QuestionI've been talking to various attorney's besides the one I have because he wants me to settle and I think I could get more. After doing my research, I figured my settlement offer is $7000 and I could probably get 10,000-13,000 if I filed a lawsuit. THEN my lawyer would charge me double to do this and the chiropractor would charge me full price. So I'm right back where I started. Is it worth it? Probly not. My question is-How do I get my lawyer and chiropractor to lower there fee's enough so that I feel like I am profiting? My med bills are $5341.
AnswerHi Mary,
I am going to address your use of chiropractic and how treatment costs are undervalued first. Then I will address the next question regarding a lawsuit, and finally I will discuss getting a second opinion.
First off, please accept my empathy since Dr. Settlement has experience in soft tissue insurance claims that are undervalued. It is tough to fight the prejudice that insurers show toward chiropractic testimony.
Insurance companies give great weight to opinions of orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0052.htm and insurers pay settlements of higher value to patients of those doctors.
Hence, when valuing a claim, insurers try to guess what risk they have of exposure to testimony that will sway a jury, and they have concluded that a medical doctor will trump a chiropractor. So, when they value your claim, they look at the type of medical care you had. Where does the medical care fall within the insurance industry's "hierarchy list" of valuing medical care? Orthopedists are at the top, and chiropractors near the bottom on insurance company injury claim medical testiomy to support settlements.
Still for both injury recovery and insurance settlements www.SettlementCentral.Com supports use of chiropractors for soft tissue injuries. Why? Well, our members tell us that Severe Whiplash and Soft Tissue http://www.settlementcentral.com/page8010.htm Car Accident Injuries are Treated Most Effectively by Chiropractors.
Chiropractors have received higher grades not only for treating the soft tissue injury better than with drugs, our members also feel that chiropractors are More Likely to Understand and Support Your Pursuit of a Personal Injury Insurance Claim http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0050.htm
So that is why we agree with your choice of chiropractic, as opposed to taking drugs for pain. What is needed now is to get the chiropractor to write a solid record of her treatment and justification of the costs and a prognosis of uncertain future.
I will address that below, with the part of what to do next.
But our next topic is to take a look at why attorneys want to dump soft tissue injury claims that are worth less than $15,000. The reason: they cannot make good money if they have to go to a lawsuit.
Attorneys settle short on smaller claims (under $15,000). The adjuster knows that the attorney cannot afford to take the claim to a lawsuit and arbitration. He will eat up his fees on any settlement of $15,000 or less since answering interrogatories and participating in depositions and all the client contact will end up with a lot less in his pocket per hour than he would normally get. Hence, the insurance industry KNOWS that he will be forced to settle short.
Hence, the pressure to make you settle. You can turn that around on the attorney, however, by INSISTING THAT HE TAKE THE CASE TO TRIAL. It is his obligation according to the fee agreement. DO NOT let him try to tell you it will cost you too much. MAKE HIM BELIEVE that is what you want, and THEN, AND ONLY THEN, will you have the negotiating power to force him to reduce his fees to 20% or so. Unless he is convinced that you INSIST upon going to trial, he is going to make you suffer the lower award in your pocket.
Here are two more areas where you can hit him on fees.
#!. Beware of Attorney Trick Re: computing fees on PIP and Medical Payments
Unless there is a big dispute regarding liability or the first party (i.e. your own company) auto or medical insurance payments for treatment following the accident, attorneys really have no business taking a fee n the so-called “recovery” of such sums.
Usually these payments are considered a “gimmie” wherein the tortfeasor’s company simply repays to the claimant’s auto and health insurers the amounts that they paid out. This is part of the subrogation setup http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0459.htm From Your Personal Injury Award. Of course the exception comes when the attorney really has to fight for recovery of those medical payments, or when you have to expend money on a liability expert in order to prove your claim. In those cases, one would fight to keep some of the money otherwise headed back to your insurers.
Unless there were a big dispute about liability or the medical treatment costs, why should you pay attorneys fees when the tortfeasor’s insurer has to pay these back to your company anyway pursuant to terms of the Intercompany Arbitration Agreement?
#2. How about making your attorney write a simple request to reduce the subrogation claim as part of her service? Introduction to Subrogation—Forced Payback to YOUR OWN Insurer http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0459.htm From Your Personal Injury Award. If he can knock off $1,000, then that is money in your pocket.
Finally, try two things. First is a narrative letter, and second is getting a second opinion.
Because of the possibility that your chiropractic treatments and records are not being given full value, I would also CONSIDER USING A DOCTOR'S NARRATIVE REPORT to assist in settling the insurance claims.
Cryptic notes may be medically significant, but why make the insurance adjuster struggle to figure out the significance of the injuries? A narrative report or letter spells things out so the adjuster can see, read, and understand the doctor's diagnosis and prognosis and her record of the problems and pain and suffering you have endured.
Plus, narrative letters can tie together the trauma and its after-effects in a way that is authoritative.
We recommend that claimants almost always include some type of typewritten medical information to accompany to computer coded medical records and/or handwritten records. That is the first clue as to when to use the narrative report: if you are asking the adjuster to evaluate your claim on the basis of handwritten records and/or computer coded records that indicate diagnosis and treatment codes, then you need to supplement the record with a narrative report.
We have a lot of free legal tips on insurance claims settlements using doctor narrative reports http://www.settlementcentral.com/page8003.htm You can get information there as to how to ask for a narrative letter and what it might cost. Talk to the doctor's office manager about it.
Since you would not be asking for a narrative report until much later after you have healed, make darn sure your doctor does have updated full information in her records, or the adjuster may not give you credit for what you have been through. Personal Injury Medical Records http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0114.htm
If you reach a dead end, you can always take your file to another personal injury attorney. She can give you some straight scoop on value and settlement. If you like her, hire her. She and your existing attorney will work out the fees between them. You will NOT owe two fees, as you will pay only one fee and the attorneys will arrange the split between them.
I trust that my extra time here has produced some information that has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you take the time to locate the FEEDBACK FORM on this site and leave some feedback for me.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
http://www.SettlementCentral.Com
