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 Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:45 am Post subject: |
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are you saying they can use that against me and the settlement wont be the same? he wasnt drunk and i told the adjuster that the day i came home from the hospital, im not even sure if that had an effect on the accident, it might have a lil but not totally.
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cbr1000
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| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:32 am Post subject: |
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Not meaning to speak for tcope and sure he will reply, but yes, he's saying that in some states that is a defense for the injury, meaning if you knowingly (not saying YOU did) get into a vehicle with a drunk driver, you are/have contributed to your own injuries.
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Lori
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| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:59 am Post subject: |
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Just becareful here, I guess what I am trying to say is that you need to be more careful for yourself, nothing to do with the money here, it is you and your life that I am speaking about and the others on the road way out there. I am in no way saying that you or your friend is a bad person, just want you to notice the value on your life here. Just becareful is all I am saying.
Hope you get what you want out of this accident, I hope your knee recovers, joints however, when damaged tend to cause pain your entire life, you need to take that into consideration, arthritis and pain later in life. |
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goodnatured
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| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, i have been alot more careful since then, i havnt even drank that much since then....that woke both of us up...we coulda been killed. If anyone has myspace, pics from the wreck are on there...just search my name...Dustin Riepenhoff.
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cbr1000
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| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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[See Lori's post...  ]
It can be used as a defense (the driver) and therefor could lower the settlement (basically everyone is guessing what a jury would award and they could 'argue' that a jury would consider that you put yourself in harms way so your award should be lowered slightly in consideration of this). But if the carrier thought a jury might award $200k, then 5% or 10% comparative negligence is not going to make a difference. There is also the question that you mentioned... did the drivers state actually contribute to the accident. Lastly, would he really tell the court how intoxicated he was (i.e. he would not make a good witness for the carrier as he's your friend). All of these things have weight that the carrier needs to consider. When it comes time for you to settle with them, they will probably bring some of these mitigating factors to your attention. Your job is to perhaps acknowledge that they are good points but... and then mention your facts. You may want to tell the adjuster that what they are saying is just wrong... but if you want them to listen and acknowledge what you are going to say then you want to give them the same respect. To be honest, this is a HUGE part of why attorneys get larger settlements. They know who's holding the checkbook and try to show some respect in order to keep that checkbook open . Of course there are some attorneys who try the steam roller effect... they usually end up in mediation or court. |
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tcope
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:21 am Post subject: |
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ok, i was just checking. He didnt get a DUI though, so maybe that wont matter as much. I just wasnt sure if they would not give me the pain and suffering part of the settlement since i did ride with him knowing he had a few drinks. Does it matter if I was wearing my seatbelt or not? honestly i cant remember if i had it on or not. i blacked out when the impact happened.
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cbr1000
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:35 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Does it matter if I was wearing my seat belt or not? honestly i cant remember if i had it on or not. |
In some states yes, in some states no. I depends on case law in the area. In Utah is cannot be held against a person... which makes no sense to me but that is the way it is.
It's not usually mentioned on the police report unless the person specifically tells the officer one way or the other. Also, many times the adjuster may not notice if it's just displayed as a code on the police report and not mentioned in writing (like "occupant was ejected as they were not wearing their seatbelt"). |
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tcope
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Does it matter if I was wearing my seatbelt or not? honestly i cant remember if i had it on or not. i blacked out when the impact happened. |
Of course this is state dependent...when I was handling bi claims I ALWAYS charged a 'non-belted' injured party with atleast 5% contrib...and have charged as much as 25%...It is a law in my state...many adjusters are either too lazy or too busy (we really are swamped most of the time) to investigate this too closely, (on the ''I don't know if I had a belt on or not")...Most newer vehicles are equiped with 'pre-tensioners' on the seat belts and MUST be replaced after an accident...it's very easy to see if a seat belt was in use at impact on most newer vehicles....and another thing is most injured restrained persons have the marks to prove it!
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Lori
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:04 am Post subject: |
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ok, that basicly answers all my questions....one last question though, how is my health insurance going to get paid back, they have paid for most of this and was wondering if i am going to be responsible for paying them back or if progressive will be.
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cbr1000
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:15 am Post subject: |
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Per their contract, they have a right of recovery. Who pays them depends on if they sent Progressive a lien (I doubt it) and if Progressive is going to insist on paying them back directly. Ultimately, they have a right to what they paid out. So if you accept payment from Progressive, you should expect that you will need to pay the health carrier back. With that being said, if the health carrier has not already filed a lien with Progressive, they probably won't go looking for recovery. Health adjusters are even more over worked then P&C adjusters. But again, you _NEED_ to anticipate that they will seek recovery as it's always possible. Lastly, it's up to you if you want to contact the health carrier and notify them of the situation. It would be the "right" thing to do but I don't know of any obligation to _tell_ them about the recovery.
Oh, if you obtain the policy limits from the auto carrier you could also tell the health carrier, as with everyone else, that your settlement was less then full recovery so the providers should only be looking for partial payment on their medical liens (at least that is what you are going to tell them if they ask... legally, they have every right to seek 100% re-payment) |
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tcope
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| Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:50 am Post subject: |
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OK, i should be settleing sometime this week, just wanna get everything straight before i talk to him....so I should ask for the policy limits? Just wondering, have you ever had a claim like this and awarded the policy limits to them? I just dont want him to think im an idiot for wanting the limits. I guess im just a little nervous and dont want to give into the first offer. Any last minute advice would be extremely helpful!! Thanks sooo much!!
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cbr1000
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| Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:42 am Post subject: |
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So far your thinking about it wrong... you really should be getting more then the limits but your obviously willing to accept the limits as this is all you can really expect.
Look at it this way... your medicals and loss wages put your claim at $35k right now. You will probably need additional treatment. You also now have a rod and screw in your leg and this very well may cause some physical complication down the road. So you have about $40k in actual bills... is it so hard to see getting paid another $30k on top of that. That would put you at $70k. If I were a betting man (and it's not been my month) I'd say their initial offer will be close to $60. If it is, they are probably looking at settling around $75k-$80k. I can't see their initial offer being any lower then $60.
Since you really can't "ask" for more then the $100k limits, you need to keep in mind that you've already lowered your demand to the $100k limit so why should you go any lower. You can also let the adjuster know that you arrived at this amount as your medical bills and loss wages alone are about $40k right now and you've also spoken to an attorney who also thinks the claim is easily worth $100k (you might want to mention that the attorney is reluctant to take the case, keeping 33%, unless it appears the carrier won't be offering the $100k limits). Time is on your side. If you can, let your demand sit out there for a month. An insurance company does not want a $100k reserve sitting on a file for a long time.
Do I think an initial demand of $100k is not in line with your loss? Heck no. Not with what you went through. Do I think the carrier will just offer up the $100k? Heck no. Keep in mind that even if an attorney could get the $100k, his/her cut would be $33k of that, leaving $77k to address everything else. An attorney might also be able to lowered your medical bills if you were allowed to pay them directly but I think you could manage this on your own. |
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tcope
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| Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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ok, havnt heard from him yet...should be soon though. He was saying last time that if my health insurance put a lein against him that they had to pay that, but what if they dont, am I going to have to pay my health insurance back? Im sure i will have to but just curious.
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cbr1000
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| Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | but what if they dont, am I going to have to pay my health insurance back? Im sure i will have to but just curious. |
Depends... they do have a right to ask for payment but I can say that most health carriers drop the ball when it comes to attempting recovery. I've not looked over a health contract in a long time so I don't know if there is some wording in it that _requires_ you to pay back the money. Baring that, it may be up to them to seek recovery... that is, you may not have to offer it. So you _could_ be required to pay the back but you might only be legally bound to this is if it's in the health contract. In any case, I know there will be a clause that gives them the right to _ask_ for payment back and if they _ask_ then you are legally required to repay.
Bottom line: They always have a right to ask you to pay back the money and if they ask, you _do_ have to pay them. If it's written in the health contract that you have to pay the money back then it's up to you if you if you contact them and tell them of the recovery (i.e. you would have a legal obligation to notify them but no one is going to inforce a penalty if you did not). If it's not in the contract, they have a right to ask for repayment and if they ask, you have to pay. But if they don't ask.... |
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tcope
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| Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:23 am Post subject: I may have some useful advice |
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Hello, I am a Bodily Injury Claims adjuster. I have 3 years experience in settling injury claims for a major auto insurance company.
Believe it or not, there are some fair and honest Bodily Injury claims adjusters out there and I am one of them.
You had some serious injury especially if you broke your femur and had to have surgery and an extended period of time off work.
It is VERY important to keep meticulous documentation of your medical expenses, medical records, and if you are making a loss of wages claim you have to be able to prove that you actually misssed x amount of time, how much your income is...and the insurance company will have to verify all of your lost wages with your employer.
I believe you said your medical bills alone were about 30k....and you missed a few months of work recovering from your injury.
The fact that you had to be hospitalized, have surgery, missed a substantial amount of time from work....those are concrete facts that any reputable insurance company can not dispute.
Once they see your medical documentation, diagnostic reports such as xrays, etc...
I think you may be able to reasonably expect a settlement of roughly 50k.
If there are any other verifiable factors such as permanent disability or partial disability(this has to be documented by a physician)
This was a serious injury and the insurance company knows it.
What they look for is concrete documentation of your damages.
They also consider how much of an impact this had on your lifestyle....for example if your passion in life was to hike or dance or run marathons, etc, and you had to give that up for a long time due to your injuries, this may very well be taken into consideration as part of the pain and suffering when settling your claim.
Í don't know how long ago this accident happened but don't be too quick to settle.....be aware of the statute if limitations in your state for making a Bodily Injury claim and don't settle until you are sure you are completely healed.
My advice is to not hire a Personal Injury lawyer because they will get a huge cut of your settlement.
Your medical expenses, severity of injuries, lost wages will all be taken into account.
My guestimate is that you will be compensated for economic damages and then an additional 20k or so for pain and suffering.
Good luck to you...hope this helps.
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