QuestionI was in a crash which we were rearended I am self employed which I proved to the claim officer and was granted loss wages. But they are saying the Max pay to me is 250 a week and I proved I was making a minum of 1200 a week so that is not even minum wage and my weekly bills are about 600 a week why are they not given me 80percent like other insurance pays I am going to loose my buness and alot more and it has been5months and not received a penny yet is there any thing else I am intittled to seeing how I am in therophy5days a week and can't do any thing at home or work I till at least may 15 after my assement like I tot you were I titled to 80% of your take home and is there any other programs or help for a buness owner it wasent even in my car I was with a friend and what else am I I titled to from them they tell me a different story every time I call them state farm is the insurer thank you for your advice,
AnswerHello,
I really have empathy for you, because I lived the same exact situation that you are going through in 1997. It sucks, both of us had no control of this life altering situation. I was rear ended by a school bus while stopped for a red light on the end of an expressway ramp.
It's funny (not laughing whatsoever), I predicted the future so well and the abuse through this lousy court system with crappy lawyers controlling my life as well as my wife's.
I predicted that I would lose my business. I predicted I would get divorced and end up on disability for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, I was so correct!
We lost a business with a quarter million in yearly sales for three people and our employee for 12 years was terminated. We received no money for 3 years from the insurer. Since at the time I served as an expert witness, I knew the correct way to handle the case. I employed an accident reconstructionist. My expert for my injuries for 5 herniated discs (now 11) were a chiropractor, two orthapods and 2 neurologists. I was in real bad physical shape taking the opportunity of operating as an auto technician repairing recovered stolen vehicles. In a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most severe pain in which I could not function, I currently live at about a 7 with the same very heavy pain killers. Both my knees were severely damaged from impacting the dash as well. Diagnosed with MS in 2011, that could have been caused by this event, I am on disability and have been divorced for 5 years. I hate it when I am right!
In 2000 when at a settlement hearing, I was disgusted to find that my expert chiropractor was going to prison for tax evasion, which blew up my case! I ended up with $95k. Of course the attorney got a third, but no one told me that I was responsible for paying the $40k in medicals until AFTER we took the settlement! We lost so much and we had no choice but to take what they offered because like you, we had been squeezed so tight financially, we had no choice and to think of more years before the case would go to court and the very real possibility we could lose, because of credibility issues on the part of our expert.
The POS that hit me that was driving the school bus that hit me was a convicted felon for conduct regardless of life. He was in prison for shooting someone! If I knew then, what I know now, I would probably be in the pen myself, but I would feel mush better than I do now. Our life was stolen because of this instance!
I lost that very lucrative business in 2000. Lost my wife through a divorce. With all this said, which sure isn't giving you a positive feeling about your situation, I can go into deeper detail with insurance companies and my court experience successfully opposing them in civil suits as an expert witness for 16 years and have now evolved into a very powerful force against them using the Power of attorney statutes for my clients!
Yes, I lost one business and formed another and another and have been responsible for 2 more businesses.
It shouldn't have to be that way, but one has to survive.
As much as it sucks, if the state statutes only allow you $250.00 per week, that is all you can get and it doesn't matter what your actual salary is. The insurance industry is very powerful. In the case of vehicles, in Europe and Canada and the UK, they extorted vehicle manufacturers to install so-called anti theft systems into their vehicles or the insurance industry would refuse to insure the vehicles.
The insurance industry also lobbies legislators in order to set the statutes. Isn't it strange that many states only give 2-3 years statute of limitations on these car crashes? When in fact, all the injuries don't show up for 5-10 years--hmmm....
All you are as a crash victim is not a human, but a number, a client, a nameless face in which no one cares as to what you had earned or your place in society. I assure you that you and I are not alone.
We serve as the victims of a careless driver.
I am not sure as to where you get this 80% figure for lost wages. Is this statutory for a car crash? Or for a disability claim like in a workman's compensation claim. If you hae an attorney, you need to ask them about how this applies to you.
If you don't have an attorney, tell me the state you are in and possibly I can shed some light on the subject for you.
As it relates to car crashes, as I said, you are a faceless victim that is governed by the law and any emotion as it relates to your situation plays no role. The longer the carrier sits on the money owed to you the better because they are making money on that money. There are three "D"s as it relates to carriers: Delay, delay, delay. The longer they get away without paying the victim, the better for them and eventually puts you in financial duress. They thrive on this! I am not singling out State Farm, and this applies to all carriers.
If you need me to see if I can find you the statutes as they apply to you and your state, write me at robo14@aol.com and I will try to assist you.
My heart goes out to you and yours and I hope you don't end up in my situation.
