Posted on 08/04/2005 3:13:53 PM PDT by PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
Three days ago my DIL had a car accident. It was not her fault, she was not ticketed, the other driver was. He crossed the center line. The police said the guy had been drinking but not enough to charge him with intoxication, (don't know if that matters). My DIL drove a 1990 3/4 ton Ford Super Cab, Superduty. It has been totaled out. Her 20 month old baby was in the truck but uninjuried (thank you Lord), Kristy, my daughter in law, is having some neck and back pain and went to the doctor today. The doctor will not release her as of now, and says that she may need some treatment.
Anyway, we are NOT the sueing kind of people. We know from a past experience that the insurance co will offer an amount for stress and inconvinence. How is this figured? What would be fair and reasonable?
Get a lawyer-NOW!
Hand it over to an attorney!
Sounds to me like driving a 3/4 ton pickup was a lifesaver in this case. Sounds like a head-on collision that was severe enough to total the truck. Had she been driving something smaller, I imagine things would have been quite a bit different.
Why?
Becky
L
My own personal experience is a beautiful example where injuries did not really show up until a later date.
Why would you accept payment for future medical bills when you don't know what those bills are? Get an attorney.
Oh, no doubt. It wasn't head on, he clipped her front fender, and it pushed her off into a ditch.
Becky
Get someone with intimate knowledge of the legal processes on your side before doing ANYTHING with the other person's insurance company....
With all due respect and I hope you're right but, you don't know that!
>> Kristy, my daughter in law, is having some neck and back pain and went to the doctor today. The doctor will not release her as of now, and says that she may need some treatment.<<
Hopefully the baby was also checked out by a physician.
Good luck!
We are not going to settle till the doctor has cleared her. We are just not sure what is reasonable on the stress and inconvience part. No doubt they will pay for the truck and the doctor bills, and they are paying for a rental truck right now too.
Becky
The baby was checked out by the doctor today too.
Becky
She needs a lawyer, whether or not she is the suing kind of person. I had an accident once where I had back pain that only got worse over time. A year later, I had to have major back surgery. We wound up getting the entire $100,000 from her policy. That paid my medical bills, attorney fees and lost income. Nothing at all for pain and suffering, which continues to this day, 15 years later.
So glad she and the little one are OK, or will be!
FWIW, $$$ for pain and suffering is a pet peeve of mine. I think the right thing to do is to accept $$$ for the losses that can reasonably be solved with money. It's perfectly fair to wait a while to see what treatment and how much medical cost will be incurred.
Injuries to back and neck can be longlasting..years....if ever corrected. Don't settle, quickly.
My wife works for a lawfirm and says never sign anything from the insurance co. That's rule #1. They will try to get her to sign a release from liability form. Do not do it. The insurance co. will offer you a lowball figure. Wait until she FULLY recovers from the wreck. Get thorough exams done. Xrays, MRI,blood in urine? etc, in case of internal damage. Keep records of loss wages, car rentals, medical costs etc. After she is fully recovered you may want to make an offer to the insurance co. to settle her losses and bills. If they try to lowball her unfairly, then get a lawyer.
I've not a big fan of getting $$$ for that sort of thing either. But there is a lot of inconvience that goes with this sort of thing, and some of that inconvienece tends to cost money. And I'm shocked that all the advise so far is to get a lawyer???? LOL, isn''t this the forum where you read all the time about stupid lawsuits??? Kristy won't want to go to court or get a lawyer, BUT, I think she is entitled to have the trouble this puts her thru paid for. I just wondered if anyone else had settled reasonably with the help of lawyers. Obviously not:)
Becky
LOL - I agree - but that was ~other~ people. Things change when it's you.
I admire and understand your outlook. And I have no idea what a 'going rate' for this is. Actual bills notwithstanding, because those will be covered, what would she feel covers her inconvenience?
The trouble I wonder about with waiting too long to settle is whether she can afford to wait for her reimbursement.... She's gonna want to get going on getting a new truck, and other bills may be due now. Can you make a claim without signing paid in full?
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