Has anyone ever gotten a settlement from an insurance company due to a car accident?
I was involved in an accident in May. It was not my fault. I was hit by a 17 year old boy. 3 out of 4 of the passengers in my car, including myself...were taken to the hospital in ambulances. One of my passengers required surgery on his leg. I had back and neck injuries. My car was totaled. I got a lawyer, and the lawyer got me a settlement for my car. We are now in the stage of getting a settlement on the medical stuff, including pain and suffering. I was wondering if anyone has gone through this, and how much you settled for? To be honest I have no idea whats a fair amount to ask for, or how much people usually get when things like this occur. Any input and answers would be appreciated! The lawyers get 33% of anything I recieve.
Answers:
It depends on the insurance policy limits of the person that hit you and if you have underinsured motorist coverage on your vehicle. Usually the settlement amount is 2-3 times the medical bills, but the medical bills will need to be repaid from the settlement and if you have health insurance they may have a subrogation lien on your claim which means they will have to be repaid at a discounted rate for the bills that they covered for you.
Edit: Your attorney's office should be able to get the providers to bill the health insurance company, but there is a limit to the amount of time they have to do that.
Generally the lawyer will aim for something like 3 times your out of pocket expenses. That way you get enough money for yourself and to cover the medical bills, and also enough to pay the lawyer. Insurance companies have gotten extremely aggressive lately, and they will try to bully you, wear you down and settle for nothing even when their insured is clearly at fault and you are badly injured -welcome to the modern world! It's all about the bottom line.
Trust your lawyer.
First, tell the lawyer to build his fee into the settlement. As for how much to demand, hard to say. The lawyer has experience in this area and can give you a good idea of the range.
Say you decide to ask for $100,000. The lawyer modfiies that to 133,333. He takes his 33,333 fee and you get 100 grand. This is to keep him honest.
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