QuestionTurning right into my street,I was rear ended by an animal control truck owned & operated by a self-insured city in Ky. The driver dropped his cell phone and looked down on the floor of his truck to retrieve it, thus hitting my car at 40mph & pushing me into another vehicle in the other lane waiting to exit the street. My car was totaled, severe damage to the other car, & I was taken by ambulance on a backboard to the ER. I suffered whiplash, large leg hematoma, left arm pain, & other bruises & muscle strains. Six months later, I still have leg bruising, back & neck pain, & recently had rotator cuff surgery on my left shoulder for injuries sustained in the accident. I received payment from my insurance company, State Farm, for my car that was totaled but of course I had to purchase a new car and am now saddled with a large monthly payment that I didn't have before the accident since my car was paid for. Since Ky. has no fault insurance, State Farm was paying for my medical bills until they decided that the rotator cuff injury couldn't possibly be related to the accident. So they requested any & all medical records since the accident and have stopped paying any bills. On the other hand, although I made them aware of it from the beginning, my health insurance co. has finally decided that my injuries were related to an auto accident and they are questioning any payments they have made in relation to the accident. Now, let's bring in the city truck that was responsible for all of this. The city is self-insured, and therefore, has not paid one red cent to anyone! I sent a certified letter to the city solicitors' office and it took 3 weeks for them to respond. That was after I had already spoken to them the day after the accident. I requested a letter from them specifying that they would respond in a timely manner in repaying me for the $600 car rental, $500 deductible on my totaled vehicle, and for other articles that were in the trunk of my car & were destroyed. This was 2 months ago & I have heard nothing! I realize that this city will hold off indefinitely, unless forced to do make restitution. I am sad that I will now have to retain an attorney to get the ball rolling.
I am not the same person I was before this accident due to the constant physical pain & worry over what to do next. I can't even begin to tell you the hours I have spent on the phone, etc. trying to get this resolved.
Any advice you can give me would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Answer Hello Linda,
What an awful series of events! In my opinion - insurance companies behaving badly - very badly.
Unfortunately, many insurance companies will do anything they can to avoid the payment of claims. I believe that is what is occurring here. To take it one step further, the circumstances with your own two companies suggest bad faith claim handling. Now of course I am not privy do the precise details, but what I can tell you is that if they are going to make such life shattering decisions, they had better be able to back it up with solid evidence and investigation and not with self serving, arbitrary actions. The situation with your auto carrier is particularly offensive.
You are entitled to the benefits you have paid for, and you are also entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering. The latter would come from the city's auto liability insurance.
The reality is, especially since all three insurance companies are running you around, you absolutely MUST obtain a personal injury attorney. It does not appear that anyone is going to pay any attention to you until they are faced with the potential threat of a lawsuit.
Do your homework in looking for an attorney. Find some names and then check with your state Bar online for a history. Also, the Bar might be able to make some referrals of reputable attorneys.
And remember, the attorney, who will get about 30% of your settlement if it does not go to litigation, works for you - not the other way around.
I would also suggest that you go onto to my website, http://SolutionsForYourInsuranceClaim.com and look at my articles, specifically those related to insurance investigation and bad faith. This should help you understand better what is supposed to occur in a valid claim investigation and claim settlement.
Normally I refer people to my ebook which is also listed on that website, and which is written for people with severe claims problems such as yours. However, I believe you need to go right to an attorney. Anything less, and I believe they will be taking more and more advantage of you. In cases such as yours, only an attorney and the threat of litigation will get their attention. And with the city, while they no doubt have a cap for damages, the fact remains they owe you.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Jane Pytel
http://SolutionsForYourInsuranceClaim.com
http://FloridaAutoInsuranceCentral.com
