QuestionI was struck by a car and received minor leg, back, hip injuries. I started physical therapy. I discontinued treatment after my spouse died unexpectedly. I continued treatment nearly 1 yr later. My attorney claims he has been told by the defendant's insurance that they won't pay more than medical expenses because I stopped the initial treatment and hired an attorney when I re-started. My attorney feels I may not receive more than $5000 for general damages. The hospital bill and other medical expenses are approx. $6000. How do I determine if the $5000 is a fair settlement?
AnswerHi Marina,
I am sorry to hear of the untimely death of your husband, and I can surely understand why other things were on your mind instead of treating during the months following. It is your ATTORNEY'S JOB TO CONVINCE A JURY OF THAT instead of sniveling around complaining about the fact the insurer is not going to give him an easy payday with a nice fat settlement and no work done. Make HIM DO HIS JOB and FIGHT for your rights.
What he is up against is not his fault; nor is it your fault. The insurance adjuster has her job on the line if she were to offer much more since her performance reviews will tell how many times she has had to go to her supervisor to ask for more authority than the valuation computer program spit out.
Stopping treatment for one year is a RED FLAG on the Colossus or other valuation software program that many insurance companies use these days to set values for claims. FYI, here is a bit of introduction to Colossus http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0448.htm
All of those programs have a HUGE PENALTY for anyone who abandons treatment for one year, irrespective of the reasons why. Hence, it is your attorney's job to convince the adjuster that any jury will have sympathy for you and surely will understand that it is normal to have a lot on your mind for that time.
The KEY is that you had no accident in the meantime and you had no complaints of new injuries or new pains. Hence, one would think that this is also an almost normal course of treatment and relapse that we see all the time. Doctors predict future problems after a course of PT all the time and the insurance industry pooh-poohs those opinions. Well guess what doofus adjuster, here is living proof that a course of PT WILL NOT HOLD FOREVER AND A RELAPSE IS TO BE EXPECTED, AS WAS THE CASE HERE.
If your attorney is not willing to fight to the end for you, he wants an easy payday. Take a moment and call around and make an appointment for a second opinion. Have the second opinion attorney arrange for you to bring your file with you to her office. This will scare the $^#* out of your first attorney since he knows he has done next to nothing in your file.
If the second attorney is willing to fight for you, go ahead and hire her. You do NOT have to pay two attorney fees. The two attorneys will divide the one fee between them according to the ratio of work done and results obtained. Go ahead and offer the second attorney a higher fee percentage if she will take your case to trial. Do not worry, it will get settled most likely, but filing the lawsuit and going through the process until trial is near will double or better the offer.
What is a fair offer? Not even a wizard could guess, given the little information you present. What are the residual injuries, and how solid is your medical support? But having to undergo trauma as a pedestrian is once again something the jury will completely understand could produce pretty significant injuries. Hence, the valuation should take a bump beyond what is predicted by those programs. Trouble is: your attorney is not willing to fight to bring that home to the adjuster. Get a second opinion ASAP.
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
