What kind of settlement could I be looking at?
In September of 08 I was involved in a motor vehicle crash. The other driver pulled out in front of me which resulted in me hitting her doing about 45 MPH. An estimate has been done for my vehicle which showed that there is about $6,000 in damages to my car. I had both of my children in the car (ages 2 months and 2 years at time of accident) her insurance has already compensated me for the car seats but has yet to write a check to fix the damages to my car. I have hired an attorney who is working on my case for me. My children have been fine since the accident, however my I did suffer injuries. An MRI showed two ruptured disks in my L4 L5 and L5 S1 and I have been told by two doctors that I will need to have surgery in order to correct this issue. This injury has been horrible and life altering and has really changed my life around. I have been put on restrictions, I am not permitted to pick up my now 16 month old daughter and my activities are limited. I do have an apt to meet with a neurosurgeon next week to discuss when we want to do the surgery but I know a settlement will come after my injury is corrected but it doesn’t change the fact that I am still working on getting a check for my personal property damage which is horrible that I have had to wait over a year to receive this check to fix my car. I don’t know how to push things along and get this taken care of, and wasn’t sure if the property damage portion will come with my settlement.
I am just curious as to what I could be looking at in regards to a settlement for this accident. I am not sure what they base settlement amounts off of. I am a SAHM so I haven’t endured lost wages, however my husband has had to take numerous days off of work to take me to the doctors office or hospital when I was in such excruciating pain that I could hardly move.
I appreciate any help or advice. This whole thing has been a complete and total nightmare.
You’re paying your attorney 40% of the total claim - you should be getting your advice from them.
The laws vary from state to state, so any generalization, flat out might not apply to your case.
It’s extremely odd that they paid for your car seats, but not your car. You can ALWAYS file a claim with your car insurance, under the collision.
Regarding a settlement, it’s NEVER going to be more than the policy limit - which can be as low as $10,000, depending on what state you are in. Your medical bills would eat that up really fast.
Sorry. There just flat out isn’t enough information to guestimate. But your attorney should be giving you an idea.
Filed under: Motor Vehicle Accident Attorney
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You’re paying your attorney 40% of the total claim - you should be getting your advice from them.
The laws vary from state to state, so any generalization, flat out might not apply to your case.
It’s extremely odd that they paid for your car seats, but not your car. You can ALWAYS file a claim with your car insurance, under the collision.
Regarding a settlement, it’s NEVER going to be more than the policy limit - which can be as low as $10,000, depending on what state you are in. Your medical bills would eat that up really fast.
Sorry. There just flat out isn’t enough information to guestimate. But your attorney should be giving you an idea.
References :
As a general rule, property damages (car) would have been taken care of w/in 30 days. Is the date of your accident correct? Sept 2008???
If so, then I suspect that the other insurance company is disputing fault, in other words, they believe they do not owe you for anything;;;;;;;;;your car and your injuries.
On injuries, no settlement is made till you are done treating and they get all of your medical bills and medical reports from the doctor to evaluate the value of your injury.
If they are disputing liability, it does not matter if you have a lawyer or not, you may get nothing for a settlement. Or could be that the other person does not have coverage; ie lapsed policy, driver or vehicle not on policy. Either way, no settlement for car or your injuries.
You hired a lawyer, set up an appointment and discuss what your options are in person, not on the telephone which most likely you are doing now.
The key is that they have not settled on your car damages that was 14 months ago, so most likely you may never see any settlement.
good luck
References :