Question: Collecting automotive claim from accident?

(Posted by: Jessie on 2010-07-02 18:38:25)

After being the vicitm off pass the buck between insurance companys, finally one has stepped up to bat and is willing to settle the claim. Fill you in on background, driver at fault ran stop sign, was sighted. Driving grandmas car from south carolina, grandmas insurance didnt want to pay, tried to force drivers , failed, and then took liability. (shew) When i first was approached by the insurance company, they asked me right off the bat how extensive were my injurys. I told them the questions were to be refered to my lawyer. (the are severe) i then told them i wanted to settle the van and that my lawyer was not representing me on that portion off the claim. he refused and said he woulndt speak to me about it . Also told him that he didnt represent my wife in her claim either, still refused. 24 hours later (after talking to my lawyer) they called back and wanted to settle. i will be happy to get the vehicle payed off and not owe (my ins. companys figure was 200.00$ to the positive). Yet this leaves me with no vehicle or a down payment. Is there anything i can do to make this different? Also what is my wifes claim worth? She had airbag burns on wrist , bruises on face, knees. and roughly 1000.00$ off medical bills. She was the driver, iwas the passenger. if it matters it was a 50 mph impact total loss of both vehicles. impact was on my side (passenger)

Posted by: mbrcatz on 2010-07-02, 19:41:52

Your lawyer should be able to give you an estimate of her settlement amount. Let's face it, $1,000 is basically just going to the ER to get checked out. If she gets an offer of $500 plus medical bills, she should take it. In some states, with minor injuries like she has, she's not entitled to ANY pain and suffering, and in no fault states, she'd also have to claim her medical under her OWN policy, not the other guy's. So you didn't give anywhere NEAR enough information for anyone to guess at a settlement. Now, on the car - for a total loss, the MOST they owe you, is the actual cash value of the car. Not retail, not payoff, not how much it takes to get you into another car. You can always try to sweet talk them into a few hundred extra, but you're not going to get thousands. It's just not going to happen.

Posted by: PamelaS on 2010-07-03, 02:33:01

Not to be rude, but how many times are you going to post this question? The only people with adequate information to offer an intelligent guess are your attorney and the adjuster handling your claim.