QuestionQUESTION: Hi,
In May of 2007, I was struck by a car while crossing the street in a designated crosswalk during the daytime. I landed on the driver's front end of the car and shattered the windshield and flew off the car and landed in the middle of the street. I was rushed to the emergency room by an ambulance to the nearest hospital and suffered a partially collapsed lung (neumothorax), bruising, and sore back, which still bothers me to this day. Miraculously, I did not break any bones and thankfully a majority of my medicals were paid by PLIGA, since I did not have car insurance or a PIP policy at the time of the accident. Fast forward to 2009 and I have accumulated approx $20,000 in medical bills (hospital, doctors, & physical therapy), along with time missed from work, etc. My question is that I have been trying to settle this case on my own with the claims adjuster of the driver who struck me to avoid having to file a lawsuit, but she originally only offered me an amount of only $2,000, which I quickly denied. I also sent a demand letter with the help of my uncle who is lawyer (but who is licensed in another state) requesting a specified amount along with my doctor's medical report stating my injuries and prognosis, which was never responded or acknowledged to. The adjuster has since contacted me again and would like settle, but I have already filed suit against the driver due to the lack of negotiation that I have had so far with the claims adjuster and currently waiting on the driver's 30 day response to the suit. Should I go ahead and try to settle this with the claims adjuster, even though she tried lowballing me the first time around, or should I just go through with the lawsuit and hope to get a fair judgement through an arbitrator or even jury (worst case scenario) if this went to trial? Also, is there a ballpark figure or estimate that I should base my negotiations around?
Thanks in advance.
J
ANSWER: You mention PLIGA and PIP and I therefor ASSUME that you are in New Jersey.
You say that you have filed suit which leads me to believe that you are represnted by counsel.
If that is the case I cannot advise you re this matter as it would be improper for me or anyone else to advise you re this matter.
If your uncle is an attorney (even in another state) negligence/tort is megligence tort and he should be able to assist/advise you.
Get back to me if I can missing something here that will permit me to assist you..
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for the quick reply.
I'm currently not being represented by counsel and have filed the lawsuit as representing myself Pro-Se. My uncle has provided advice, but there is not much he can do for me as far as negotiations or representation in a trial since he is not licensed to practice law in the state of NJ. I only filed the lawsuit as a last resort due to lack of communication that I was receiving on part of the claims adjuster. If you could provide any additional advice that would be great.
J
ANSWER: Pro se? Wow. Unususal move...
What court are your filed in (include county)?
Where are you re Discovery?
Keep in mind that since PLIGA was involved that you will not be able to black board your medicals except for any portion (co-pays, etc) that PLIGA did not cover.
My understaing is that PLIGA does not cover earnings so I assume you were not compensated in any way for your last wages (how long out of work and how much in wage loss)?
You mentioned that you were in a cross-walk when struck which is fine but you failed to mention whether there was any traffic control device(s) in play (light, stop sign, etc)... please advise what was in place and who that trafiic device favored.
You mentioned the $2,000 but while you mentioned a demand letter you did not indicate the amount of your demand.. please do so so I can determine the exisiting negotiations gap.
What basis/rationale did the handling claim rep gave for the $2,000 offer?
Doesn't your uncle have any attorney associates in NJ that specialize or dabble in tort law?
Get back to me re the above and we'll proceed from there...
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for the follow-up.
I filed the suit in Union County and currently waiting for the defendant to respond (I believe it's 30 days) to the papers that were served to him. I was out of work for about 14 days, and really should have been out longer, but felt rushed to get back to work to finish a project I was working on at the time.
As for the accident, I was crossing the street in a designated crosswalk, but there were no traffic lights. It was between an intersection, but the driver did have a stop sign upon making a left turn into the intersection I was struck in. There was also a large sign in the middle of the crosswalk that stated to yield to pedestrians as a NJ state law, which has since been removed for some reason or another. The driver was charged with reckless driving by the local police and plead guilty in court.
The claims adjuster based the $2,000 settlement based that I did not suffer any broken bones, but only soft tissue damage. What she failed to realize was the $2K did not even cover my co-payments that I still owed, nor the time that I missed from work. She obviously did not factor in pain or suffering either since I had a partially collapsed lung and horrible wrench in my back that made it rather difficult to sleep and sit for long periods of time, which is required for my job as an accountant. It took a good 6 months to start getting back to living a "normal" life. In the original demand letter I mentioned $100K as a starting point for negotiations.
Unfortunately my uncle really has only one connection in NJ that would be able to help me, but I'm not so high on his services as my family has hired him in the past and was less than pleased with his performance. I'm hoping I can avoid going to court, but will if need be.
Thanks,
J
AnswerReality check...
How did you expect the carrier/Rep to respond to your $100,000 demand?
On it's face, based on what you have related to me, that demand is border-line obscene.
I am originally an East Coaster and have done extensice work in NY and NJ as recently as less than 6 months ago so I know the value of claims in the NJ jusrisdictions whether you are in Northern NJ, Central NJ or Southern NJ
The $2,00 offer was in response to you $100,000 demand... in essence a nuts offer to a nuts demand.
Right now the mid-point (if you were to split the difference) would be $51,000 and even that number is nuts.
You have essentially given the carrier/rep nowhere to go.
Keep in mind that negotiations is a two-way street and needs to be done in good-faith and with reasonable expectations on both sides.
My recommendation to you is that you re-think your demand position and give the carrier/rep a number that they can work with.
Hope and trust that the above reality checks helps.
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