Fourpaw

So my wife had an accident about 2-2.5 years ago that totaled her car. She went to the chiropractor for 4-5 months for adjustments and we received monies that paid off the doctor and a small amount for the car.

The offender that hit her was a “commercial” operator for Porta-johns. They were deemed at fault. The insurance adjuster has been emailing us every few months over the last couple of years about issues getting docs from the chiropractor. They just emailed us the other day stating that they are giving up on obtaining the records and want to pay a small amount for “pain and suffering.” While I am happy about the free chunk of change, I did do my due diligence and see that it doesn’t match any algorithm for calculating pain and suffering.

So the real question is, Should we just take the unexpected money or try and haggle for something higher?

Thanks in advanced!

Myfingershurt

Does the “heavy hitter” or Morgan and Morgan have offices where you live? Maybe call them. Or any other number of ambulance chasing contingency fee charging scheisters out there. I’m sure they could get a few hundred thousand.

pnwchief22

Have you retained council? My daughter was involved in a collision back in 2006 ( she was a minor at the time ), where the other guy was at fault and was cited by the investigating officer, his traffic citation was uncontested. We received an offer from his insurance company, and shortly after I hired a qualified attorney. The settlement amount increased.

Excargodog

Is it a FAIR settlement for what she went through? If it is, take it and run. If it isn’t, negotiate for more or hire a lawyer.

Algorithms don’t much matter, she’s the only one who knows how much pain and suffering she went through,

Peabody17

Remember, a lawyer doing this kind of work will take 30-40% of any final settlement/judgment, so they will essentially need to double what you are currently offered for you to see any gain. If that’s not reasonable, take the current offer...

geosync

I'm in aviation claims, so not exactly the same. But usually the standard is use "3 times the medical bills" as a baseline for pain and suffering settlement.

Figure out what that number is, and ask for double that to give yourself negotiating room. They won't give you that but you may get more what they are offering. Of course, find out what they want to give you first, and if its a low ball, come back with your demand.

For example if you paid $10k for medicals, ask for $60k, due to all the pain and suffering. Don't be ashamed create a sob story, claims adjusters are professionals that do it for a living so they're used to the haggle.

Keep in mind there is a statute of limitations for settling a bodily injury claim. Check what it is for your state(google it). If you go past that, you're screwed because the claims guy can shut you down and you can't legally recover anymore.

Liketoflyjets

Auto accidents USED to be 3x medical...that is long past being 'standard'....

You can negotiate whatever you can negotiate, but as a starting point you are probably wasting your time with 3x unless the injury was brain damage, loss of limbs, movement, eye sight..etc.

Father of 5 loses both eyes and his hands? 10 Mil

16 year old goes to back doctor 5x and has soft tissue 'pain'? 5-10k and run like the devil

neverposts

You can do what you want but i would take it if i were you. I'm an adjuster and 30/60/25(any adjuster knows what those numbers mean) is terrible coverage.