QuestionI was involved in a rear end accident about a month ago. A motor home had pulled out in front of me and I managed to stop however I was rearend twice (by the driver who rear ended me and then the driver that rear ended her causing her to hit me again.) Both of these drivers were cited. The driver of the MH fled the scene and I have no further info on them. I filed the claim with my insurance due to time constraints and this being our only car we needed to get the ball rolling. I saw a chiro 2 days after the accident and I was diagnosed with whiplash and soft tissue damage. I have been continuing both chiro and massage therapy since and I just saw my GP who concurred with his findings and further diagnosed me with accident related anxiety( I was having some other symptoms that she could only pinpoint as anxiety driven). So far the car has been fixed and my insurance co is subrogatting for the 7k to fix the car and the medicals bills thus far. The company of the driver who hit me is taking 75% liability and the other is doing the remaining 25%. So my questions are 1.) How do I make sure that medical is covered until I reach maximum medical improvement? ( I have 5k limit med pay on auto and well my personal health will not cover all chiro or any massage. I am 6 weeks into treatment and have already used about 1800.) 2.Is this attorney worthy? 3.) If I choose to do this on my own how should I figure pain and suffering? I am stay at home mom so no true lost wages, but that does not mean my life is not impacted. I have been advised to limit the times I pick up my daughter which is hard as she is a toddler and there are times when I have to pick her up. I have the above mentioned anxiety (main symptom being nausea brought on by the stress of driving and/ or being in the car) Never had prior to accident. The GP has placed me on antianxiety meds and muscle relaxers. Further just doing things like house work are hard as I have to do with with the neck and back pain as we cant afford to hire help. 4. if I seek to settle without help of counsel how do I do it? Any out of pocket has been returned to me by my insurance and they are subrogating for the property and medical. 5.Finally although our car has been repaired, it has depreciated due to accident and we would never be able to recop that is we sold it(if we even could)Is there any way to recompense for that? It was a 2001 bmw 540i brand new to us actually and it had 7k damage mainly the bumper and exhaust system.
Sorry so long but lots of info.
Thanks
Linda
AnswerDear Linda,
There you go, giving us yet another reason to dislike those behemoths that people insist to drive around clogging up the roadways! In truth the driver likely did not even see you or hear what happened. They sit up there wearing their little captain's hat listening to CDs and cruise along, blithely ignoring all the inconvenience left in their wake.
I will have to take extra time and effort here because you asked six different questions, many of which could be their own separate essay.
I will put YOUR QUESTIONS OR ISSUES RAISED IN CAPS and number them to distinguish them from my answers, OK?
1. HOW CAN I MAKE SURE I HAVE MEDICAL PAY COVERAGE FOR FUTURE CARE?
There are five possibilities here. FIRST, you use your own health insurance for what it covers, reserving your PIP/MedPay for what is not covered by the health, such as chiropractic. SECOND, once you are close to running out, you open a claim for treatment with the tortfeasors' policies. They will pay your medical treatment costs directly. They will pay for chiropractic. Totally aside, congratulations for trying chiropractic. According to Our http://www.SettlementCentral.Com Members, Chiropractors are Most Effective in Severe Whiplash and Soft Tissue Car Accident Injuries http://www.settlementcentral.com/page8010.htm
The THIRD way to get all of your bills paid is you do not settle until you have reached stability. I would sooner have you settle once you know that your treatments are farther apart—but still continuing—so that you still have the threat of future care to induce the companies to pay NOW so as to avoid the prospect of more health care.
But do not settle too early. 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
FOURTH, and this may seem a bit contradictory, but you make sure the doctor includes the firm requirement for future care (firm price and ending time) and you include that in your settlement package.
Most companies just want to add a little money and be done with you since paying as you go through treatment is an administrative cost. Plus they get a discount possibly that way. But some will do it where they will pay ONLY if you do have the care. For example, they could agree to pay up to $2,000 for necessary treatments actually received within the next 2 years.
As I say, most will try to reduce that to a cash figure to pay to you upon settlement (i.e. $750 to $1,000) for you to have irrespective of whether or not you ever get the care. They want to close out the claim, and in a small claim such as this, they will not want to keep it open for medical treatment. But by all means first ask them if that is what you want.
FIFTH, and this is MY favorite, because it is legally correct and because it will drive your own insurance company nuts: you open up an Uninsured Motorist (UIM) claim with your own insurance!
Think about it: what was the initial cause of the accident? It was the failure to yield right of way on the part of the phantom driver. He forced an emergency stop. Your company will not want to do this, so I would use it as a last resort. But if it came down to using this strategy versus going without necessary treatment, I would open the UIM claim.
You ask, "What good would that do, since I would have the same $5K limit on my PIP/MedPay? Answer: under UIM, you can receive the medical treatments off the top of the policy limits. Your UIM is supposed to put you in the position of the motor home driver's insurance. As such, you can petition them to open your claim and to pay your treatment costs from that coverage. Last resort stuff, but good to know.
2. IS THIS ATTORNEY-WORTHY? IF I SETTLE THIS ON MY OWN, HOW DO I VALUE THE CLAIM? I AM A STAY AT HOME MOM BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN I HAVE NOT SUFFERED THE IMPACTS OF THIS ACCIDENT.
Yes, Linda, our society does make it easier for working women to recover than for those who are homemakers. Just human nature, I guess. Something that is tangible and handled by a third party, such as a leave and earnings statement, is a lot easier to deal with and to classify for loss than is the loss of services in the household.
So, we just deal with that the best way we know how, by documenting with witness statements. If we cannot find anyone at home to testify, we use both family and friends to make up witness statements. Housework and yard work and caring for children are surely valid things that must be done, but I would be careful trying to get reimbursed for hiring help to do them inasmuch as the adjuster will challenge you as to whether or not a relative or friend could not have helped out. Nevertheless, any difficulties you have doing these tasks, or any pain you feel at night or the next day after a bout of doing these tasks is good fodder for a witness statement. Witness Statements Settle Personal Injury Insurance Claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0196.htm
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—with the possible exception of your claim for negligent infliction of severe emotional distress (anxiety). But your doctor's records should carry that one for you. From what you told me, you have a good claim for mental anguish (anxiety) and you should continue with treatment for that.
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 from your own company, 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
VALUATION is a different issue, but in the end, the value is what you are willing to accept and they are willing to pay, or what a jury says it is worth. You are not yet fixed and stable, nor do we have a prognosis on the anxiety issue. Thus, you are still quite a ways out from valuation, and so I would not worry at all about that for now. You can just e-mail me again and ask about it at that later time and we can get together of a couple of ways to come up with an amount to set as your goal.
The last topic of this part is to keep your doctors up to speed on your life and the challenges interposed by this accident. This is particularly true of your claim for emotional distress caused by the accident.
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
3. CAN I GET A DIMINISHED VALUE AWARD FOR A FIVE YEAR OLD CAR WHICH UNDERWENT REPAIRS OF $7,000 TO BUMPER AND EXHAUST SYSTEM?
This would be right on the cusp of being able to get an award. It would hinge upon whether or not you could find an expert who would testify that there was in fact a diminution in value because of the accident. To me and you it does seem that there should be a diminution in value, but with the nature of the repairs, I am not certain.
If you can find someone to make an appraisal (there are tons of "expert" services online under diminished value), then it is simply a matter of including his report in your demand letter and demanding the amount by which your car lost value.
For your information I am listing a history and some factors regarding diminished value.
It is true that the insurance industry has cut down on FIRST PARTY (your own insurance company policy) diminished value claims simply by adding clauses to their "take it or leave it" contract forms. But in a THIRD PARTY action (such as this would be, since you are going after the tortfeasor's company), the courts have been more lenient in allowing a diminished value claim so long as it is supported by solid evidence, not mere speculation.
Here are the factors that favor a diminished value claim.
1. Diminished value payments may be warranted where there is significant damage from an accident. There are three risks associated with the repair of this damage, and you may deserve compensation for these risks, BUT ONLY ON CONDITION THAT YOU CAN PROVE THEM.
2. First, there is the INHERENT RISK of diminished value whenever we have a big trauma and repair. It is very likely the case that one will have to reveal the facts of a big accident to any prospective purchaser of his vehicle. Even if you never would have to disclose this damage in your own state, there could be a record of serious repairs that was filed and will surely be picked up by outfits like www.carfax.com, which is used to check out serious damage repairs for prospective buyers. Thus, it is even more certain that a buyer will have knowledge of the fact a vehicle was in a serious accident. If the expected market value of this imaginary vehicle before the accident were $34,000 and a buyer had a choice of two twin vehicles, one of which had $7,000 worth of good competent repairs done to it, which one would be sold first? Or, conversely, what would the market penalize the one vehicle for having been in that serious accident?
3. Second, it makes a difference what was damaged: FLUFF OR STRUCTURE. What if the repairs were just sheet metal and trim and paint, as opposed to important structural members that were damaged? The existence of structural damage would reduce the value of our imaginary vehicle, even if the repairs were done competently. I don't think that bumper and exhaust repairs would really be on the same level of significance as structural repairs.
4. Third, what if the REPAIRS were NOT DONE to pre-accident standards? This would take an examination by someone knowledgeable, but it might be a good investment. They can spot things you and I would miss, such as paint being where it should not be, panel spacing not being even on trunk, hood, doors, etc, welds not being proper, or important parts being replaced with INFERIOR AFTER-MARKET FOREIGN-MADE PARTS.
That is just about it: the test is what would the market place do about the knowledge of the repairs. In your case, the market very well may make distinction, but I have no idea how much.
I trust that my extra time and effort has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you locate the feedback form on this site and leave me some feedback.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Settlement, J.D.
www.SettlementCentral.Com
