by Riep69 » Fri Jan 25, 2008 05:14 am
was a 22 year old passenger in a single car accident that broke my femur which resulted in 3 nights in the hospital and sugury to place a rod and screw put in my leg. I was off work for 3 1/2 months and had to go through a month of theropy before returning to work. Medical bills approx. 30k, and lost wages of around $4500. I am almost ready to settle with the insurance and would like to know where to start? What kind of settlement am i looking at? I was wondering where to start when the offering comes.... does it matter if he was drinking and driving and driving wrecklessly? didnt get a DUI though, got physical control. His coverages is 100 300 50...i would like to know a round about estimate of what I am expected to get so I know what to settle for. I talked to a lawyer and she said go for the limits...so after my bills that would leave about 70k, would the insurance settle for that?
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:32 am Post Subject:
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.
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:59 am Post Subject:
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.
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 06:37 pm Post Subject:
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.
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:56 pm Post Subject:
[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.
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 02:21 am Post Subject:
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.
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 02:35 am Post Subject:
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").
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:45 pm Post Subject:
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!
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 03:04 am Post Subject:
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.
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 03:15 am Post Subject:
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)
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 05:50 am Post Subject:
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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