Questionhi Bennie,
my name is Andrea. our family were involved in a car accident last year (june 2007). me, my husband, and our twins who were 2.5 yers old at that time. the at fault was the other driver. our car was totaled. we had a few property damages, but my biggest problem is the medical part of the whole case. we went thru several therapies, my kids too. chiropractors, spine specialist, mri, orthopedics, jaw surgery. my husband has a central herniated disc in his lumbar area and several bulging discs in his lumbar and thoracic area, he has problem with his shoulder too. he was in the construction business, but due to this accident he was up for light work, which we know does not exist in construction. he lost his job. was out of work for a few months. i have several bulging disc in my neck and lumbar area. i suffer from headaches, had to receive a shot in my neck to help with the headaches. i also suffered from tmj disorder due to the accident and had a surgery. the kids had to receive chiropractic treatments. so overall the medical bills are 135.000 dollars. our lawyers sent the demand package and we got 45.000 dollars as an offer from USAA. i d like to know that if this consider as a bad faith, or what can i do? my lawyers dont seem to hurry my case and i d like to move on. can i file a bad faith claim against the insurance company? if yes, do i have to do it or the lawyers have to deal with it? how long do i have to wait as the negotiation process before filing the claim as bad faith. it seems like the insurance company does not even want to negotiate since they started this low and even the medical bills are over $ 130.000 i d also like to know how long is this process could take? the negotiation started about a month ago in april 2008. how long should i wait? thank you for your time and for your answers. sincerely, andrea
AnswerHi Andrea,
You present the case as one claim, one demand and one offer.
There are really 4 separate claims with 4 separate demands and 4 separate offers.
Since your attorney presented a demand and the insurance company responded with an offer within the allotted time frame, there are presently no grounds for a 'bad faith' claim.
Since an offer has been made, this is a starting point for negotiations by your attorney. Now, everything depends on your attorney's negotiating skills and his ability to file a lawsuit and take the cases to trial, if he is qualified.
Your attorney should already know the exact policy limits available from the adverse insurance and if there is any possibility of turning to your own company with an UNDERINSURED MOTORISTS claim if the adverse limits are not sufficient.
The adverse insurance company is only required to consider "Reasonable and Necessary" medical bills. Since you state a total of $135,000, I feel sure that they have had all your bills analyzed by competent Doctors to determine if they fall in the category of "reasonable and necessary", and have probably informed your attorney of their findings.
It is the intent of the insurance company to settle these claims for the lowest amount possible and they will use every advantage that's in their favor to do so.
Only about 15% of the attorneys who practice personal injury law have ever taken a case to jury trial. If your attorney has never taken a case to trial, this is known by the insurance company. All he can do is negotiate and send 'boilerplate' demand letters. The insurance company will take advantage of this fact to reach a low settlement.
Now is the time to have a discussion with your attorney to learn his qualifications and why he is not activly pursuing your case and his future plans for pursuing your case towards settlement. It's entirely possible that your attorney is 'in over his head' on a case this large, and you may have to fire him and hire a more experienced attorney.
I hope this information is found to be helpful.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area
