QuestionI was rear ended sept of 06. I had car damage in the amount of 5500. The other drivers insurance paid for fixing my car and sent a letter accepting liabilty of the accident. I was treated at er the day of accident and have continued to treat since with various dr. Regular dr,ortho dr, nuero, pain man, Tried pt and steriod injections before having surgery. 12-07 had fusion in my c-5, c6 in my neck. Question is I have 125,00 in medical and off work for 12 weeks with surgery. Can I claim the previous days off work which included 29 for dr appt, pt, pain management appts. missed work dollar amount is going to be close to 20,000 for total days off work. Also with this large medical and time off work should I consult an attorney. I am waiting to send in demand letter when released from the surgen next month.
AnswerHi Denise,
Dr. Settlement has helped many seriously injured victims of auto accidents, and I count you among those. This surely upset your entire life, not just for the past year and a half, but for the rest of your life. You want to make sure that you get all that is owing to you. The problem in your case, is also a potential benefit: what if the tortfeasor has policy limits of only $50,000 or even just $25,000?
The question about an attorney is difficult to answer since we do not know what the amount of limits available for both the tortfeasor and your own Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UIM). If you only have a total available to you, between the third party carrier and your own UIM of no more than $75,000, the ONLY thing you might need an attorney for is to get some reduction in the subrogation claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0459.htm your own auto insurance (and health insurance) will be making.
Otherwise, you can learn enough on your own to settle those kinds of limits, and so why would you pay an attorney to do what you can do on your own? Of course you will need to spend a bit of time reading up and learning the demand letter and the negotiation techniques, but since that effort will save you tens of thousands of dollars, why not do it?
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OK, Denise, let’s start with answers to your questions, and then I will introduce some additional topics later on.
You asked: “Can I claim the previous days off work which included 29 for dr appt, pt, pain management appts. missed work?”
Answer: YES, all of that time off is compensable. You only need to document it on a table, and attach the table to the demand letter. The summary of the table is included in the demand letter as follows:
1. Lost Wages due to pain and surgery
2. Lost Wages due to medical appointments
3. Travel expenses (@44.5 cents per mile for 2006 and 48.5 cents per mile for business miles driven—NO, we do not use medical allowance mileage rate as that is tied to the overall scheme of deductions. Business mileage is designed to reflect the cost of driving.)
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Here is some information on auto insurance http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0451.htm policy limits injury claims. Note that you will have to learn how to do some things regarding notice to your own company in order to preserve your UIM claim.
There is no real good way to find out the policy limits early on in the claims process, unless you live in a state in which the insurance commissioner has decreed that the tortfeasor’s carrier has to disclose its limits upon written request. Otherwise, the only way to force disclosure is to send a set of written questions (called interrogatories) as part of a lawsuit. There are letters one can write to ask the adjuster to ask her insured for permission to disclose limits.
And of course once one has submitted a demand letter, the adjuster will reveal her limits if the claim has value obviously in excess of her limits. She will want to prove her limits to you with a copy of her insured’s Declaration Page, which you will copy and send along to your UIM carrier.
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Now, Denise, let’s get you familiar with some of the topics you will need to know in order to do a self help do it yourself personal injury insurance claim. Just remember that the cost in dollars and work hours will pay a handsome dividend if you are able to work on this claim yourself.
Here is a series of pages that you can review. Take what makes sense to you and don't worry about the rest. Just get a flavor of how the system works without spending a ton of time right now.
Overview Tort Law Personal Injury Legal Claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page3000.htm
Managing Medical Care After Auto Accident: http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0203.htm
Medical Care Documentation-the Key to Successful Personal Injury Insurance Claim Settlements http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0217.htm
Keys to a MAXIMUM INSURANCE INJURY CLAIM SETTLEMENT http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0089.htm
Outline of questions to be expected from insurance claims adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0190.htm
Detailed listing of questions to be expected from insurance claims adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0207.htm
By the way, did you know that getting an early settlement is a favorite trick of the insurance adjusters? Please see my website wherein we show Insurance Claim Adjuster Secret Tactics http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0092.htm
Responding to Settlement Offer From Insurance Claims Adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0244.htm
Do It Yourself Advantages, or do these claims need an attorney? As for an ATTORNEY, this does not seem to be a case that involves any legal issues in dispute nor any large or complex damages. Why should you pay someone one-third to do what you can do yourself? Do-It-Yourself Personal Injury Claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page3011.htm Eliminate Personal Injury Attorneys' Fees; Save Thousands of Dollars Settling Your Own Insurance Claim
Without having to join my website, I have given a lot of free information on handling insurance claims without having to join as a member. Read the module at "5 Easy Steps to Do-it-Yourself Insurance Claim Settlement" http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0102.htm
This stuff is not rocket science, but it will take some effort on your part to read and cut and paste letter examples and to communicate. But hundreds of people are doing it each day, and they are getting good results.
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
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Once you get to the release from your doctor, let’s take a look at how you feel, and what restrictions are placed upon your life, and then I can give you some ideas for how to value the claim. Valuation is an art, not some mathematical computation. Hence, you will want to be preparing for me a list of things you have not been able to do since the accident.
Social condemnation also can figure into the valuation for such things as DUI or hit and run, or any other conduct that juries do not like. So you will have to let me know a bit about the accident.
But of all of these, any residual problems anticipated by your doctor can make the biggest difference. Just let me know if later on you want some additional ideas on your claim. Naturally, you will not need any such help if the total limits are low: a blind dog with a note in its mouth could get tortfeasor limits of $50,000 or less in a serious injury claim such as yours.
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FINAL TOPIC, Denise: Effective communication with insurance claims adjusters. Establish Firm, Professional, and Positive Relationships With the Insurance Injury Claims Adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0059.htm
Always communicate with the adjuster in writing, showing your own analysis of value. It is OK I guess to have one call or so, but no more. Always have your information and ammunition in writing to give to the adjuster.
Let him know that you are FIRM IN YOUR RESOLVE to get what you are demanding (NOT "asking", since that invites a counter-offer, but instead "demanding" as fair and reasonable compensation) by asking him what the options are to resolve the matter fairly should he not agree to a reasonable claim value. In other words, let him know that you will go through with a court filing if need be.
Remember these tips, do your homework, print out your evidence, show resolve to get your fair settlement, and you will DO JUST FINE.
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
