Should i hire a attorney?

by courtney200521 » Sat Jul 17, 2010 07:21 am

July 02, 2009 motorist fail to yield right of way while driving with an expired license cited and charged. I slammed head on into rightside of drivers car and was thrown over handle bars of motorcycle landing on my back in the middle of a busy street 90 degrees plus. I was taken by ambulance to hospital and treated. Doctors diagnosed broken bones, contusion, bank strain, permanent scars, major anxiety and post tramatic stress disorder. I have 8000 in medical bill so far, 40000 plus lost wages due to being terminated from job. Drivers insurance saids they have 25000 policy limit, i have 25000 UIM on motorcycle and a 100000 UIM on another policy with 2 vehicle which can be stacked. Drivers insurance company will not offer policy limits only offered 13100 so my insurance company will not pay until they have. Help me please!

Total Comments: 3

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 09:02 am Post Subject:

Before you get involved with an attorney, who will gladly take your case for a minimum of 30% of whatever settlement or judgment you obtain, you should make a complaint to your state's Department of Insurance. The Model Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act, which has been adopted in almost all states, describes a number of practices that are considered unlawful, one of which is forcing persons to obtain the services of an attorney or filing suit in order to collect a claim, and the amounts obtained are not substantially different than the person's actual damages.

If the DOI does not obtain satisfaction for you, then you would want to look for a highly experienced "Insurance Bad Faith" trial lawyer, to take your case.

Your insurance company is within its rights to withhold payment under your Uninsured Motorist coverage until the at fault party's policy benefit has been exhausted. But don't be deceived into signing a Release of Liability on behalf of the at fault party, as this could prevent you from ever collecting the full value of your losses Iclaim).

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 11:25 am Post Subject:

Some of the things are not clear with me as yet.

Drivers insurance company will not offer policy limits only offered 13100 so my insurance company will not pay until they have.


Did you ask them to give you an explanation of how they may have arrived at this figure of 13100?
There are a few other things that I'd like to know before we proceed. When did you get terminated?

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 02:02 pm Post Subject:

There are a few other things that I'd like to know before we proceed. When did you get terminated?



Not important, unless the termination occurred PRIOR to the collision, in which case it would be near impossible to press that as "specific damages". Could still be compensable as "general damages".

as to your other querry,

Did you ask them to give you an explanation of how they may have arrived at this figure of 13100?



that's a valid topic of discussion between the OP and the at-fault party's insurance company.

Rereading the OP's post, he mentions "stacking" the UIM coverage of his motorcycle policy with that of his auto policy. This may not be accurate, if the Auto Policy excludes coverages while operating a motorcycle (which is a common exclusion), then the UIM coverage of the Auto Policy probably cannot be "stacked" with that of the Motorcycle Policy's UIM. I'll leave that to some of the adjusters, like Lori or Trench or tcope to ponder.

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