by ktaylor006 » Sat Mar 01, 2008 03:47 pm
My son fell down the stairs on Christmas day in our home, which is a rental property. The stairs did not have a railing. We had brought this issue up to the owners before. My 9 year old ended up having surgery to reset the bones, he broke the third and fourth meditarcal bones. The third bone required the insertion of a rod to hold it in place. He was out of school for 3 weeks because of the open wound and the delicacy of the rod. He finally returned to school but was home sparodically due to pain. He is still in a walking cast and now is in pain once again as he is trying to use the foot. The doctor says 2 more weeks of the cast and then he will have rehab the leg with physical activity. We are almost at 10 weeks with another 2 to go. The doctor felt based on his age, he did not did formal physical therapy. The insurance company called us and said the owners were at fault. They are agreeing to cover the medical expenses, out of pocket copays and prescrition costs, loss of wages and pain and suffering. They asked us to document my son's experience. Including the accident happened on Christmas, missing school and other activities, pain and suffering. She asked that we also give them a number we would like to receive as a settlement. So far the medical cost are over $10, 000. I know to wait until he is fully healed, but have no idea of a number to quote them. Any suggestions or guidelines. The insurance adgent stated that normal rules don't apply to children. Is that good or bad? Thank you!
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 04:30 pm Post Subject:
Good morning and welcome to the community ktaylor006
Wow, your poor boy...the adjuster is correct, kinda, not sure what they mean by 'normal rules'....your son has a LARGE claim. more than likely when settlement is reached there will be a 'friendly suit' or definately require court approval. You of course know not to even think of a number until he is as close to 'back to normal' as he is going to get. That could be a few years.....also there will need to be an evaluation re: future pain/medical cost/care, will he always have a limp? Sounds like you have a very reasonable adjuster, that is in fact assisting you in your settlement (by asking you to keep a diary), also no negligence dispute, which is also huge.
You will really need to wait until you have all the fact, re: future treatments or disabilities etc. the amount of settlement will have a lot to do with any future or lifetime problems he'd suffer from this injury.
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 05:25 am Post Subject:
Yeah, its kinda great that the adjuster is assisting you through the claim process. Lori, is right you have to keep all the facts in mind while quoting the amount to the insurer. You can involve the doctors of your son to ascertain the future cost of treatment (if he requires any for a longer period of time).
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 05:45 am Post Subject:
I'd suggest that you wait until your son recovers fully. He's still a minor and may develop health complications in the future and that needs to be taken care of.
Best thing to do, have an open-heart discussion with the adjuster and make your concern before him. This may solve the matter smoothly.
Best Wishes,
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