Auto Insurance Claims: settlement amount, car damages, emergency room doctor

Question
I was hit by a car running a red light while I was making a left turn.I had $6000 in car damages,and had injurie to my knee where I still have a slight limp,and my back,my total bill including emergency room, doctor,and chiro treatment came out to about $5500,what is a good settlement amount to expect or demand in my claim,had how long should it take to recieve a answer regarding my claim demand when its made.They took care of my Car within a week after the accident should it be a long delay with my injury claim or will it be as easy.

Answer
Vonswell-

First of all my disclaimer.  I am not an attorney.  I can share what I have learned from my experiences.  First of all the insurance company won't want to settle unless you are finished with treatment.  The statute of limitations in Ca is 2 years.  I have read that you can expect about 3 times your medical bills but my experience is that it depends on how strong your case was.  When my wife was injured in an accident the surgoen that did the surgery on her injured shoulder was not willing to give his opinion as to what caused the injuries.  We ended up settling for only the injuries because it does take at least a year even to get to that point and in the mean time you have to make payments on your medical bills unless you have med pay to cover it.  So it depends on how strong your case is and how long you are willing to fight for something better.  You could go all the way to trial but the process would take several years and you would have to hire an attorney and they would get 1/3 of your judgement.  

Good luck

Sheldon Maughan
Sacramento, Ca