out of moeny on th epolicy?

and then report back to us and maybe we can really help you.

Answer 4

Without an attorney's intervention? Probably just the cost of your medical bills (the ones that they find were necessary) and another thousand or two for your pain and suffering. You will not get a good result from the insurance company; they are in the business of paying out as little as possible. Plus you have to sign a waiver giving them access to your medical records, and they will use that to search your past records to find evidence of past injury or complaints of pain to the same area (like headaches in general), which they will use to argue that you weren't injured from the collision. You will most likely end up with more money at the end of a lawsuit (whether it goes to trial or settles), but you'll have to wait a lot longer to be compensated.

Answer 5

The insurance company must pay for your medical bills since she was the at-fault party.
Unfortunately, because your wife was not in the car with you the at-fault's party will not pay for her medical bills. You can speak with a lawyer concerning. She would have needed to be in the car with you for the at-fault party to pay out.
Sorry about everything but that's the way insurance works.

Answer 6

Correct -- your wife is owed nothing (sorry). So, you went to chiro treatments for SIX MONTHS and you have a permanent disability?? You don't need a chiropractor -- you need a DOCTOR.