QuestionMy daughter was struck by a truck the other day which pushed her into the ramp on the highway. Her car we are told is totaled. ( 2001 ford mustang) She was not seriously injuried, however she is bruised from head to toe has a lot of swelling and pain. She is a full time college student and is no longer covered under our insurance. I am a little worried about possible "soft tissue injuries" and am totally clueless. The claim will be coming from our insurance company under no-fault since the truck took off right away. I know we will get something for the vehicle, but can you claim for injuries if it is through you own insurance company? Thanks
AnswerHit & Run or Phantom Car Personal Injuries and Property Damage
hit & run claim
OPENING YOUR PIP AND UIM INSURANCE CLAIMS
DISABLING AUTO ACCIDENT INJURIES
TAKE THE INITIATIVE in personal injury insurance claims
Underinsured Motorist Claim (UIM) against your policy;
Doctor narrative reports settle insurance injury claims;
5 Easy Steps to Do-it-Yourself Insurance Claim Settlement
Eliminate Personal Injury Attorneys' Fees
Doctor narrative reports settle insurance injury claims
Relationship Insurance Injury Claims Adjuster
Write to insurance settlement adjuster
How to deal with insurance claims adjusters
No phone calls insurance claims adjusters
Dear Christine,
Personal Note From Dr. Settlement: "I STRONGLY encourage everyone to read this information ASAP because it is excellent preventive medicine: if you are forearmed, you CAN prevail on a freeway hit and run or phantom vehicle UIM insurance claim.
THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ANY OF US: Each day there are hundreds of victims who cannot recover on their Hit & Run and Phantom Vehicle UIM Insurance Claims because they did not know in advance the simple secrets to proving those insurance claims under their UIM insurance policy terms.
So do yourself a big favor and learn the secrets of how to win a UIM insurance settlement by knowing WHAT TO DO AFTER THE ACCIDENT. NO, I am nor wishing a phantom car accident on you, BUT IF YOU WOULD JUST LEARN now what is required to prove on, then you will be well prepared to prevail versus your UIM insurance carrier."
Yes, you can submit BOTH the medical pay and the UIM claim for general damages through your insurance carrier. But there may be a couple of evidentiary hang-ups, so read about how to make a hit and run claim versus your own insurance carrier.
Learn all about hit and run UIM insurance claims; learn how to win your personal injury UIM insurance claim when caused by a phantom vehicle. Uninsured Motorist Coverage (UIM) Insurance Claim: Hit & Run or Phantom Car That Caused Personal Injuries and Property Damage
http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0550.htm
1. OPENING YOUR PIP AND UIM INSURANCE CLAIMS—DISABLING AUTO ACCIDENT INJURIES
Of course you can use your auto insurance PIP or MedPay to pay your daughter's medical bills, emergency room bills, doctor and specialist bills, etc. When you open the claim be sure you tell your own insurer about the hit and run cause of the accident.
Fortunately, you were wise enough to purchase full UIM coverage for your daughter inasmuch as without that, she would be at a total loss.
You tell your company PIP adjuster that you want to open up a UIM claim for your daughter so she can be compensated for general damages, including the future problems that may be predicted for her.
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2. SIX WAYS TO PROVE THAT YOUR CAR ACCIDENT WAS CAUSED BY A PHANTOM CAR
Uninsured Motorist Coverage (UIM) Insurance Claim: Hit & Run or Phantom Car That Caused Personal Injuries and Property Damage
http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0550.htm
That page has Six Suggestions To Prove Your Phantom Car Claim. Note that with the damage to her car, the hit and run is a lot easier to prove. Are there any witnesses who are not going to make a claim against either your daughter or the hit and run tortfeasor? If so, then they can be witnesses in the insurance claim.
The page referenced above has suggestions that are based upon successful court-approved methods of proving the phantom car claim. We cannot guarantee that they will work in your state, however, since we have no idea whether you live in a politically conservative or a progressive state (the former being less likely to accept these proofs, but the latter being more likely to accept these proofs.
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3.. MOM NEEDS TO GET INVOLVED IF INJURIES ARE AT ALL SERIOUS
OK, Mom, here is the scoop. College kids make BAD CLAIMANTS for personal injury claims for two reasons: 1) they think that they are invincible, and will not listen to the predictions of future medical problems in the future; and 2) they are so "busy" that they cannot (or will not) take the time to do the work that must be done to move their claim forward and to prove it.
As a consequence, their claims are often settled at half or less of the potential value. Your job is to sit hard on this and to make the work get done and to make sure she sees the doctors necessary.
I am going to give you two types of information in the next two sections so you can get up to speed on handling this claim.
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4. TAKE THE INITIATIVE in personal injury insurance claims—don't wait for the adjuster to suggest the first settlement figure—SEND IN YOUR DAUGHTER'S DEMAND LETTER FIRST.
That is how I feel about making successful claims. Don't let the adjuster ASK HER WHAT SHE WANTS. That is a sign that she did not submit her letter first. What I want you to do is to think about the issue of taking the initiative and what it means when you help her DO HER WORK and submit a good solid demand letter.
You asked about what you can expect from your claim. Unless you take the initiative in this claim, what you "can expect" is to become another success story for an adjuster who has run over uninformed claimants and denied them a fair settlement award.
You should be commended for having the initiative to seek out a website such as this and to ask for help, but the most important part of achieving a successful personal injury claim HAS TO START WITH YOU, NOT THE ADJUSTER. Do NOT let the adjuster set the parameters of the negotiation: as soon as she reaches maximum medical improvement, then get her demand letter out there RIGHT NOW. It is not all that hard or mysterious to put together an Effective Personal Injury Insurance Demand Letter http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0170.htm It does not have to be "fancy" or complex; just hit the main points and get it out to the adjuster soon.
It is not too late for you to take the initiative, and I will explain how below. But just for a second, put yourself in the shoes of the adjuster and see what you have done by letting her have all the control of the claim. As an adjuster, she is trained by her company to reassure the injured party that she is acting in THEIR behalf, as opposed to the interests of her company—sort of like a car salesman who convinces a customer that he will fight for them versus the auto store manager.
But both of those are relationships are to the disadvantage of the consumer, aren't they? We would like to trust people who are in the position of the adjuster to act at least nominally in our behalf. But it is just as much as a MISTAKE to take a PASSIVE ROLE here as in buying a car: you have to get up and make something happen yourself.
If I were you, what I would do right now is to become as fully informed about the insurance injury claims process as I can, with the objective of seizing the initiative in prosecuting my claim, instead of taking a passive, reactive role. Can you see the difference in postures and how one works to your advantage and the other to your disadvantage?
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5. Learn how to submit and settle your daughter's own personal injury insurance claim—DO IT YOURSELF SETTLEMENTS. 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; Eliminate Personal Injury Attorneys' Fees; Save Thousands of Dollars Settling Your Own Insurance Claim http://www.settlementcentral.com/page3011.htm
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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6. New topic: CONSIDER USING A DOCTOR'S NARRATIVE REPORT to assist in settling the insurance claims.
Have you seen any of the doctors' records that will be going to the insurance adjuster? If not, it is easy enough to get a copy so you can make sure that everything of importance you discussed is included therein IN READABLE FASHION.
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.
7. FINAL TOPIC: Effective communication with insurance claims adjusters. Establish Firm, Professional, and Positive Relationships With the Insurance Injury Claims Adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0059.htm
There is nothing at all unusual or bad about you being the one to carry the fight to the adjuster. Explain that your daughter is busy in college, so you will be the one to do the claim. 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
P.S. I apologize for the delay of two days in getting back to you inasmuch as I had noted my vacation time away through Saturday, or at least that is what I thought. Well, when I checked this morning, I see that either I or Allexperts got the dates of my absence wrong. Hope this miscommunication did not inconvenience you.
