Auto Insurance Claims: Injury Settlement, nerve damage, insurance adjuster

Question
I was injured in a car wreck and had to have surgery on my left elbow for ulna nerve damage. One of the Dr.'s that I saw put in his notes that I had this problem for 5 weeks or so before the accident. (He did not do the surgery, I thought he was not good  enough) The insurance adjuster stated earlier that I would probably max out the policy. I have $100K underinsured coverage. I have received $15k from the insurance co. of the person who hit me. I may never recover all the way from this accident. My insurance company just offered me 10K to settle this claim. I think that is really a low offer. What is my best course of action?

Answer
Randy,

First, did you have this problem for 5 weeks before the accident?  Only you truly know. If there are other medical records out there, such as from a primary care physician or other doctor (other then the one note) indicating this, defense (your insurance company in this case) will find out about it if you file a formal lawsuit and they will argue the injury claimed and surgery performed were for an unrelated pre-existing condition or merely that this accident caused an aggravation of a prior condition and that this accident was not the primary cause. Sounds like a lawsuit has not been filed. Right now, the information the insurance company has is probably not the full picture (they likely don't have all prior medical records) you need to be honest with yourself as to what could be found out about the claimed injury.

That being said, the valuation of your case will depend on out of pocket expenses, outstanding medical bills, whether the $15K from the bodily insurer needs to be paid back at some point (is there a subrogation issue in your state), lost wages, pain & suffering....its impossible for me to put a number.

You may want to see how far you can push them (I never accept the first offer) and if your not satisfied with their final offer, retain counsel.

Best of Luck.

Marc B. Nussbaum