Auto Insurance Claims: Personal Injury, pinched nerve, temporary job

Question
QUESTION: I was involved in a car accident beginning of December and I'm negotiating my settlement with the insurance company.Their insured hit me from behind and I had neck & back strain/sprain, contusion of the thigh and later found out I had a pinched nerve. I went to the emergency the next day, they prescribed some medicine and had me follow up with my dr. Who referred me to physical therapy. I was still having a lot of pain & woke up one morning and my left arm was numb & tingling. I went back to the er and that's when they discovered the pinched nerve. I ended up going to physical therapy 2 times a week for 2 months. The other issue is I had just started working a temporary job through a staffing agency the day before the accident. They ended up letting me go cuz of the time I had been off & the fact that I had just started. They sent a lost wages letter but I feel the ins company should pay me for the contracted period of the assignment which was estimated at 2 1/2 months is this reasonable? My total medical bills are $11,780. So I feel the bodily injury portion for myself should settle for at least $12,OOO. And the total claim for medical and bodily/personal injury should be $24,000. But they're first offer was only $3,000 for bodily injury which I was very offened by. I pointed out how this has negatively affected my life, that I still have pain & tingling in my arm, how I can't sleep through the night. How it cost me my job & with the economy how that has impacted me & my family and the ability to find another job, incovenience its caused, coming up with money for prescrpitions I was on 6 medications throughout the ordeal. Is the amount for bodily injury I'm asking reasonable? Should it be more or less? Where would you evaluate the amount to be at?

ANSWER: Hello Khiana,

Well, This is very hard without all the details (medical records). You have somewhat of high medical bills, but multiplying them by 2 ($24,000) would yield the amount you would get total, not in addition of medical bills.

Multiplying your medical bills can help you come up with a range of negotiation, but it not set on stone, and the insurance company can settle for $3k if they believe that is a fair offer (they always think low offers are fair).

The things that would increase your settlement are indications that your injury was very painful and that the injury might indicate some permanency.

Read your records and pick those notes. That is what is going to increase your settlement.

Regarding your loss wages, you will be entitled to wage loss if you had a job,  but you lost it only because of the accident. The fact that it was a temporary agency and that you were new at the job is not going to help you.

You can argue that you had a secured assignment, and you would have been paid X amount of dollars for that period of time. If you can have the temporary agency write a letter in which they state that you had an assignment and that you were let go because of the injuries which cause you to lose work hours, and they had to let you go. It is critical that they assign your work lose to the injuries and not the accident (dealing with a broken down car, towing trucks, or inconvenience will not give you a settlement. Injury however will.

For more information about what you are entitled to, please visit:

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/bodily-injury-claim.html

Good Luck

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The reason the medicals bills are probbaly so high is because I had a CT scan when I first went to the ER. Then once I went back they did an MRI.and changed my prescptions to much higher ones/dosages. I would think this would be some indication of the pain. CT scan was normal, MRI showed several tight, spams compressed muscle in my upper back & trap area. My physical therapist indicated several times that I didn't have a lot of range of movement, that I was in a lot of pain and I had an extremely large knot in my upper trap. Her final evaluation showed improvement in my movement range but only 60% of goals were met.I would think that at least 9,000 -10,000 would be fair?

Answer
Hello Khiana,

Well, it would be hard to say if $9,000 to 10,000 would be fair (average settlement awards vary from county to county, so it would be difficult to say that if your medical bills are where you say, that the insurance company would evaluate this. CT scans are diagnostic tests (to find out if something wrong), not necessarily an indication of treatment (i.e. surgery, PT, etc.) The adjuster will probably argue that and not even consider those medical bills for pain and suffering.

Only 60% improvement, that should help your case., this is the type of thing  Have you been completely released from treatment?

Consider talking to an attorney before settling your claim. A local attorney can help you evaluate your claim.

Good Luck
Anne.