QuestionI had a car accident about 1.5 year ago. My medical treatment until today is about 15,000. The MRI showed cervical herniation and the doctor said that I will need surgery; but I do not have money and my PIP was ended. I was ready to send a demand letter; but do not know the exact amount of money to ask for.
Another situation/problem happen now: about 5 days ago a had another caraccident (not to hard to cause any injury) and I reported it to my insurance company and they ask me if I was injured, I told them that I had a little pain in my neck (same place where I was injured 1.5 year ago) now the adjuster is trying to contact me; but I do not know what to do because the pain in the neck is true; but it may not be related to last accident.
Please help,
Thank you
Lan
AnswerHi Lan
It would be malpractice to even guess at a ballpark figure, given the absolute lack of information. Plus, the boss here does not like to be exposed to any claims if we guess wrong! But I can tell you that you do have a big claim.
You have a VERY SERIOUS LIFELONG INJURY and it is important that you DO NOT SUBMIT A DEMAND LETTER ON YOUR OWN. You need substantial information, either from a site such as mine or from an attorney. In your case, because of the second accident, I am not going to recommend my site for you, but instead I am going to have you get a couple of opinions from attorneys.
The FIRST THING you need is the total cost of the surgery, all specialists and your time off work and the recovery treatments. That is the basic figure to include. Plus, have you no health care to pay for the medical? It is a lot better to get the surgery done now, inasmuch as your healing can start, plus your settlement amount in your pocket is higher.
Your second accident should not in any way influence the settlement of the first one, UNLESS IT MADE YOUR SITUATION WORSE.
You will not now that for a little bit, so you will have to wait, maybe up to a month before your doctor can tell.
Here is what I would do in the meantime. There are some good attorneys in your city who offer free initial consultations. I would NOT sign up with them, but I would go to them and consult with them for one hour to get their feeling.
#1. Select by phone only those who are members of your state trial lawyers association http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php They are up to speed on all the latest inasmuch as the trail lawyers association, also known as academy of consumer attorneys in some states, puts out both a monthly newsletter AND the seminars to update members.
#2. Select two attorneys to get a second opinion. Do not tell them that you intend to proceed on your own. Any by the way, you can always bring an offer to an attorney. What if you get only two-thirds the way to your settlement goal? Well, you can get as big a settlement as you can and then turn it over to an attorney and save a lot of fees. Thus, you could go it alone just to get an insurance settlement offer, and then take that insurance settlement offer to a personal injury attorney, thus exempting the amount of the offer from her fees. Do It Yourself Personal Injury Settlement Offer Reduces Personal Injury Attorney Fees http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0109.htm
#3. BRING IN YOUR ACCIDENT, CAR DAMAGE REPAIR, AND MEDICAL RECORDS. The attorney will want to see all of these to discuss the value of your claim.
#4. After your doctors can determine the impact of the second accident, then I would consider using a narrative report. Because of the serious long term consequences of your injuries, 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
I trust that my 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
