QuestionWas in a car accident where car t-boned me, my car was totalled. Estimated repair was $7100, but worth 9,895. Insurance paid what vehicle was worth. For a week and a half I was in a lot of pain all over,not sore but body ached and skin has burnin sensation. Went to urgent care twice lst time prescribed 600 mg of ibuprofen and Lortab 7.5 mg. After taking for 1 1/2 days, I was up all night in pain so went back and was given a muscle relaxer Carisoprodol 350 mg to take in addition to Ibuprofen and Lortab and given a Cortisone injection in my hip. I took for 5 days and still had severe pain. Went to my primary physician and she did x-ray muscle were pressing against neck bone causing neck bone to be straight (should have an arch). My doctor said this was causing the pain a prescribed oxycodone instead of lortab for pain. She said if not better in a week or two to come back and will send me for therapy. I'm better. Still using a heat pad and taking ibuprofen and carisoprodol but feel in another week I should be completely better (hoping). What amount would be reasonable for settlement?
AnswerHi Lisa,
I am going to caution you to hold off and to never ever consider settling a case with such significant injuries until you have lived with them for at LEAST NINE MONTHS, with one year being preferable. Right now you are falling into the trap of the insurance industry: settle quickly. When they get a person with such injuries as you have to settle quickly, they save a lot of money since it is likely you will have pain issues—and treatments long after you have released the tortfeasor. And, as the insurance industry knows, by then it is too late for you to come back and seek more treatments or more money for pain and suffering.
Hence, I will answer your question in FOUR parts.
#1. Learn how to make your own personal injury insurance settlement.
#2. Do NOT settle early.
#3. Learn a bit about valuation of claims.
#4. Learn how to communicate with the adjuster.
OK, Lisa, here we go on those four topics:
#1. Learn how to handle a SELF-HELP INSURANCE SETTLEMENT—this is just in case you want to take a shot at doing some of this on your own. OK, Lisa, let’s look at self-help methods of resolving your claim. Learn how to settle your personal injury insurance claim AND DO IT YOURSELF.
Here is a series of pages that you can review. Take what makes sense to you and don't worry about the rest. Just get a flavor of how the system works without spending a ton of time right now.
Just skim this one and don't spend much time on it: overview Tort Law Personal Injury Legal Claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page3000.htm
Managing Medical Care After Auto Accident: http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0203.htm
Medical Care Documentation-the Key to Successful Personal Injury Insurance Claim Settlements http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0217.htm
Keys to a MAXIMUM INSURANCE INJURY CLAIM SETTLEMENT http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0089.htm
Use a Confidential Personal Injury Diary for TOP DOLLAR Insurance Claim Settlements http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0208.htm
Outline of questions to be expected from insurance claims adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0190.htm
Detailed listing of questions to be expected from insurance claims adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0207.htm
Responding to Settlement Offer From Insurance Claims Adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0244.htm
Do It Yourself Advantages, or do these claims need an attorney? As for an ATTORNEY, this does not seem to be a case that involves any legal issues in dispute nor any large or complex damages. Why should you pay someone one-third to do what you can do yourself? Do-It-Yourself Personal Injury Claims; Eliminate Personal Injury Attorneys' Fees; Save Thousands of Dollars Settling Your Own Insurance Claim http://www.settlementcentral.com/page3011.htm
Without having to join my website, I have given a lot of free information on handling insurance claims without having to join as a member. Read the module at "5 Easy Steps to Do-it-Yourself Insurance Claim Settlement" http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0102.htm
This stuff is not rocket science, but it will take some effort on your part to read and cut and paste letter examples and to communicate. But hundreds of people are doing it each day, and they are getting good results.
What if you get only two-thirds the way to your settlement goal? Well, you can get as big a settlement as you can and then turn it over to an attorney and save a lot of fees. Thus, you could go it alone just to get an insurance settlement offer, and then take that insurance settlement offer to a personal injury attorney, thus exempting the amount of the offer from her fees. Do It Yourself Personal Injury Settlement Offer Reduces Personal Injury Attorney Fees http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0109.htm
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#2. Do NOT settle early.
My REAL FEAR is that the insurance adjuster is rushing you to settle early. That is NEVER in the interests of the victim. By the way, did you know that getting an early settlement is a favorite trick of the insurance adjusters? Please see my website wherein we show Insurance Claim Adjuster Secret Tactics http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0092.htm
I do NOT like the idea of treating your injuries (and of cours, your claim) so lighly that you think you are now ready for settlement when you have not yet even done the therapy the doctor is going to prescribe. BTW, one thing that will kill the value of a claim is ignoring the doctor's recommendations for treatment. If she says to do something and you fail to do it, your claim value WILL be reduced. The injection in the hip and the neck injuries tell me that this is a somewhat serious case that I would never consider settling in less than a year if it were in my office. I want my clients to live with the injuries: go through a summer of activity to see how you are holding up.
And you must ALWAYS see the doctor about any chronic pain—even if it is not debilitating. Pains at night and in the morning can be dull aches, but they will not just go away with time. One has to treat for improvement. You were in a big time accident, so your body was subjected to a lot of trauma.
In a couple of months, you might want to settle. But ask: is your body completely healed such that after a full day at work you have no residual pains at night or soreness the next morning? Healed such that you can lift things and do the same activities as you did last summer without any worry that you will have pain that night? If that is the case, go ahead and settle. If not, then continue your treatments. If you do have pains as I discussed above, you might consider trying chiropractic. http://www.settlementcentral.com/page8010.htm Severe Whiplash and Soft Tissue Car Accident Injuries are Treated Most Effectively by Chiropractors, According www.SettlementCentral.Com self-help insurance claim Members.
If you do have some pains, then Continue Medical Treatment for Residual Injury Pains and do NOT Settle too Soon. I am willing to bet that even after a few treatments, once you start to get more active, you will notice pains once again. Mark my words that at first you will have a dull ache, and that ache will become a nagging pain with your increased physical activity if it is not treated.
DO NOT SETTLE YOUR CLAIM UNLESS YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT SOFT TISSUE INJURIES WILL NOT REAPPEAR ONCE YOU STRESSE YOUR BODY WITH PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES OR JUST DAILY LIVING AND WORKING. That Plays Right Into an Insurance Tactic Regarding Inducing Early Settlement of Injury Claims.
Plus, who will pay for your medical care incurred AFTER you settle? What if you were to settle now and nine months later when you are suffering at work, and the pain starts to become too much, and you go to your doctor only to discover that you can expect a course of treatment that will cost a lot of money? After you settle your claim, all further treatment is YOUR responsibility. Except in specific, unusual situations, you cannot go back and re-open a settlement.
Here is page from my website that shows in detail why you should never make an early personal injury insurance claims settlement http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0211.htm
And, of course, once you settle, THAT IS IT: you will never see another dime in pain and suffering money. By the way, did you know that getting an early settlement is a favorite trick of the insurance adjusters? In case you did not open this page above, then please do so now to see our website wherein we show Insurance Claim Adjuster Secret Tactics http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0092.htm
So, when pain episodes happen, even if a couple months or more post-treatment, you should not hesitate to SEE A DOCTOR AND ATTRIBUTE THE PAIN TO THE ACCIDENT WITHOUT EQUIVOCATION. It is NEVER TOO LATE TO REPORT PERSONAL INJURIES FROM A FALL ACCIDENT http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0104.htm
"No medicine: no money"; medical costs increase worth of personal injury insurance claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0045.htm
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#3. Factors that should be considered in valuation of claims.
SOME TIPS ON VALUATION—these are loose guidelines only, since we are prohibited from giving valuation on big cases in light of the exposure to a malpractice claim. How in the world would anyone even begin to guess at the value of your claim when your injuries are just now being treated and we have no idea how your body will respond to the treatments? Anyone who would take a shot at valuing at this stage is not worth asking.
How does one figure out what to ask for? Quick Answer: get as much as you can. Figure out what would make you happy, and increase that amount by at least 50%! The value is what you and the adjuster agree it will be. Well, if that is not scientific enough for you, let’s learn a bit more about valuation of personal injury claims.
Valuation is NOT like going to a drive-in for a fast food meal. It takes time and study of many factors, including liability and medical records. Plus, one would like to meet the claimant to see how she will “sell” to the other side and to the jury. Those online sources that mention a "rule of thumb" is just that: a gross estimate.
SHORT ANSWER: A common theme among those who still think a “rule of thumb” formula will put you in the valuation ballpark is to multiply the medical specials times a number from ONE to FIVE (depending upon factors, some of which I will give you later—or all of which are fully discussed in the members' side of my website, dealing with insurance settlements www.SettlementCentral.Com ). Then that figure is the total value of the personal injury portion of the claim. Of course there is a long list of factors to consider for adding or deducting from the total.
Let's take a look just two factors that put the lie to the general use of this rule of thumb. An obvious one is that of any preexisting condition that the victim might have. A tortfeasor is liable for both of these:
A. the degree to which he made the preexisting condition WORSE; and
B a light-up of an asymptomatic preexisting condition.
A second, not so obvious, but very important factor that shows how inaccurate a “rule of thumb” formula can be, is just plain location of the trial. Let's start with geography. Values differ from state to state, and within each state. City values are often different than rural values on claims, especially if the economy is tenuous in small towns. And the differences can be HUGE between these areas, even if only 30 miles apart.
Here is a listing of factors that will affect both the multiplier you will use, as well as the value of the claim inasmuch as they will increase or decrease the product of your multiplication.
1. LIABILITY DISPUTE
This is a big one because it most dramatically affects value. You should NOT ACCEPT any reduction in value for fault.
2. Trauma suffered
The value of your claim increases with a bigger crash, and decreases with a low damage tripping wherein one catches himself. Why? Just human nature. Again, you had a SERIOUS crash, with a lot of trauma, so add this in as a PLUS.
3. Medical special damages
Cost of medical and related health care expenses; higher costs usually equate to an increase in value (excepting, of course, cases of gross overtreatment).
4. Type of injury
Where does the injury fall within the insurance industry's "hierarchy list" of valuing injuries? Irrespective of which injury may cause more pain, injuries are valued according to:
A. seriousness,
B. tendency to be persistent or permanent,
C. whether nerve impingement can be proven, and
D. whether or not they need objective proof to be believed (e.g. a broken bone versus soft tissue strain).
5. Type of medical care
Where does the medical care fall within the insurance industry's "hierarchy list" of valuing medical care? Orthopedists at the top, chiropractors near the bottom. You used a general practitioner, so she is halfway between the two extremes.
6. Prognosis- future care—permanency of injury or pain and suffering—does your doctor recommend 6 months of care, or were you done treating 4 months ago? Even if you are done treating, will the doctor predict future problems?
7. Your medical and claims history, prior accidents, prior injuries or treatment of the same area of the body.
8. Impairment of quality of life. Emotional distress fits in here.
9. Quality and persistence of pain suffered.
10. Quality and thoroughness of your medical records.
11. Lost wages.
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#4. Learn how to communicate with the insurance adjuster: FINAL TOPIC, Lisa: COMMUNICATE IN WRITING AND "DEMAND" NOT "ASK"
If you wish to go forward without an attorney, here are some ideas.
Effective communication with insurance claims adjusters. Establish Firm, Professional, and Positive Relationships With the Insurance Injury Claims Adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0059.htm
Always communicate with the adjuster in writing, showing your own analysis of value. It is OK to have one call or so, but no more. The adjuster is in his domain on the phone, and you are NOT. He can use standard strategies and questions that you are not prepared to deal with. Always have your information and ammunition in writing to give to the adjuster. Use e-mail.
Let him know that you are FIRM IN YOUR RESOLVE to get what you are demanding (NOT "asking", since that invites a counter-offer, but instead "demanding" as fair and reasonable compensation).
Remember these tips, do your homework, print out your evidence, show resolve to get your fair settlement.
I trust that my 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
