QuestionJust another small question, the adjuster from GEICO (the other party's insyrance) has told me I need to sign off on the medial before GEICO would pay anything, is this standard business?
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I had an auto accident, other driver fault, my car totaled, no lasting injuries. My car was a 1996 Honda and of course was paid off. The accident happened just as We finally paid off every debt we owned, no credit card, house, car payments, totally debt free after working hard for 5 years and paying everything off. Then the accident, my car was only worth 4,000. I would have lasted another 2-3 years, I take excellent car of the car. We were now starting to save money to buy a car in the future (2-3 years down the road). Now we are back in debt because we had to buy a car quickly. We bought as used car, put 3,000 down and had to finance 11,150. This is not the car of our dreams, which we can not afford at this time. Can the person responsible for the accident has GEICO insurance. Anyway, can the insurance reimburse for part of the used car we had to buy because of no fault of my own. I find it very disheartening that a thrill of being debt free can turn in 1 day because of a person not paying attention to what they we doing (she did receive a citation for failure to yield as she pulled out of a housing division onto a highway). Also my medical bills add to 2,100 and the car about 4,000. Her insurance is offering $950.00 over that. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. BTW I am in Texas.
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Hi Philip,
I'm sorry to hear of your situation.
Unfortunately, the insurance company is only responsible for paying for the value of the car that was damaged. If you received $4,000.00, you could have bought a $4,000.00 car. The choice to go into debt abd but a $12,000.00 car was yours.
As for your injury claim, you may hold out for a bit more. Depending on the extent of your injuries, you should be able to at least double the medical bills.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
AnswerHi Philip,
The at-fault persons insurance company will not pay medical bills as they are incurred. What they will do in a one time lump sum settlement in exchange for a full release of any further claims.
You want to be sure that you reach an agreement for the total amount you will be willing to settle for before you sign any release form. This should only be done after all treatment is completed and you have all of the bills from all of the medical providers. Once you sign the release form, you can not go back for more money is another bill comes in.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
