Need advice from friends please!

LisaBug2112 · Post by **LisaBug2112** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:16 am

As a few of you may remember back in March of 2006 Hubby & I were in a wreck. It totaled out van, we only had bruiseing & muscle injuries. Had to go to the chiropractor for a few months, but werent hurt bad. Now they gave us the blue book amount for our van, & paid all medical stuff. Well it is time for the pain & suffering/big pita that it happened settlement. Now i had thought they would make us an offer & we would accept or refuse. Well they want us to make an offer, our dilema is trying to figure out how much. At first i was thinking 10k each, but someone had told us to go for more. Now we have Pre-paid law, but we didnt at the time of the accident, so all they can do is letters etc. between them & us. So i am thinking doubling that to 20k each. Now 40k would pay all our credit cards off, marks motorcycle, & the new truck we bought to replace our van. Our van was paid for so having a new car payment is one of the big pita's we have now. So if anyone has any advice, it would be great.

zepboy · Post by **zepboy** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:15 pm

I would bag the preapid, go to a reputable local personal claims attorney and follow his advice after gedding a consistent second opinion from a lawyer who does pro-bono.

LisaBug2112 · Post by **LisaBug2112** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:24 pm

Actually the one we have is a local reputible firm. We are going to ask our chiropractor we had for advice also, they deal in accident stuff almost exsclusivly. They said they would help out in any way they can because they want us to get the most.

zepboy · Post by **zepboy** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:44 am

Please keep in mind that gedding the most $ isn't always the best route. Keep in mind you future conscience in regards to what you do today. $ is fine, but respect and regard spend just as well.

LisaBug2112 · Post by **LisaBug2112** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:54 am

Paying off all our credit cards, & the vehicles would be such a huge bennefit though. It isn't going to be no spending type cash here, no matter what amount it is. After the crap we went through because of it all, & all the things we lost & now have to endure, i think it should be a good amount. I am still shell shocked, even after almost a year. And still upset that the guy didn't even stop to look when pulling out of a side road onto a very busy street. It was a big ole mack truck, a company truck from a local steel company. So yeah i am still a little upset.

schuette · Post by **schuette** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:16 am

sorry for disagreeing zep but I would go for every penny I could get...it's not coming out of a working man's pocket as such...it's coming out of the insurance company that probably makes more profit than is needed anyway..
well I take it it's an insurance company cuz that's the way it works over here...

Walkinghairball · Post by **Walkinghairball** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:28 am

The main reason for insurance is to cover yer butt after something has happened.

11 years ago we got into a wreck that by all rights should have killed us. we sued our friend that was driving, (his insurance that is) and after all medical bills were taken care of we walked out with about $60,000 between us. OLS got more because she was hurt worse than I was.

We would have gotten more, but it was friends. Had it been some big company where someone hit us, oh yes, we would have gone for a lot more than what we did.

Every time we see a SUV rollover we still twitch too.

Soup4Rush · Post by **Soup4Rush** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:39 am

I say you are entitled to a new car and your medical bills all paid at the very least. You had a perfectly good vehicle and it was paid for. They owe you that at the very least.

CygnusX1 · Post by **CygnusX1** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:05 am

Soup4Rush wrote:I say you are entitled to a new car and your medical bills all paid at the very least. You had a perfectly good vehicle and it was paid for. They owe you that at the very least.

Sorry you are suffereing LB, but I gotta agree with Soup....You hadda perfectly good vehicle before it happened. You are entitled to have that vehicle (or a facsimile) again, your medical bills paid and money for lost wages/pain and suffering.

Anything else has to be negotiated by the attorney. I hope you presented ALL bills and liabilities to him/her. They all count.

Me · Post by Me » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:01 am

I wouldn't suggest an amount but I will say; keep in mind later on down the road. Are yous going to have any complications, such as arthrtis
which is a real concern after an injury. Other than that I'd want to be fair
not being concerned about what I owe but concerned about truth and honesty. But that's just me.

awip2062 · Post by **awip2062** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:19 am

schuette wrote:I would go for every penny I could get...it's not coming out of a working man's pocket as such...

When you take money from an insurance company, it does affect the working man's pocket--insurance sales people and their staffs. Just because it is a corporation doesn't mean that what happens doesn't affect individuals.

That said, you should be reimbursed for your losses. I think I would sit down and write up a list of all that were lost and what they were worth (as best one can because some of these things aren't going to be tangible) and then go with that.

LisaBug2112 · Post by **LisaBug2112** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:27 am

Looking at the van you would think we were hurt bad, thank goodness we were not. We never even seen one of our medical bills, they took care of those right away! So that part is done with, lawyer did say in his letter to be sure our injuries even small are over with. So we do plan on going back to the chiropractor & asking them about it. They gave us 6k for our Van, we used it to make a big payment on our truck we now have. The company is like the main company in the area for steel work, so i know it is a big company for this area. Not as big as Wal-Mart of course, but big. Course Wal-Mart is now Nation wide so kinda different. It is just hard for us to know what to ask for since medical is already paid etc.

LisaBug2112 · Post by **LisaBug2112** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:32 am

Oh & yes the driver may have been a working man, & he was on the job when he hit us. In my opinion even more reason to get as much as possible since he decided not to do his job properly. Told you i am still steamed about it, its something you do not forget easily. I my emotional damage is way worse than the physical was.

CygnusX1 · Post by **CygnusX1** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:43 am

I don't understand why your attorney hasn't calculated how much to ask (on your behalf) for pain and suffering....that's part of the package.

You need to call him. Don't wait for him to call YOU.

Soup4Rush · Post by **Soup4Rush** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:45 am

LisaBug2112 wrote:Looking at the van you would think we were hurt bad, thank goodness we were not. We never even seen one of our medical bills, they took care of those right away! So that part is done with, lawyer did say in his letter to be sure our injuries even small are over with. So we do plan on going back to the chiropractor & asking them about it. They gave us 6k for our Van, we used it to make a big payment on our truck we now have. The company is like the main company in the area for steel work, so i know it is a big company for this area. Not as big as Wal-Mart of course, but big. Course Wal-Mart is now Nation wide so kinda different. It is just hard for us to know what to ask for since medical is already paid etc.

and that van was worth more than 6k because it was paid for. now you have a car payment. That would be the part I would be upset about. I have a 97 van which is worth more to me than its book value simply because its paid for and I could not find a vehicle to replace it for its insurance value. the reason being I know this van and there is nothing wrong with it. the vehicle I replace it with could be a clunker. Their neglingence should pay for a new vehicle.. You did nothing wrong.