by LUCINDA574 » Sat Jul 11, 2009 03:46 am
I was involved in an accident with my children on Monday, a lady made a left hand turn across a divided roadway and never stopped and I ended up in her passenger door. I have a 2009 Kia Sportage 2WD 4 cyl with 15,000 miles and have extensive damage in the front end, air bag deployed and I was taken by ambulance to the ER for severe abdominal pain and dizziness. Let me add I am also almost 4 months pregnant. The police report shows she was totally at fault for failure to yield.
Well the auto adjuster (Farmers) went to the tow yard today to look at my truck. She said there approx $7500 worth of damage that she could see and that it would not be totaled. She called me back 3 hours later, said they could not get the hood open to check inside the engine compartment but at this point, the bids came back from salvage and we are at the line right now where it looks like it would be totaled. She would not give me a figure as to how much damages are now or what the new damage is she found, only said that salvage bids came back very high for it and they were taking it to the dealer to be torn down and if more damage was found it would be totaled....
I really dont understand how it can go from fixable to totaled in a matter of hours with no reports of further damage and I am totally confused as to what salvage has to do with it. Can you explain salvage and est what my truck is worth?
Also, I went to ER and was sent home 6 hours later after being told that I was a "probable miscarriage" and could lose the baby that night. I was having severe cramping, but at 14 weeks they cannot do anything to stop the contractions and there was a good chance I was going to lose the baby. Thank God so far everything is good, I am on bedrest for the most part and my OB is going to send me to a specialist as I am having back spasms, severe headaches ( I cracked my head pretty good I guess, I have a goose egg over my left ear) and my neck/shoulders are killing me and occasional female cramping still.
My children were checked by their Ped the day of the accident, they had slight bruising from the car seat restraints but otherwise were ok.
The medical adjuster came to my house today to get my statement and for me to sign a waiver for her to get my medical records from the accident. She told me she would not pressure me to settle for anything as far as medical on me since I am still under care, but they we needed to settle for the girls since they were ok. She offered to pay for their carseats, the doctor office charge and to give them each $500 for injuries. I almost didnt take theoffer because it just seemed odd, I had not asked for anything, I honestly had even thought about the kids bill yet when she said that normally in cases such as ours she gives each child $500. So I felt pressured and sign off of the kids. But now I keep thinking that an hour after she leaves the auto lady calls and says we are totaling your car and I feel like a pushover.
I dont want to get a lawyer, I just hate the idea of it, seems slimy because I am not trying to get anything out of them, just the bills paid but I am scared with the truck they arent going to give me what it is worth and unfortunately we do not have GAP on it, we do our other car, but evidently we did not add it to our policy on the truck. I have only had the truck 3 months and am afraid we are going to end up owing tons on it and not having it and then settling on the medical and something comes up with the baby because she says she isnt being pushy but then she makes remarks like we can have it all wrapped up in a week or two if we cooperate. I really need your advice or suggestions. Should I get a lawyer or do I just wait it out with the adjusters and hope everything gets paid for??
Well the auto adjuster (Farmers) went to the tow yard today to look at my truck. She said there approx $7500 worth of damage that she could see and that it would not be totaled. She called me back 3 hours later, said they could not get the hood open to check inside the engine compartment but at this point, the bids came back from salvage and we are at the line right now where it looks like it would be totaled. She would not give me a figure as to how much damages are now or what the new damage is she found, only said that salvage bids came back very high for it and they were taking it to the dealer to be torn down and if more damage was found it would be totaled....
I really dont understand how it can go from fixable to totaled in a matter of hours with no reports of further damage and I am totally confused as to what salvage has to do with it. Can you explain salvage and est what my truck is worth?
Also, I went to ER and was sent home 6 hours later after being told that I was a "probable miscarriage" and could lose the baby that night. I was having severe cramping, but at 14 weeks they cannot do anything to stop the contractions and there was a good chance I was going to lose the baby. Thank God so far everything is good, I am on bedrest for the most part and my OB is going to send me to a specialist as I am having back spasms, severe headaches ( I cracked my head pretty good I guess, I have a goose egg over my left ear) and my neck/shoulders are killing me and occasional female cramping still.
My children were checked by their Ped the day of the accident, they had slight bruising from the car seat restraints but otherwise were ok.
The medical adjuster came to my house today to get my statement and for me to sign a waiver for her to get my medical records from the accident. She told me she would not pressure me to settle for anything as far as medical on me since I am still under care, but they we needed to settle for the girls since they were ok. She offered to pay for their carseats, the doctor office charge and to give them each $500 for injuries. I almost didnt take theoffer because it just seemed odd, I had not asked for anything, I honestly had even thought about the kids bill yet when she said that normally in cases such as ours she gives each child $500. So I felt pressured and sign off of the kids. But now I keep thinking that an hour after she leaves the auto lady calls and says we are totaling your car and I feel like a pushover.
I dont want to get a lawyer, I just hate the idea of it, seems slimy because I am not trying to get anything out of them, just the bills paid but I am scared with the truck they arent going to give me what it is worth and unfortunately we do not have GAP on it, we do our other car, but evidently we did not add it to our policy on the truck. I have only had the truck 3 months and am afraid we are going to end up owing tons on it and not having it and then settling on the medical and something comes up with the baby because she says she isnt being pushy but then she makes remarks like we can have it all wrapped up in a week or two if we cooperate. I really need your advice or suggestions. Should I get a lawyer or do I just wait it out with the adjusters and hope everything gets paid for??
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 06:46 pm Post Subject:
Well, just got the call. They did not total my truck but were within like $500 of doing so. Damages came in at $7493.29 and they prorated my tire so we will be paying $54.57 on it. Hopefully the truck will be good as new!
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:23 pm Post Subject:
That's great news for you all since you didn't have GAP...wonderful! It's customary to charge betterment on tires, when writing an estimate we can't put a used tire on a vehicle with say 6/32nds tread (whatever your tires had)...so the only way to figure it is betterment...still not a bad deal for a new tire huh?
Congrats...let us know if we can be of any additional assistance...
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 06:49 am Post Subject:
Hi Lucinda,
my agent informed me that we had to wait for Farmers to send me a letter of denial of claim till we could bring our policy into it.
Why are you not talking to an adjuster of your insurance company?
Have you read the policy document? Have you come across any such provision in it?
Anyway, it seems that things have started falling in line for you. Good luck!! :)
~Jeremy
Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 04:59 am Post Subject:
Well just wanted to update. My truck is supposedly coming out of the shop tomorrow or so, they have had to do 3 supplements on it so far, they have found some minor stuff and then a major, something to do with the front frame rail. Repairs are right at 10k now.
I ended up filing a claim on our own insurance for medical payments. My neck and back got progressively worse, my OB sent me to an orthopedic doc/specialist who has me know in PT 3 times a week and I tell ya, it is kicking my behind! Neck is improving, shoulder/upper back seems to be getting worse. Bad part is docs cant do any xrays or MRI's so they are flying blind I guess. So pt is costing, and all the hospital bills have come rolling in. We are already up to close to 5k in just ER and docs and I have another month of pt yet. We have 10k in medpay so hopefully it will cover it all.
Baby is doing ok, I worry alot that maybe I did hurt him and it didnt show like how my back and neck just got worse as time went on, but I just pray and hope everything is ok.
My insurance has been wonderful through the whole thing and the adjusters said that my agent was wrong, I can file through them at any time.
I do have to say one thing, the longer I hurt the madder I am now getting at that other driver for talking on her cell and hurting us like that. I wasnt mad till about a week ago when the pain got horrendous in my neck and shoulder and I couldnt even pick my daughter up when she fell. I was so worried about what would happen to the other driver, that her insurance would cover everything and her rates wouldnt go up, now I want to seriously kick her behind ( pregnant hormones? lol)
I wanted to thank you all again and just update you all where we are.
Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:18 am Post Subject:
my agent was wrong, I can file through them at any time.
Told ya' that agent should be written up...I
do have to say one thing, the longer I hurt the madder I am now getting at that other driver for talking on her cell and hurting us like that. I wasnt mad till about a week ago when the pain got horrendous in my neck and shoulder and I couldnt even pick my daughter up when she fell.
Lucinda, write these little things down, (including date/time etc)...when it comes time to settle your injury you need to remember these things..I was so worried about what would happen to the other driver, that her insurance would cover everything and her rates wouldnt go up, now I want to seriously kick her behind ( pregnant hormones? lol)
No, mama instinct...NOTHING messes with our babies!I wanted to thank you all again and just update you all where we are.
Thanks for the update, please do keep us informed..Lucinda, have you asked the other adjuster what their insured's bodily injury limits are? See if they will tell you or ask your adjuster if she/he can find out. If this little twerp had low limits you might as well know now.
Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 03:09 pm Post Subject:
Lori:
I havent asked what bodily limits she has, but in Indiana the min is 25K each person, 50K total per accident.
When you say write it down, are you talking about when the pain gets bad or just when I want to kick her behind and shove her cell where it dont shine? (Sorry, my shoulder is killing me today and I am grumpy!) :twisted:
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 06:34 am Post Subject:
Hi! Just wanted to update you all. I got my truck back a little over a week ago, they kept finding small things like clips on the bumper etc that they were having to wait for parts and to write another supplement for but I got it back and she looks good as new! Total cost for repairs was around 10K total.
We are doing pretty good, we found out the baby is a boy and hubby is thrilled. Having some pre term labor again, but I dont believe it has anything to with the accident.
I was going to PT 3 times a week for my neck and shoulder, but the therapist pushed me too far, he must have been having a bad day and started yelling at me and acting like a drill sergeant, very unprofessional, so I quit there last week and will see what is going on when I go back to the ortho doc next week. In all honesty, PT was hurting more than helping I think...
My med pay is handling all those bills wonderfully and I cannot say enough how nice the medical adjuster from Farmers has been. She has called and always been really pleasant and all with no pressure of settling or anything, so I feel a bit foolish about my paranoia from before!
Thanks again for all the advice!
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 12:08 pm Post Subject:
When you say write it down, are you talking about when the pain gets bad or just when I want to kick her behind and shove her cell where it dont shine? (Sorry, my shoulder is killing me today and I am grumpy
Sorry Lucinda I missed this post some how, yes what I meant was to write down date/time etc, when you ie, couldn't p/u a crying child and comfort her..etc..Glad you have your vehicle back and are happy with it. I forget, did you talk to her about a DV claim?
We are doing pretty good, we found out the baby is a boy and hubby is thrilled.
That's awesome! Congrats! What is this little guys name?Having some pre term labor again, but I dont believe it has anything to with the accident.
Did you have this with your other babies?so I feel a bit foolish about my paranoia from before!
I'm glad you two are communicating well, and it was just that (paranoia)...When are you due again?Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 01:24 pm Post Subject:
No, no diminished value claim, never even thought about it
I had preterm with my other 2 kids also, never this bad though.
I am due Jan 5th. thanks again!~
Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 08:44 pm Post Subject: Update...
Hi Lori and everyone!
Well, my baby was born the end of November and was 7 weeks early. They thought my prior c-section was re-opening. He is a sweetie but has had such a huge horrible go of it. He was in the NICU for the first 39 days as he couldnt breath on his own and had to learn how to eat. He also kept having issues not breathing and his heart rate would drop, we had him home twice for 3 days and for 2.5 and ended up at the Rileys Childrens Hospital where we found out he had brain damage, a too small brain and severe GERD which ended in surgery and a gastric tube. He is now doing better and starting to hit some of his milestones. He has been home for a month and we are FINALLY getting some normalcy.
I guess I have questions and really dont know what to do. I still have some stiffness in my neck and there are days where my shoulder just kills me. I have not went back to the ortho dr and probably wont, I just dont have the time to deal with it all and have gotten to the point where I just deal with it. we have reached out policy limit on our auto insurance on what they will pay ( med pay?) and honestly, we dont have the money to put out right now.
I guess my real question is about baby. They say the accident at 14 weeks gestation =may= have caused his brain not to have grown, but there is no proof either way that it did or didnt. I dont want to get an atty, I just feel like that is just not 'right' I guess. I dont want to involve the baby in a settlement, but will they make us if I want to settle on mine? The other problem is our child is now on state medicaid as a secondary ( we have private health insurance) and the state will just take any money he gets to help pay his medical bills which is well over 500K at this point. I am just at a loss as what to do from here.
I told the adjuster I was ready to settle and I guess they have been trying to get all my medical information and are still waiting on a report from one of my Drs. She has not said anything about an amount or anything like that ( it has been about a month now). She did say our auto insurance was in subrogation ( not sure how to spell it) to get reimbursed for what they paid out. Can anyone offer advice?
Add your comment