by Guest » Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:43 am
My son was a front seat passenger in a singal car accident. He is a very nice looking young man, he was thrown almost completely out of the windshield. His face is scared very badly his eyelid is severe it will not close all the way and has a V in it. He is going to have plastic surgery. I have never had to get a lawyer for anything before in my life, the highway patrol said we needed to find one. my son was hurt the most out of the 3 young men, the driver had an airbag the passenger in the backseat had my son's seat as a shield. the attorney says that the max policy the driver has is 50 thousand, my insurance is paying 10 thousand of medical bills. i want to make sure my son's face is repaired and that he is ok, the attorney is ready to seattle with the 50 thousand before my son has even had his first appointment at the plastic surgen. any good advice i am grateful though I don't have a clue about any of this leagal stuff. I am confused that it happened so quickly. 2 months ago. i am not sure if in the long run the cost of all the medical bills will be paid and the health of my son. he was knocked out for God only knows how long. took at least an hour to get him to the hospital because the driver was scared he was going to jail and the people that picked up the 3 boys had to take the driver and the other passenger home before they could get my son to the hospital. my son was bleeding very badly, his eyelid laid open his forehead cut badly and the whole side of his face awful. thank you all in advance
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 01:09 pm Post Subject:
first thank ya'll very much. i live in the us. the father of the driver is well off he has 50 rental houses in our county alone. the boys are 20 and they were at a party and no my son said he didn't know how much the driver drank and he thought he hadn't drank but a little because he was driving fine until they hit the dirt road on the way home a short cut road. the seatbelt rule in my house is always been good but i guess when you are a 20 year old and off with your friends you tend to do as they do. i really don't care how much money this man has i just want to make sure my son's face gets fixed and he is ok in the long run health wise. and it happened in july and i thought now was to soon to settle for 50 thousand considering january he has to go back to the eye doctor. he has always had perfect eye site now he has a scar on the back of the eye and eye site in the right eye isn't as good as it was. oh and i went to the drivers fathers house to check on his son and ask if they needed anything call me. it upset me that the drivers daddy couldn't even call to check on my son knowing he got the worst end of it. i am from a small town if you have plenty of money here you tell the law around here what to do. since the wreck we have found out that the driver was on house arrest for about a year and we didn't know that because he would drive his daddys trucks everywhere all the time.. the cheif of the patrolman said he will be charged with wreckless driving, dui, leaving a scean of accident with serious injury, failure to report the accident. i told him i did not want the boy in trouble for this i just need help paying the dr, bills. he said that is not how the law works mam. and i really don't want the boy in trouble i guess that is the momma in me. everyone says i should be very angry, i am but it is not like the boy planned on running into the oak tree slinnging my son nearly out of the windshield, i am angry that my son didn't call and say momma i need a ride or the boys didn't just wait around a while, and that my son thought that he had to be without the very thing that may have saved his face (seatbelt) and the drivers dad didn't call or come by to check on my son. all this is what makes me angry
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 01:48 pm Post Subject:
Keep in mind that any other injured party, less the driver, will also get a small portion of the $50k policy limits. It's proportional to the person's claim and it sounds like everyone else pales in comparison to your sons so this is probably not a big issue.
If the father has that many assets I'd speak to your attorney about settling with the father directly and/or filing suit. Keep in mind that some attorneys are looking for an easy pay off (accepting just the insurance companies money) but there are some that would go the extra distance if they thought they could be paid on a judgement. With all the fathers assets, I would think this might be worth looking into. Also, the fathers limits seem to be very low. If he has rental properties he might also have an umbrella policy. Your attorney needs to ask about this.
Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 02:24 pm Post Subject:
ok thank you all again, now a question about my insurance that was supposed to pay 10 thousand in dr. bills, i have to pay out of pocket for the plastic surgery will my insurance reimburse that to the 10 thousand or 80% , if so how do i do it without the attorney adding up the cost we owe him, again thank you in advance
Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 02:42 pm Post Subject:
When you say "my insurance", what type of insurance is that? Auto, health, etc?
I'm assuming that is auto, medical payments of some type, as health usually has much higher limits. Your medical providers should submit their charges directly to your auto carrier. What is paid depends on your states statues for medical payment coverage. That is, they are all different. For example, Florida has $10k PIP and pays medical expenses at 80%. They pay all bills as they come in at 80% until they have paid out $10k.
Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 03:01 pm Post Subject:
auto insurance florida, the plastic surgeron says i have to pay out of pocket that they do not file on auto insurance so i was wondering do i send the receipts to the insurance company or do i even get any of that back and if i do how
Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 03:42 pm Post Subject:
I'm not familiar with how the bills are handled up front. Is the doctor not going to perform the procedure unless he's paid up front, or not allow your son to leave without paying? That is, if the doctor is going to send you the bill after the fact, I'd simply submit that bill to your carrier. They are required to pay it within 30 days. If the doctor wants payment before the surgery, ask for the bill now and submit it to your carrier.
Your carrier will pay 80% of the bill (unless you have a deductible that has not been met).
From what I recall, you have an attorney. Since you're paying your attorney a _lot_ of money, he/she should be handling this for you.
Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 05:01 pm Post Subject:
the dr will not perform the procedure unless paid in full. thursday i have to pay 300 for a consultation then they will let us know how much it will all cost.
Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 06:20 pm Post Subject:
I can't see a doctor charging anything before the service is perormed and I can't see him not letting the patient leave without paying. If the doctor is going to bill you, just send the bill to your carrier for payment.
Again, I'd speak to your attorney about the best way to handle this.
Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:44 am Post Subject:
The doc should simply file a lein....I'd be alittle worried about this docs business habits...can you have him call your medpay adjuster for verification of payment in advance of the procedure?
Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:50 pm Post Subject:
i do not understand how anyof this works. the attorney says i will have to pay for the surgery and the visits out of pocket and he will have 80% from my insurance refunded to me. the plastic surgeon in my opinion but thats is my opinion, should see my son thursaday take my 300 and give me a estimate and let that go to my insurance and let them pay him for fixing my son's face, and then let me pay the 20% left. well that is not what is happening. i have to pay up front do i need to find another surgeon? because i talked to several and none of them files on auto insurance
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