Posted: 3/31/2009 10:47:23 AM EDT
Here is a question for some of you guys that has had experience dealing with insurance guys. Last month on morning a girl came across the center line while trying to pass another car and struck my vehicle. it spun me off the highway and into a pole and a tree. did $19,000.00 in damages to my Toyota FJ so it was totalled and they have already cut me a check for that. today he calls me talking about a personal injury claim ? he asked how much the doctor bills was from that night which all totalled up to right around $4,000.00( I was taken to the hospital a checked out because I hit my head on the side window). The only injury I sustained was I was sore as hell for a couple of days and a bump on my head......the FJ did not survive 
Anyways is there a way to determine how much this insurance company will offer me on what he is calling personal injury claim? I'm not the type of person to try and sting these people for a bunch of money and be part of the reason we pay so much for insurance. but if they are going to just give it away I'd sure like to have one of those MSAR's 
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| depends on how far you want to take it. I am sure you can get more down the line from them, but do you want to wait and do you want to possibly hire a lawyer. Are you married? The reason I ask is your spouse may have a loss of consortium claim as well. Basically it all depends on what you want out of the deal. You can prob get a little more for "pain and mental anguish" right now. They would much rather settle with you now than to litigate later. What Ins Co are you dealing with? To answer your question, no there is no way to determine what your claims is worth exactly. Secondly, there is no such thing a free money. The money you get from this accident will be passed on to the policy holder. Dealing with insurance is like playing in Vegas, the house always wins. |
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If is YOUR insurance under one of your first party medical coverages. All they will pay is you dollar amount of bills. If its the other guys insurance, prob your med bills and some consideration for pain and suffering and inconvenience Maybe $1K additional and that's prob on the high side. If you are in texas (I don't know your state cause the mobile version doesn't show it) you are able to claim under both personal injury protection (your insurance) AND B.I. (The other guys insurance). Fact o the matter is there are a lot of variables Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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depends on how far you want to take it. I am sure you can get more down the line from them, but do you want to wait and do you want to possibly hire a lawyer. Are you married? The reason I ask is your spouse may have a loss of consortium claim as well. Basically it all depends on what you want out of the deal. You can prob get a little more for "pain and mental anguish" right now. They would much rather settle with you now than to litigate later. What Ins Co are you dealing with? To answer your question, no there is no way to determine what your claims is worth exactly. Secondly, there is no such thing a free money. The money you get from this accident will be passed on to the policy holder. Dealing with insurance is like playing in Vegas, the house always wins. thats the thing I'm not wanting to take it that far, I'm not wanting to milk them for money and like I said did not sustain any long term injuries, they did pay for the FJ and have been more helpful to me than my own insurance agent (which I have since cancelled my polices with and when to another agent)......I assumed this would all be over when they paid for my vehicle and doctor bills? like I said I was only sore for a couple of days,had a bump on the head and missed only two days work. |
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If is YOUR insurance under one of your first party medical coverages. All they will pay is you dollar amount of bills. If its the other guys insurance, prob your med bills and some consideration for pain and suffering and inconvenience Maybe $1K additional and that's prob on the high side. If you are in texas (I don't know your state cause the mobile version doesn't show it) you are able to claim under both personal injury protection (your insurance) AND B.I. (The other guys insurance). Fact o the matter is there are a lot of variables Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I'm in Indiana and yeah it was strange how they did it. the FJ was under one claim and the doctor bills is on a total other claim. my insurance paid all the doctor bills and then they go to the other insurance to get their money. this was my first car accident in my life so I'm learning alot from this.....I'm just damn glad it was not my fault. |
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The standard answer for any insurance question fits pretty well here: "It depends"
Some injury coverages will pay for lost wages and others will not. If you hire a lawyer you probably will still get the same amount as you would have anyway, minus the lawyer fee. They will pay you what they are legally obligated to pay you. |
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If is YOUR insurance under one of your first party medical coverages. All they will pay is you dollar amount of bills. If its the other guys insurance, prob your med bills and some consideration for pain and suffering and inconvenience Maybe $1K additional and that's prob on the high side. If you are in texas (I don't know your state cause the mobile version doesn't show it) you are able to claim under both personal injury protection (your insurance) AND B.I. (The other guys insurance). Fact o the matter is there are a lot of variables Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I'm in Indiana and yeah it was strange how they did it. the FJ was under one claim and the doctor bills is on a total other claim. my insurance paid all the doctor bills and then they go to the other insurance to get their money. this was my first car accident in my life so I'm learning alot from this.....I'm just damn glad it was not my fault. I don't handle Indiana claims. So any advice I give you will be pretty general. Every state has different laws an court rulings setting precisdence over things. But glad to hear you are ok Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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depends on how far you want to take it. I am sure you can get more down the line from them, but do you want to wait and do you want to possibly hire a lawyer. Are you married? The reason I ask is your spouse may have a loss of consortium claim as well. Basically it all depends on what you want out of the deal. You can prob get a little more for "pain and mental anguish" right now. They would much rather settle with you now than to litigate later. What Ins Co are you dealing with? To answer your question, no there is no way to determine what your claims is worth exactly. Secondly, there is no such thing a free money. The money you get from this accident will be passed on to the policy holder. Dealing with insurance is like playing in Vegas, the house always wins. thats the thing I'm not wanting to take it that far, I'm not wanting to milk them for money and like I said did not sustain any long term injuries, they did pay for the FJ and have been more helpful to me than my own insurance agent (which I have since cancelled my polices with and when to another agent)......I assumed this would all be over when they paid for my vehicle and doctor bills? like I said I was only sore for a couple of days,had a bump on the head and missed only two days work. They are being nice because they are on the hook for what happened to you. They want to you to think that they are nice people, not saying they arent, so they can close you. Nothing wrong with that, but dont mistake it for what it is. Re the agent situation, agents (the ones that I have been unlucky enough to be involved with) dont know dick about claims or how a claim should be handled. Most do not even know what the policys they are selling say. By the way, ALWAYS READ YOUR POLICY. It appears that you are dealing with a Standard Ins Carrier, which is great for you trust me. |
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Quoted: The standard answer for any insurance question fits pretty well here: "It depends" Some injury coverages will pay for lost wages and others will not. If you hire a lawyer you probably will still get the same amount as you would have anyway, minus the lawyer fee. They will pay you what they are legally obligated to pay you.  Yea, after you hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit. |
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The standard answer for any insurance question fits pretty well here: "It depends" Some injury coverages will pay for lost wages and others will not. If you hire a lawyer you probably will still get the same amount as you would have anyway, minus the lawyer fee. They will pay you what they are legally obligated to pay you. Yea, after you hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit.
Show me a personal injury lawyer who is in the job for the satisfaction of helping his fellow man, and I'll show you a liar. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The standard answer for any insurance question fits pretty well here: "It depends" Some injury coverages will pay for lost wages and others will not. If you hire a lawyer you probably will still get the same amount as you would have anyway, minus the lawyer fee. They will pay you what they are legally obligated to pay you. Yea, after you hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit.Show me a personal injury lawyer who is in the job for the satisfaction of helping his fellow man, and I'll show you a liar. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile That would be impossible for me to do but that wasn't the point of my post. After being hit head on and having my vehicle totaled and my knee tore up and a broken leg i do have some experience with the subject matter. The Insurance company treated me like I was the perpetrator and the money they offered me wouldn't even have covered my lost wages let alone the medical bills. Once an attorney was hired the insurance company was singing a different tune. Show me an insurance adjuster who is in the job for the satisfaction of helping his fellow man and I'll show you a liar. |
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My point in the matter is in this case the OPs injuries are all soft tissue and he doednt wish to make this a huge fucking deal. Get an atty involved and he's going to reccommend that the OP goes and treats at a chiro clinic that handles nothing but BI and workers comp cases. That way the bills can be inflated and the atty can try and line his pockets more. Which also will push the claim for a year at minimum. Yours and the OP's cases are night and day. In the grand scheme of things what the OP has a fairly simple case that seems like it will be handled quickley. That is unless you are going up against a company that insures mostly non standard risk. Anybof the big names in the game should be able to take care of it quick Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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The standard answer for any insurance question fits pretty well here: "It depends" Some injury coverages will pay for lost wages and others will not. If you hire a lawyer you probably will still get the same amount as you would have anyway, minus the lawyer fee. They will pay you what they are legally obligated to pay you. Yea, after you hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit.
Show me a personal injury lawyer who is in the job for the satisfaction of helping his fellow man, and I'll show you a liar. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile That would be impossible for me to do but that wasn't the point of my post. After being hit head on and having my vehicle totaled and my knee tore up and a broken leg i do have some experience with the subject matter. The Insurance company treated me like I was the perpetrator and the money they offered me wouldn't even have covered my lost wages let alone the medical bills. Once an attorney was hired the insurance company was singing a different tune. Show me an insurance adjuster who is in the job for the satisfaction of helping his fellow man and I'll show you a liar. Most of the time the only thing an attorney accomplishes in an auto claim is to drag out the process and take a chunk of the money for themselves. I cannot speak to your personal experience, but most of the time you are better off without an attorney. Insurance is highly litigious and highly regulated. An insurance policy is a binding contract and to not follow the terms of this contract is breaking the law. Your big name companies are not going to break the law for a small (to them) medical claim. They will pay for the damages that they responsible for, up to the limits of the policy and then move on to the next claim. Sometimes you can negotiate with them a little, but they are not going to pay you more than they have to because you are being hard headed about it. In the case of any ambiguity, the insured is always given the benefit of the doubt. |
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Quoted: My point in the matter is in this case the OPs injuries are all soft tissue and he doednt wish to make this a huge fucking deal. Get an atty involved and he's going to reccommend that the OP goes and treats at a chiro clinic that handles nothing but BI and workers comp cases. That way the bills can be inflated and the atty can try and line his pockets more. Which also will push the claim for a year at minimum. Yours and the OP's cases are night and day. In the grand scheme of things what the OP has a fairly simple case that seems like it will be handled quickley. That is unless you are going up against a company that insures mostly non standard risk. Anybof the big names in the game should be able to take care of it quick Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I agree with you about the OPs deal. I would not make a huge deal either for no injury or lost time. My case WAS entirely different from the OP. It was just that my experience with a big name insurance company left me a little bitter about the whole thing. It took two years and they ended up settling on the day of court. If they would have offered me what I ended up getting after the attornies 1/3 came out, it would have got taken care of long before I went the lawyer route. The impression I got was, they were waiting on me to go bankrupt and be in dire need of money so I would settle for next to nothing. But anyway to the OPs case. If you want to get it over with and settle quickly they will probably accomadate you. Sorry for the highjack OP. |