Car accident and insurance claim

[dannylion]

Even if the chiropractor gives you a diagnosis, see an MD. Chiropractors do not have sufficient training to provide a comprehensive diagnosis. They will diagnose on the basis of their training, which is focused on the treatment they are able to provide. An MD will take into consideration physiological elements outside the training and experience of a chiropractor.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Personally, I would want to be checked over by an orthopod first.  Chiropractors have gotten on the accident bandwagon for treatment and I think that they are getting the reputation for being ambulance chasers these days.  If I had issues that a chiropractor could resolve, I'd have no problem going but I'd get the green light from an orthopod first.

I also think that an orthopedic consult would carry more weight in court, if it ever came down to it.

[t-dog]

Check statute of limitations on a personal injury claim and don't attempt to settle for a while - that allows you to have a course of treatment and determine if it worked. The property damage claim may be being handled by a different adjuster than the personal injury claims.  Remember that all of you who were injured will have to share in the other drivers policy limits - so it would be prudent for you to ask the insurance claim to determine PI limits. If the other drivers limits are low then you may be able to settle sooner. Not sure if underinsured motorist coverage is common on your side of the country but you should check in with your carrier to find out if the other drivers limits are too low to adequately compensate all.

[Poptart]

Bunnysmom-

Get an attorney, there are too many moving parts in this and you need to make sure you get a fair settlement. Your friends story makes no sense, why would a car accident hurt her in the custody battle? Why did she not want to report it to her insurance company? And although things might look okay now you are dealing with insurance companies and they can't always be trusted to do the right thing- I know because I work for a broker and have seen so much in 11 years! The other party may have admitted fault-until they learn (for example) that the car was not insured then they might not want to pay for anyone's medical costs, and just because your friend was not driving you can't assume that the insurance policy of the friend that was driving will transfer over.

And for gods sake don't do what whoisjohngalt suggested, DO NOT WAIT. You must let the other insurance company know that you were injured, if you don't mention it or wait to seek treatment you will have a much harder time trying to collect because the insurance company will question why you waited if you were injured. Seek legal help and have someone that knows what they are doing sort out the mess.

[TheOtherMe]

Definitely get an attorney.  You don't know what all may show up physically down the road.

I was in a rear end accident and got squished between two cars.  I took the brunt of the damage because the car that hit me was going at least 60 mph and I was not moving because car in front of me had it's left turn signal on. 

I got an attorney involved and did get some money for pain and suffering.  That was some years ago, but all my medical bills were covered 100%, plus the car and the rental car and pain and suffering.  We did not accept the first or second offer.  I think we accepted the third offer.  It took some time because the whiplash actually kept showing up on x-rays.

I did not believe in whiplash until that happened to me.

[Wisconsin Beth]

What did the chiropractor find?

[toomuchreality]

@bunnysmom
I hope you're doing okay. Sorry to hear about the accident.

[Deleted]

Sorry for the late response. My phone logged me out and i finally logged back in.

I am doing great. The chiropractor was definitely the wrong call, the damn massage made it worse and i started getting headaches. After the 2ns session i cancelled and went to my primary doctor to be referred to my neurologist friend. It turns out i didnt need any of that except just muscle relaxers. Needless to say lesson learned.

So now i am filling out insurance paperwork. I wont get a lawyer because i am fine. But i wanted to ask a question about what i can request reasonably. At the ER and my doctor i gave them my health insurance information. The ER doctors will be charging directly to the car insurance company, my health insurance took care of the rest except for copays. I know i can definitely ask for any oop but i want to ask for the full cost of the ER. If i didnt give my insurance, ths is what they would have to pay anyway. On the phone the car insurance had mentioned they would reimburse the health insurance. So in your experience (if any), how reasonable is my request?

[toomuchreality]

Jun 26, 2016 20:45:27 GMT -5 @bunnysmom said:

Sorry for the late response. My phone logged me out and i finally logged back in.

I am doing great. The chiropractor was definitely the wrong call, the damn massage made it worse and i started getting headaches. After the 2ns session i cancelled and went to my primary doctor to be referred to my neurologist friend. It turns out i didnt need any of that except just muscle relaxers. Needless to say lesson learned.

So now i am filling out insurance paperwork. I wont get a lawyer because i am fine. But i wanted to ask a question about what i can request reasonably. At the ER and my doctor i gave them my health insurance information. The ER doctors will be charging directly to the car insurance company, my health insurance took care of the rest except for copays. I know i can definitely ask for any oop but i want to ask for the full cost of the ER. If i didnt give my insurance, ths is what they would have to pay anyway. On the phone the car insurance had mentioned they would reimburse the health insurance. So in your experience (if any), how reasonable is my request?

I have no idea. Bit it sounds reasonable, to me. Not that that means anything, unfortunately. I've never done anything like this.

But I'm glad you're okay!

[wvugurl26]

In my experience your health insurance will send a form asking if you've recently been involved in an accident, etc that might be someone else's responsibility. You give them the claim adjustor's information and they get their money back. They have subrogation departments to deal with that. If you want additional money for hassle, etc I would just pick a number. I don't know that I would base it on ER costs. They've already picked those up.

[alabamagal]

When my son was 8 he was in a car accident in our vehicle that someone else was driving. Son was taken by ambulance to ER with a concussion. He went home that evening. After everything settled down, our insurance company offered $2500 and we accepted. That covered our car deductible health company's plus $1000 for " pain and suffering". I was fine with that, but some friends told us that pain and suffering should have been equal to his hospital bill, which would have been $3k. I figured if we got a lawyer settlement would have been higher but most would have gone to lawyer anyway.

[Deleted]

Glad you're (mostly) OK!

You mentioned being emotionally shaken by the accident and I wanted to mention PTSD. DH is one of the sanest people I know and after he wiped out on black ice and totaled 2 cars (including his own) and damaged a third, he started having panic attacks. He'd wake up in the middle of the night feeling anxious, or suddenly have to get up and pace around during the day. A doc prescribed Xanax, which restored him to the DH I knew, and he gradually tapered off of it and was OK after that. It's something to consider if you're still feeling the emotional aftereffects.

I was in the insurance business for 38 years so I may be prejudiced, but I wouldn't get an attorney in your case unless the insurer isn't giving you a fair deal. As far as I'm concerned, the lost payment for airbnb and the cab ride back are legitimate expenses you all incurred as a result of the accident and should be reimbursed. They have to be minimal compared to what will get added to the claim if a lawyer is involved (since the lawyer will get 1/3) and they should be willing to pay it. You can always make references to the option of getting an attorney "I'd like to settle this without lawyers", "I'd hate to get a lawyer involved", etc. so they know you might resort to that if you don't get a reasonable settlement.

[Deleted]

Jun 27, 2016 8:19:55 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Glad you're (mostly) OK!

You mentioned being emotionally shaken by the accident and I wanted to mention PTSD. DH is one of the sanest people I know and after he wiped out on black ice and totaled 2 cars (including his own) and damaged a third, he started having panic attacks. He'd wake up in the middle of the night feeling anxious, or suddenly have to get up and pace around during the day. A doc prescribed Xanax, which restored him to the DH I knew, and he gradually tapered off of it and was OK after that. It's something to consider if you're still feeling the emotional aftereffects.

I was in the insurance business for 38 years so I may be prejudiced, but I wouldn't get an attorney in your case unless the insurer isn't giving you a fair deal. As far as I'm concerned, the lost payment for airbnb and the cab ride back are legitimate expenses you all incurred as a result of the accident and should be reimbursed. They have to be minimal compared to what will get added to the claim if a lawyer is involved (since the lawyer will get 1/3) and they should be willing to pay it. You can always make references to the option of getting an attorney "I'd like to settle this without lawyers", "I'd hate to get a lawyer involved", etc. so they know you might resort to that if you don't get a reasonable settlement.

Thank you so much for the suggestions. I am physically doing ok but definitely still have left over emotional issues. It doesn't sound like I am as bad as your DH was but I definitely have a lot of anxiety and even a little depression. I was supposed to have all summer to myself to do things I didn't get a chance when my son was here but now I don't feel like doing most of my plans, especially anything involving travelling. I haven't seen a doctor for it yet and not sure how to include this in my claim. I feel like it will get worse when my son gets back. I don't have my 1 mile commute anymore, it is now 20 miles and I am so scared of something happening to me and him being left at school.

My plan is to ask for all of the medical, airbnb and cab (although not sure how these two will work as I paid my friend cash and she put them on her card), hours away from work for treatment (even though I got paid, it takes away from my future comp/flex time), the pet sitter's fee (I paid her in full as it was not her fault and she missed out on booking any other clients). I was reading some online and it sounds like I can ask for pain and suffering. Is there a certain rule/amount for this? I saw anywhere from 1.5 to 5 times the medical bills (which seem a little high). The medical bills when it is all said and done will be close to $6k.

The insurance company sent a couple of forms, one is consent for the medical records to be released and the other explaining details of the accident, etc. Any issues with filling out either that I should be aware of? I am also planning on writing a cover letter where I explain what happened, the treatments I got, any lingering issues and what my claim is. This is where I plan on bringing in lawyer talk just so they move quickly and hopefully agree to what I am asking for. I was thinking of asking a little more to leave room for negotiation.

Athena,would you mind if I send you a PM when I write the cover letter so you can give me pointers?

[justme]

You need to find out with both insurance companies how YOUR health insurance company is getting reimbursed for what they spent. You need to know where it's included with your claim where you then have to send a check to your insurance company from what you receive or if they deal with it themselves.

I think it comes from your settlement but I'm not sure.


Also, I'd say as little as possible in your letter. Just say that it relates to X accident and claim number. List all medical appointments, dates, and cost (cost determined by what I said above). Then any other expenses with the date and cost with a brief description like cab due to car being totaled or work missed due to medical appointment. And then I'd say due to lingering issues and pain and suffering I'd be willing to settle for however much you are.

Insurance companies routinely come back with low numbers and if you need to get a lawyer you need to make sure you haven't shot yourself in the foot. Just the facts and I wouldn't expound upon the lingering issues and pain and suffering besides literally just saying that.

Not a lawyer, but that's what I'd do. I know at the law firm most initial offer letters stuck to just the facts. Just the money they were requesting and what it was for (medical, job loss, etc).

[Deleted]

Thank you. I found some sample letters online that I plan on using as a template. I will only answer the questions they asked in their form (ie, where were you sitting in the car, describe your movement during the accident-which I do not remember).

For the health insurance part, there were a few parts to it. The hospital billed my health insurance and paid it looks like. I received a letter for the doctor portion and they asked to verify that I want it on my insurance or give them the claim # so I gave them the claim number. I am planning on asking for the full amount for the ER portion (the one my insurance paid). If my insurance asks for it, I will pay them, if not I will not worry about it. Also, I have a high deductible plan but my son had already met the 5k deductible all by himself.

[Deleted]

Jun 27, 2016 11:27:41 GMT -5 @bunnysmom said:

Athena,would you mind if I send you a PM when I write the cover letter so you can give me pointers?

Sure! I should mention that I'm not a Claims person; I'm a retired actuary so I spent more time with computers than people. I write pretty effective letters, though, so I'll be glad to take a look at yours.

At first I was wondering bout the "just answer the question they ask and don't volunteer more" tactic, then I realized that makes sense. If you tell them you have lingering issues and list them, and then something new pops up later, they may claim that wasn't in your original reply and fight you on it.

[Deleted]

Jun 28, 2016 7:45:51 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Jun 27, 2016 11:27:41 GMT -5 @bunnysmom said:

Athena,would you mind if I send you a PM when I write the cover letter so you can give me pointers?

Sure! I should mention that I'm not a Claims person; I'm a retired actuary so I spent more time with computers than people. I write pretty effective letters, though, so I'll be glad to take a look at yours.

At first I was wondering bout the "just answer the question they ask and don't volunteer more" tactic, then I realized that makes sense. If you tell them you have lingering issues and list them, and then something new pops up later, they may claim that wasn't in your original reply and fight you on it.

Thank you so much! I sent you a PM.

[alabamagal]

UGGGGG.  Now I need the advice here.  DS was in a car accident yesterday.  He was slowed down for a traffic light and a car slammed into the car behind him, which hit him and he hit the car in front of him.  His car (well actually my car) will be totaled.  It is only worth about $4k and the damage was worse than that.  Two people behind him went to hospital.  DS said he was not hurt.  Today he says he feels sore but not too bad - described it as how he felt after a high school football game.

Car had a loan on it for about the amount it was worth.  So I don't expect I would get much anyway.  Problem is that I just spent $1200 on the car last week for AC repairs and tires.

He talked to his insurance yesterday, they asked if we would file claim through them or through at fault's insurance.  I am thinking of trying the at-fault.  My goal would be value of car plus $2-$3k, considering we just spent that money on the car, and the plan was to have it until he finished college (1 more year), plus inconvenience and pain and suffering (even if he is not that hurt).  Someone above mentioned PTSD, I wouldn't go that far with DS, but it is not fun to come home and find your 6'3" child in tears because he liked his car and someone took it away from him.  Also, this is the 5th accident that my son has been in during his 21 years.  One accident was his fault, but the other 4 have been when others hit the car he was in, 3 of them were minor soreness and one resulted in an ambulance ride to the hospital when he was 8.