Rear ended & ins. co won't ever offer enough to cover medical bills. How can I get them to raise offer?

Question

Husband & I were rear ended. Our medical bills are over $15,000. Ins. co offered a total of $9,000. What can I do to get them to raise offer? We filed a lawsuit, In Pro Per. In Discovery phase. we want to settle. Only reason for sing was to protect the "statute date". Injuries were whiplashtype, back and neck strain. What is the usual settlement on this type of case? Can you refer us to case law?
Ins. co admitted fault on behalf of their insured & now they don't want to pay. Should we get a lawyer?

Answer 1

Ask your agent.

If your state is a no-fault state, you have to collect under your own medical first. If you're limited tort, you won't be able to collect for pain and suffering for those soft tissue injuries you're describing. If you guys have $6,000 of chiro bills, they're being discounted.

Case law in Florida will do you no good in PA. EVERYTHING is state specific.

And in any case, NO insurance company will EVER pay more than the policy limit.

You need to discuss this with your agent. Back & neck strain, and a few days of neck ache, aren't going to net you a whole bunch of pain & suffering. You just dind't have severe injuries. It looks even worse for you if the damage to your car is under $2,000 - then it looks like your injuries are exaggerated.

I've been rearended with $6,000 of damage to my tiny little Saturn Ion. With nothing more than ibuprofen for a couple days.

Answer 2

Since a lawsuit is involved - my understanding is that a lawyer will charge 1/2 of the settlement plus expenses.

I don't know enough about the damages/injuries/medical bills to comment on the offer. If it's a soft tissue injury that resolved itself 15,000 worth of medical treatment seems a bit high. Is it chiro, diagnostics?

"The ins co admitted fault and now they don't want to pay:"

They offered $9000. They are paying. However, they don't owe you if you over treated or chose to run up a bunch of unnecessary medical bills. There is no guarantee that the insurance company will pay for what ever medical bills you feel like running up. If the medical treatment is out of line with the damage to the vehicle - you'll have a fight on your hands.

Since suit is filed - you may want to see if the insurance company is willing to mediate. Now - that's going to cost you too. Each side agrees on a mediator- usually a retired attorney or judge. The parties meet and each say a bit about their case and then separate. The mediator goes between the parties pointing out the weaknesses in their cases and trying to get them to come together on a settlement. Both sides pay 1/2 of the mediator's per hour rate.

Sorry but litigation is not cheap.

** not to be taken as legal advice as I am not an attorney**

Answer 3

Probably yes, you should get a lawyer. However, keep in mind that (1) if the lawyer wins and they pay $15,000 and the lawyer keeps 1/3 ($5000) as a fee, then you have only $1000 more than the current offer and (2) if the lawyer loses, you may get less than the current offer, or nothing. On the other hand, if the lawyer wins a large amount for "pain and suffering", lost wages, or anything else, in addition to the medical bills, you may get more than $15,000, even after paying the lawyer.

Answer 4

They are not offering the entire amount because they believe the impact was not sufficient enough to warrant the treatment you sought. My guess is you went to a chiro and treated excessively for whiplash and the chiro billed excessively. Depending on the venue it is likely the insurance company has a strong case. A lot of companies have bio-mechanical engineers to look at the impact and determine if injury could have occurred and the force of impact. I rarely advocate a lawyer as I don't think they add value to the claim but it sounds to me that you are gong to have to if you are not going to accept their offer. You can try counteroffer before getting attorney. You might be able to get them to pay all of meds with no pain and suffering but I wouldn't count on it. You are kind of in a bad situation. If you get an attorney he gets 35% of the settlement and that includes 35% of the medical bills, so even if you get a settlement of say 15-20k you will not get enough to pay your meds. Plus if this goes to trial you will likely have to pay the lawyer even more.