QuestionQUESTION: My husband and I were rear ended on the freeway, the other driver was going 65mph, was found to be 100% at fault but didn't have insurance. I was about 6mnths pregnant and was admitted to the hospital for three days because of concerns about my contractions and going into preterm labor. I ended up being fine and my baby was fine as well (I have not given birth yet so we are still unsure if she is 100% ok) i was put on a modified bed rest for a few days after. The hospital bills totaled to 13316 and my wage losses were $400, my health insurance covered 12316 of the medical bill. We had uninsured motorist coverage and my insurance sent a settlement letter saying that they would pay the $1000 of remaining med bill and the full wage losses. They calculated pain and suffering at $7000. My husband and I were thinking that insurance should pay out the full amount of the medical bill to us and not just the 1000 (We feel the cost should be paid in full by the auto insurance not my health insurance and if my health insurers try to recoup that loss then they will come after us and not the third party) We Also feel that the pain and suffering is worth 1.5 times the amount of the medical bill. Does our demand seem reasonable and how can we present this counter to the claims adjuster?
ANSWER: First, I do not recommend you settle now. I would wait until the baby is born and you know there are no problems. Once you settle, you can't go back and ask for more.
The pain and suffering offer is fair, in my opinion. You might be able to negotiate some more from them, but probably not much - maybe another $1000-$1500. Insurers typically do not use multipliers anymore. This is an outdated practice. This is because of the skyrocketing increase in medical bills. When negotiating, simply talk about your pain, worry, and inconvenience, and say what you think it is worth.
As for the medical bills - this will depend on the law in California. I do not work in that state so I can't say for sure. You should speak to the claim rep and clarify how this portion is handled in your state. And then ask the claim rep to put it in a letter to you to recap your conversation.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: So if we want to decline her initial offer and set different settlement terms until after the baby, do you feel like it would be wiser for us to write her a letter rejecting her offer and tell her we will discuss new terms once we know the status of our baby, then write a separate counter letter after. Or should we just wait until the baby is born and not discuss it with her at all and write her a counter offer with all that information then? My due date is in two weeks, but of course the baby can be coming at any moment now.
AnswerNo need for a letter. You can just call her and tell her you'd like to wait until after the baby is born. This is very typical. When you are confident everything is ok, call her and negotiate the settlement. It is usually much easier for both sides to discuss this rather than sending letters back and forth.
