Auto Insurance Claims: Filing a personal injury claim, road rash, personal injury claim

Question
QUESTION: Hi, i was involved in an accident about a year ago where i was run off the freeway by a person changing lanes, my wife suffered severe road rash on her right hand and has some bad scarring from it. my wife is asking me to tell the insurance adjuster that i want 75,000 but the bills totaled only 8500 for her. i am asking 3500 and my bills totaled 1250. is this too much to ask? without having to get a lawyer? i don't want to annoy the insurance adjuster to the point of making him ignore my calls and i do not want to have to get a lawyer either because i am being un reasonable... i am looking 35-45,000 for the bills all together.

also UIM claims. if i get the insurance to make my wifes claim 50,000 and they pay the limits (25,000) would that be substantial enough to make a claim with USAA (my insurance company) for UIM without a lawyer? could you give advice on going about making a UIM claim if needed?

ANSWER: Hi James,

You should alwasy start high and then negotiate. Do not worry about annoying the adjuster. He/or she will likely do everything they can to annoy you. Their job is to not pay the claim or to pay as little as possible. Considerlin your wife has significant permanent scaring, her claim will be worth substantially more than yours.

Considering all of the things you stated, you should allow only 1 offer from the insurance company. If you feel their offer is way low, you should seek the advice of an attorney. Also if you intend to file an uninsured morotist claim, these can be very confusing and difficult. Again you would want to seek an attorney.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i do have a question, if he offers me an unreasonable amout could i return a counter offer and if he denies then hire a lawyer an persue more money than previously offered to cover the lawyer if the lawyer believes i could recieve more?

Answer
Hi James,

Yes. There is not a set pattern that must be followed. If you want to you can try several rounds of negotiating before hiring an attorney. I was simply suggesting that if you ask for 50k and the adjuster comes back with an offer of 3k he is obviously not going to be reasonable and their is no point in wasting your time trying to negotiate with an idiot.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh