Personal Injury Settlements... your experience

May 20, 13 12:38

Post #1 of 100 (35255 views)

Have you ever been in an accident where you were injured and received a settlement for personal injury? If so, can you briefly describe the circumstances (the accident, your injuries and treatment, lawyer or no?) and how much you received?

Because... I have a big decision to make by tomorrow...

Nearly 3 years ago I was hit directly from behind by a pickup on the highway... old guy, says he didn't see me... he stopped which was nice. Surreal experience. Thought I was dead initially, because the sensation of impact (~40mph speed differential) was insane... but 5 hrs and many x-rays later the emergency room declared that miraculously nothing was broken... just a badly wrenched back (severe spasms anytime I moved), smashed elbow, lots of bruising and soft tissue damage and a turn signal light stuck in my hip...

The guys insurance company (Geico) was very friendly and cooperative at first, and I'm not fond of lawyers and lawsuits... so I didn't get a lawyer. I got physical therapy and a lot of chiropractic treatment for my back, and seemed to be making good. A year later my elbow was still not fully healed, and I was occasionally experiencing bad back spasms which would put me down for a couple days. It was right after one of these that Geico made their friendly call to see how I was doing... and informed me that they were done paying.

After the wtf?! shock was over I eventually got a lawyer. He indicated that he thought it would be an easy case. I've continued chiropractic treatment, along with daily exercises and traction, and several deep tissue massage sessions. I have improved quite a lot in the last year. I can do nearly everything I did before the accident with relatively minor pain.

A couple months back my lawyer made an initial settlement offer of $40k. My expenses (nearly all medical) were $13k to date, so this is about 3x. The lawyer gets 1/3 which would have left me with $13k over bills for pain and suffering and future expenses. Geico countered with $15k... and wouldn't budge... until my lawyer filed suit. Now they are up to $18.5k... and my lawyer wants me to take it. After his fee and the bills that leaves me with essentially.... nothing. For whatever reason my lawyer doesn't want to mess with the case, but he won't tell me why. Well, he says it isn't worth more than that... but it seems like an incredibly lame settlement to me. After everything and likely a lifetime of dealing with a bad back and elbow, I should be getting nothing? And no, I don't have insurance that will take care of future expenses either.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 12:53

Post #2 of 100 (35215 views)

Have you been deposed by the attorney representing Geico yet? Typically that would be the next step in your process. The lawyer doing that would then report back to claims adjuster and that would be the next opportunity for them to increase the settlement.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 12:53

Post #3 of 100 (35215 views)

3X costs is about normal for these types of things absent some major trauma with future meds etc. His first mistake was the initial demand of 40 being too low, I would not be surprised at a 20K settlement with that opener. To me, that would be a very unsatisfactory settlement. He should have started at 100 and ended at 50. Liability is not in question here, only the extent of your injuries. 13K of that is easy to prove with bills. 20-30K pain and suffering on top of that is a no brainer

Last edited by: ChrisM: May 20, 13 12:53

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [Tracker09] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:04

Post #4 of 100 (35180 views)

I'm not sure what that means, but no... I haven't talked to Geico's attorney. My attorney has only talked to him once, recently... which resulted in the offer getting bumped to $18.5k.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:15

Post #5 of 100 (35143 views)

Not enough facts to evaluate (plus not a good idea to do so over the internet) but, as a general rule, if you feel like you are getting nothing (and only getting you medical costs back is basically nothing unless you were back at work the next day and had no lasting effects), you should at a minimum ask your lawyer to explain to you in detail why it is this particular offer is a good one. If he is remotely competent, he will be able to give you some facts to back up his opinion.

Sometimes, "I almost died" is not worth much, other times it is worth alot. You can have a horrific accident and come away with out much in terms of $$ damages or, you can slip on a grape at the grocery store and ruin your life. The injuries, and more importantly how they affected and continue to affect you is key. $13K in medical bills could mean you were back to normal in a week and did not miss any work, etc or, it could mean you have injuries that will be with you for the rest of your life. You're getting compensated for what actually happened to you, not what could of happened.

Also, at this point, your lawyer has likely just written a few letters, had a couple phone calls and drafted a complaint (mostly a form so not much work). If you don't settle, he will have to put some serious time into the file. Not saying that is a factor here but you'll have to judge . . . .

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:17

Post #6 of 100 (35132 views)

What are his coverage limits? Probably less than 40k and depending on the state minimums could be as low as 10-25k.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:18

Post #7 of 100 (35131 views)

rruff wrote:

I'm not sure what that means, but no... I haven't talked to Geico's attorney. My attorney has only talked to him once, recently... which resulted in the offer getting bumped to $18.5k.

Being deposed means that the attorney gets an official recorded statement from you of what happened in the accident, done under oath.

http://www.lawyer.com/...e-being-deposed.html

I did have an accident experience (Got rearended by a 1 ton pickup truck speeding around a corner and rearending me in my 1/2 ton pickup), but I didn't have to get a lawyer, they paid everything.

John

Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:19

Post #8 of 100 (35123 views)

I thought it was a no brainer too... and my lawyer even indicated as much in the beginning. I hear a lot of first hand accounts of people getting $10k (without a lawyer!) when their injuries are so minor that they have no medical bills at all.

My lawyer has apparently decided he doesn't want the case. I don't know why. Geico being tough, so too much trouble with too little upside? I know he is busy as hell and likely has much bigger cases to deal with. He has been low-balling me hard core ever since Geico countered with $15k. The last offer we made was for $28k before filing suit. I didn't feel good at all about that but it least I would have had something after bills.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:20

Post #9 of 100 (35114 views)

That offer sounds pretty bad. If this progresses further, Geico will get a lawyer to deal with the case. He will want to depose you asking a lot of questions about your injuries, the accident, your lifestyle, and other stuff to determine your credibility as a witness. If you do a good job of that, they will likely increase the offer. Your lawyer would be present for that too but you need to answer. Did the guy admit it was his fault clearly, is it in a police report? Could they pin any of these injuries on something else? Any reason you would make a bad witness?

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [chriskal] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:21

Post #10 of 100 (35108 views)

What are his coverage limits?

I talked to him on the phone after the accident... he said he had $100k. He isn't poor.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:25

Post #11 of 100 (35094 views)

Have you had an MRI done on your neck, back, and elbow? Do you have a herniation in your back or a tear in your elbow? What state are you in? The value of a case like this can vary a lot depending on where you live. Some state laws make it very difficult to bring a lawsuit for this type of "soft tissue" injury. The result is that in a situation where you cannot point to a broken bone, the extent of your suffering will often not be adequately compensated by settlement. This is why I ask if you have a herniation, which Geico will inevitably claim pre-existed the accident, but nevertheless is something your attorney can point to as a serious injury. If your lawyer won't answer all of your questions, and it sounds like he won't, pick up the phone and call another attorney and explain the situation. There is no reason you should have to make this decision without having all of your questions answered by your attorney.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:30

Post #12 of 100 (35077 views)

Man, sorry for you troubles. In dec 2008 while driving a 1955 porsche spyder replica, a car pulled out in front of me trying to make an illegal left hand turn. I t-boned them going 45-ish and since the car only had a lap belt, my face annihilated the dash. 7 upper and 4 lower front teeth were knocked out. I am just now about to finish my treatment within the next week. Anyway, to what I've learned. The responsible insuring company needs to work off a treatment plan. Do you have a treatment plan going forward (as in what you are scheduled to need)? I think the triple damages is pretty close to correct. In my case it was slightly less as there was a limit on the size of the settlement. My case was easy as the treatment plan included 3-4 jaw surgeries, ortho, implants, and a myriad of other things. They were all pretty big items. I think since all the damage was quantifiable and visible, it made the process easy. On spasms and general maladies that don't have outward showing symptoms, the insurance companies see these ALL the time and are pretty leery. If you are not going to take the $18.5k, then you'll absolutely need a lawyer who will do the work to quantify what's needed to make you right as well as justify the pain and suffering amount. It will be a slog.

Did you pay the $13k out of pocket or are you billing them directly?

And finally, they want to settle the case, because once you take the money that absolves them of any future responsibility. I believe this is the biggest factor in your case for them.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:37

Post #13 of 100 (35042 views)

Ask for extension on decision, and get 2nd and/or 3rd opinion from another attorney. Many offer free consults and see what they think. It's just like a diagnosis from doc. Sometimes you need to get another opinion as to their medical recommendation.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [Tracker09] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:39

Post #14 of 100 (35038 views)

The driver received a ticket for careless driving, and the report states that visibility was good and I was riding lawfully. The driver stated to *me* that he thought he didn't see me because it was raining heavily (actually light drizzle, confirmed by a weather station 2 miles away), we were coming around a curve (a slight curve, with no trees or bushes to obstruct his view of me), and since we were coming to the crest of a small rise he was focused on making sure he wasn't over the centerline in case there was oncoming traffic.

What do you mean by "could they pin the injuries on something else"?

I think I'd be a good witness... but I do live in a mostly rural county where I'm sure most people think it is insane to ride a bicycle on the road... including the judge. The guy who hit me is a very nice 85 year old man who moved here 6 years ago from Texas. A lot of people have moved here from east Texas... so I think a jury would naturally be more sympathetic to him.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:45

Post #15 of 100 (35016 views)

I was thinking more along the lines of questionable credibility. It sounds like there is no issue of it being your responsibility. It comes down to those injuries. What I meant by pin it on something else would be a prior accident or something along those lines. As a previous poster said since it is all soft tissue it is more difficult to prove definitively that it was from this accident. That is where the testimony from the doctors who treated you comes in. You said you have been doing a lot of PT on it and the orthopedics you originally saw will also have an opinion on the extent of your injuries. I agree with the other poster that your lawyer low balled the initial claim. Keep asking questions. If you are truly still bothered by issues from the accident and will require more treatment then breaking even isn't good enough.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:46

Post #16 of 100 (35005 views)

rruff wrote:

The driver received a ticket for careless driving, and the report states that visibility was good and I was riding lawfully. The driver stated to *me* that he thought he didn't see me because it was raining heavily (actually light drizzle, confirmed by a weather station 2 miles away), we were coming around a curve (a slight curve, with no trees or bushes to obstruct his view of me), and since we were coming to the crest of a small rise he was focused on making sure he wasn't over the centerline in case there was oncoming traffic.

What do you mean by "could they pin the injuries on something else"?

I think I'd be a good witness... but I do live in a mostly rural county where I'm sure most people think it is insane to ride a bicycle on the road... including the judge. The guy who hit me is a very nice 85 year old man who moved here 6 years ago from Texas. A lot of people have moved here from east Texas... so I think a jury would naturally be more sympathetic to him.

It's not likely that it would go to a jury trial.

And the "pin it on something else" means that all of your previous medical history can and probably would be examined, and if you had any prior injuries or similar pains previously, they can then claim "Oh, it was pre-existing, we don't have to pay" kind of stuff.

John

Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [G Mac] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 13:56

Post #17 of 100 (34977 views)

Have you had an MRI done on your neck, back, and elbow?

I had one on my back. Short version is that there are things wrong all through my lower back, but no focal point for surgery (like oh... that's the problem!). According to my chiropractor, my back doesn't look any worse than a lot of people my age (53) who haven't been specifically injured.

My unofficial diagnosis on my back is that it was badly sprained in the accident, and the ligaments are not keeping everything together so well.

The official diagnosis on my elbow from the MD is that I have "tennis elbow"... and that it might just take a very long time to heal.

I'm in NM.

My attorney mentioned that my injuries were like whiplash... really? Having my body slammed into by a truck at high speeds is like whiplash?

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 14:02

Post #18 of 100 (34952 views)

rruff wrote:

My attorney mentioned that my injuries were like whiplash... really? Having my body slammed into by a truck at high speeds is like whiplash?

Essentially, yes. Whiplash is simply either hyperflexion or hyperextension, but usually associated with the neck, usually from the neck hyperextending when going from a stopped position to X mph when you get rearended. You got hit from behind, and the bike was sharply accelerated. This distorted your body as it reacted to the new force, which was then exacerbated by (presumably) the truck impacting you. Your body reacts by trying to stabilize its position, which means muscles clench up, and ligaments try to take the strain of the bones going in whonky directions. (Ligaments connect bone to bone, such as all along your spinal vertebrae). So in very simplistic association, you could say it's like whiplash.

John

Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [Devlin] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 14:04

Post #19 of 100 (34945 views)

It's not likely that it would go to a jury trial.

But only if we settle out of court... yes?

And the "pin it on something else" means that all of your previous medical history can and probably would be examined, and if you had any prior injuries or similar pains previously, they can then claim "Oh, it was pre-existing, we don't have to pay" kind of stuff.

I don't recall having any medical treatment for anything for at least 20 years prior. And no treatment ever for my back or left elbow.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 14:10

Post #20 of 100 (34928 views)

rruff wrote:

It's not likely that it would go to a jury trial.

But only if we settle out of court... yes?

And the "pin it on something else" means that all of your previous medical history can and probably would be examined, and if you had any prior injuries or similar pains previously, they can then claim "Oh, it was pre-existing, we don't have to pay" kind of stuff.

I don't recall having any medical treatment for anything for at least 20 years prior. And no treatment ever for my back or left elbow.

If you don't have prior history of injury, that helps.

As far as the jury trial, IIRC (My parents were adjustors), it would go to an independent insurance arbitration board if you can't come to an agreeable settlement, and they usually determine the outcome. The jury trial stuff is generally if you sue the person personally, or possibly have some grievance with the arbitration board.

But, my parents have been retired for a while now, a lot of this may have changed.

John

Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 14:23

Post #21 of 100 (34898 views)

Your lawyer is saying its "like whiplash" he probably means it does not show up on tests so all he has to work with is you say it hurts. That may be true, but it can be hard to prove, or at least you can not be sure how the proofs will come across so there is risk.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [Tracker09] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 14:24

Post #22 of 100 (34894 views)

That is where the testimony from the doctors who treated you comes in. You said you have been doing a lot of PT on it and the orthopedics you originally saw will also have an opinion on the extent of your injuries.

I never went to an MD for my back... only the elbow. I've since learned that I definitely should have. But my thoughts at the time were that chiropractors are better at non-surgical treatment, and I didn't want surgery unless it was absolutely necessary. Also, after having constant spasms for 2 weeks after the accident, the first trip to the chiropractor helped tremendously. My back got a lot better in the ensuing few months, but I still needed to baby it and would occasionally get bad spasms. I stopped chiropractic about 6 months after the accident, and resumed about 6 months after that when I had the worst spasm since the accident.

Frankly, I think the traction, exercises and massage have helped the most. But according to my attorney that ain't worth squat.

A couple of weeks ago my lawyer suggested that I get MD treatment for my back (better late than never) and I agreed. Today when he called he pretended we never had that conversation. I'm really starting to dislike the guy...

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [Devlin] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 14:29

Post #23 of 100 (34880 views)

As far as the jury trial, IIRC (My parents were adjustors), it would go to an independent insurance arbitration board if you can't come to an agreeable settlement, and they usually determine the outcome. The jury trial stuff is generally if you sue the person personally, or possibly have some grievance with the arbitration board.

When in the process would an arbitration board get involved? I'm not sure what you mean... the documents look like I'm filing suit against the guy who hit me.

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [rruff] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 14:30

Post #24 of 100 (34875 views)

rruff wrote:

That is where the testimony from the doctors who treated you comes in. You said you have been doing a lot of PT on it and the orthopedics you originally saw will also have an opinion on the extent of your injuries.

I never went to an MD for my back... only the elbow. I've since learned that I definitely should have. But my thoughts at the time were that chiropractors are better at non-surgical treatment, and I didn't want surgery unless it was absolutely necessary. Also, after having constant spasms for 2 weeks after the accident, the first trip to the chiropractor helped tremendously. My back got a lot better in the ensuing few months, but I still needed to baby it and would occasionally get bad spasms. I stopped chiropractic about 6 months after the accident, and resumed about 6 months after that when I had the worst spasm since the accident.

Frankly, I think the traction, exercises and massage have helped the most. But according to my attorney that ain't worth squat.

A couple of weeks ago my lawyer suggested that I get MD treatment for my back (better late than never) and I agreed. Today when he called he pretended we never had that conversation. I'm really starting to dislike the guy...

You can always get a new lawyer. If you don't like/trust someone handling something like this for you, then you should find someone else.

And, the 6 month gap will probably work against you, because that opens the door to claims that there were other causes in the interim.

John

Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

Re: Personal Injury Settlements... your experience [jgomez] [ In reply to ]

May 20, 13 14:32

Post #25 of 100 (34871 views)

Ask for extension on decision

Can you explain that a little more?

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