Auto Insurance Claims: Insurance claim, soft tissue injuries, proper settlement

Question
I was sitting at a red light and a car rear ended me a couple month ago. Ambulance took me to the hospital and they took a cat scan on me which came out to be negative. However, I had have neck and back pain for about one and a half months with 2 doctor visits.  I want to know how much am I entitled to for pain and suffering.  My ER bills totaled about $10,000 and the doctor's bill is $300. Should I hire a lawyer or should or negotiate with the insurance company?

Answer
Hi Tony,

Generally, an injury settlement for soft tissue injuries will be 2 to 3 times the total of the medical bills which would include pain & suffering. However, in your case, the medical bills are high from the E.R due to expensive tests that were negative and not the result of ongoing treatment. The insurance company will likely not include most of the E.R. bill when determining the amount of the settlement.

You should assemble all of your medical bills and write a demand letter stating how much you feel is required for you to settle the claim. This will be a negotiated settlement that will require several rounds of back & forth negotiating. If you do not feel that you can handle this then you should seek the advice of an attorney. You may also want to visit a website called www.collisionwizard.com . This site is produced by the Better Business Video Series and can help you organize your claim, determine a proper settlement amount as well as produce a demand package.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh