QuestionI stopped for a yellow light at the intersection when a bus slammed into the back of my car and pushed my car in the middle of the intersection. The force of the blow threw me forward against my shoulder restraint and my head snapped forward and back. The impact was so big that the safety belt did not keep me from being throuwn against the steering wheel and striking my left arm because I had a large black bruise the next day on my arm. My car total lost. Diagnosis: I have preexiting generative disc, skoliosis. After accident I got Fibromyalgia ,Postconsecussive Syndrom, depression, postraumatic vertigo mixed with type headache disorder. I have a lot of pain but the defendant insurence does not want to pay me. They offered so little compensation I can not pay off my medical bills. No one attorney want to take my case because it is very hard to prove for jury you have pain. Where exist a technical advice that prove the soft tissue injury and the pain? I did MRI but did not show anything except two bulging disc. One attorney told me if I will file a lawsuit 90% no win because I have to go for examination to defendant insurence company and they always answer with "it is not from accident". WHAT CAN I DO?
AnswerDear Sunny,
You sustained some VERY SERIOUS long term injuries that could be termed a permanent disability. The problem is how to prove the connection with the accident. I feel for you: I have seen a number of victims who are suffering greatly, but there is no way to prove a claim and they thus are denied even a little money that would help to offset the burdens of the accident.
I am going to give you at least two hours of my time for free because I KNOW the depression you are suffering each day. Just do not worry about how long my answer is: read it over a couple of days if need be, and follow what I am going to tell you, and I think you will have success in getting an insurance injury settlement.
If you have already been to three attorneys and no one wants to take your case, it seems that they know it would be difficult to meet your burden of proof. I have handled some cases like yours, and it is darn hard to get the insurance company to pay much because they know that the jury will have difficulty buying the whole concept regarding injuries that do not show in objective tests such as an MRI and the like, and especially mental damages. BUT I HAVE ALSO HAD GREAT SUCCESS WHEN I USED QUALIFIED DOCTORS; in this case you need a psychologist to run a battery of tests. Make your own PIP or MedPay insurance pay for it by getting your general practitioner to refer you.
The best thing for you might be to strengthen your chain of proof by means of documentation and doctor reports and then seek out an attorney who specializes in either or both mental or Fibromyalgia injuries.
The attorneys who told you about the difficulties of your case are being truthful. Since the personal injury contingency fee system is the best filter to pursue only cases that have merit, they decided that all of the risk, all of the expense, and all of the work necessary to bring your case to a successful conclusion far outweighed any possible reward at the end. That is the genius of our free enterprise attorney system: the society does not get bogged down with marginal cases.
But the down side of that system is that deserving victims such as you are left with no award. It might well be that you will receive a spiritual blessing from this accident, and of course we do want to encourage looking behind apparent adversity to find the blessing in all of life’s challenges.
But we also know that money can help to offset some of the real problems brought on by such devastating injuries as you suffered because of someone’s negligence.
What I am going to suggest is that you get someone to help you to organize your case and that you let me give you a few names of attorneys who are members of the American Association for Justice. I do not get anything from my time in making the list of attorneys available: it is just something I will do inasmuch as www.SettlementCentral.Com helps injured people get insurance settlements, even if you are not a member of our site.
Here is the first thing to do. Read what I am going to write to you. If you agree that you are willing to go through the work necessary, then write to me at my website www.SettlementCentral.Com. Use the “contact us” link top right of home page. Make sure that you do mention how we met (at allexperts.com) so the staff will know to send your message to me. Let me know your city, the city where the accident happened, and maybe give more details about the claim, and a way to contact you.
All I will do is to give a list of attorneys who are a cut above those that you can find in the phone book, and hopefully you can find one who has handled severe emotional distress.
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Here is what we are going to do: first, let’s divide the claim into three parts:
1. easiest to prove are the physical injuries
2. next come the mental damages; you can prove those with mental evaluations
3. last comes the Fibromyalgia—even though this causes the most problems, it is the hardest to prove a connection to the accident.
OK, Sunny, here is the start: I want you to get a list of what your physical injuries have been and how they impacted your life. I want you to get a family member or a friend who can help you to organize this file and to help you make the lists I am talking about.
Next, make a list of all of the things you could do before the accident versus what you are limited to now. That does not mean things you “cannot do”; it means things that when you do them you pay for it that night or the next day with increased pain.
Next get copies of your medical records by writing the doctors. THAT is the key to any settlement. You MUST know what the doctor is saying in her records. The insurance company will pay based upon what the doctor says, not based upon what you say.
Now we are going to take a break and discuss your injuries a bit so you can understand why I am going to suggest that you offer an increased fee percentage to the attorney as an inducement to take your case.
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It seems to me that you surely have pain and suffering and depression from the accident, but the underlying causes might also be due to triggering or lighting up of a preexisting condition. That is one of the problems with claiming Fibromyalgia.
In order to get full value for “lighting up” any preexisting conditions, such as Fibromyalgia, it will take a professional who has handled a Fibromyalgia claim. That means BOTH A doctor and an attorney who have had some experience with an injury that caused a “light up” of a previously asymptomatic condition. There is a lot of controversy about trauma causing or lighting up Fibromyalgia, and the transit’s friendly insurance company is not going to buy it without some pushing on your side. And that pushing may have to come from a doctor who clearly states that your condition was caused by the accident. Hence, the medical records are the place to start.
THESE COULD BE VERY SERIOUS INJURIES, involving impairment of your life for many years into the future. Thus, you would not wish to settle short if your injuries continue to plague you and impair your ability to enjoy life for many years.
It sounds to me like you have never taken charge of this claim by submitting your own demand letter http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0170.htm
If you can get some help, and if you get some psychological proof of your mental problems, then I think that you stand a good chance of getting an increase in their offer. NO, it will not be an acceptable amount, but it will be an increase of such significance that you will want to exclude it from the attorneys fees of your contract with an attorney.
I am going to suggest that you send a letter to the adjuster—do not call him back—and tell him that you appreciate the offer, but you need to check things out because this trauma caused your asymptomatic (previously quiet) condition to be “lit up” anew, and thus you will be seeking compensation for the entire harm caused. That is all you have to tell him.
If you think back, you may recall hitting your head and that you cannot remember all of the episode; hence, you likely suffered a brief loss of consciousness. Also tell him that you hit your head and that you suffered a short period of loss of consciousness. Loss of consciousness is a very important diagnostic tool for injury. An auto accident loss of consciousness http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0134.htm even if just for a brief moment, will help the doctor to diagnosis post concussive syndrome.
I know that this will be hard to prove, so you will need an attorney. But I believe that your accident trauma and stress associated with it caused your previously quiet (or asymptomatic) Fibromyalgia condition to be “lit up”.
Getting proof that an impact can light up such as condition will be difficult. One might check with the American College of Rheumatology, or a like organization. But in the end, I can tell you that I never once had a satisfactory result with a Fibromyalgia case until I started hiring an expert attorney who dealt in those cases as a specialty.
For that reason, I am going to suggest that you call around to all of those attorneys who are advertising in the phone book for one free initial consultation. Try to find out if any of them has ever handled a case involving Fibromyalgia. You may never find one, so just go with one that I may provide in the list I will send (if you ask for it).
Hopefully he or she is a member of your state trial lawyer’s organization http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php That way we know that she is keeping up with the latest cases, ruling, and techniques to prevail versus the insurance companies.
DO NOT DISPAIR IF NO ONE WANTS TO TAKE YOUR CASE. I believe that your trauma is enough to cause serious injuries, particularly when the victim is predisposed to certain kinds of reactions, as you were. When you prove the mental damage FIRST, THEN THE ATTORNEYS WILL LOOK AT TAKING YOUR CASE.
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Thus we want to focus on proof of your mental damages. The first thing to observe is that any proof of those damages must be by a health care professoinal. In some states, that can be just a psychotherapist. But in most states, it will require the testiomony of a Ph.D. or a M.D. to prove mental damages.
Thus, if you have not yet seen such a doctor, insist upon getting a refieral to one ASAP. This is one of the TRUE KEYS TO YOUR INSURANCE CLAIM SETTLEMENT SUCCESS. You will need to have someone send you to a psychologist, for example. That doctor will address your mental state, and she might subject you to a battery of testing that will help to diagnois severe mental distress.
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The conclusion of all of this work, probably done over three weeks, will be that you have a good, well-organized, well-documented case to take to a highly qualified attorney and she will see the thing thru to a successful insurance injury claim settlement.
FINAL TOPIC: 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 I guess to have one call or so, but no more. Always have your information and ammunition in writing to give to the adjuster.
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) by asking him what the options are to resolve the matter fairly should he not agree to a reasonable claim value. In other words, let him know that you will go through with a court filing if need be.
Remember these tips, do your homework, print out your evidence, show resolve to get your fair settlement, and you will DO JUST FINE.
I trust that my extra 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
