My Wife was in a car accident. Should we get an attorney?
Monday, August 18th, 2008 at
7:45 pm
Matthew M Cialis buy asked:
her back neck and hip were injured. car was rear ended and is likely totaled.
her back neck and hip were injured. car was rear ended and is likely totaled.
Can’t hurt to consult one. Especially if there are doctors’ visits involved.
Have wife go to doctor then get a good accident attorney.they are on tv adds all the time
Get one immediately, DO NOT sign off on any documents from the other Insurance Company, refer any callers to your lawyer. Seek Medical attention and an Evaluation. Rear end collisions usually result in medical problems that may take up to and sometimes more than 2 years to surface. For this reason you leave the claim open (not signing off).
I’d MOST definitely have an attorney. Right from the get go, when thins are fresh. I wouldn’t hesitate a second. Otherwise, you’ll be coirced to sign a release, and get a fraction of satisfaction. That’s what insurance is for. They’re tight with each other, in the back round. I’d have a shark on her side, to make sure there’s no insult after injury. She could sustain pain and suffering for years. I WAS A VICTIM of this. I grabbed a $10,000 quick release pay out, WITHOUT THINKING first!! An attorney may get 33%, but you’ll get a whole bunch More!! Good Luck!!
Why?
An insurance policy has SET LIMITS of liability.
So, the wreck happens and you turn in a claim to the other parties insurance company. All rear end collisions are going to amount to a certain amount of pain – some will go away in a few days – some won’t.
Why not get treated and see what happens?
Remember my opening statement about the limits?? Suppose the other party has a $100,000 policy. That is ALL the insurance company is OBLIGATED to pay you. So, your wife runs up some bills, some therapy, some loss of consortium for you (means you can’t have *** or other relations due to her injuries) and you approach the CAP of $100,000.
So, where does the attorney get HIS money??? They don’t work for free – they work on a contingency fee and only get paid a percentage of what you probably would have gotten anyway…..so, erode what you WOULD have gotten by letting your insurance company handle it or get 40-50% LESS???
And once you get an attorney involved, your agent CANNOT assist you in ANY WAY – due to that attorney client priviledge.
You can’t go BACK to the well and chances are -the person that hit you is a working guy like yourself and doesn’t have any assets or anything to sue for and you cannot EAT a judgement.
Do the math first. Then, if it doesn’t look like you’re getting a fair shake – consult an attorney but keep in mind – you’ll come out with less.
Good luck and I hope this helps!
People answering this have likely seen way too many late night tv commercials.
As an adjuster, I can tell you there are definately times i would get an attorney. If i (god forbid) every lose a limb, get paralyzed in an accident, get a ****** scar, etc- i will absolutly go to the nearest attorney.
HOWEVER- 90% of accident victims LOSE money by going to an attorney. It sounds like you wife has soft tissue injuries. Regardless if shes attorney repped or not… the injury is wroth the same amount (contrary to what uneducated people think)
Why not speak with the insuarnce company, hear them out, and see if you can handle it on your own first? obviously if you dont feel comfortable after you speak to them.. sure.. it might be time to get legal counsel.
But people who run off to an attorney (who of course is going to give you this great story of how much money theyw ill get you- they want you as a customer) generally lose. They dont realize that after medical bills are paid.. and the attorney fees paid.. they are lucky if they dont still owe money.
I see creepy horrible attorneys everyday and it kills me that people trust them. I had an insured with 10k on his policy.. he hit a lady.. broke her arm.. tons of staples… we would have gave her 10k in a heartbeat. But.. she was uneducated… got an attorney (who if they were a good person.. wouldnt have taken this case- they had to do NOTHING!)… had to give them 4k of that.. and now will owe medical bills for years to come. I was so sad for them.
Think long and hard.
Sure ….if you want to give him 33% + expenses of your settlement.
Keep in mind – an insurance company evaluates your injury based on the injury -not if you have an attorney. The adjuster is not going to offer more just b/c you have an attorney. Your offer will be the same. An attorney just changes who I talk to.
It’s your choice to hire an attorney so it’s your job to pay him. His payment comes out of your settlement.
Now – if you’d rather not give an attorney 1/3+ expenses of your settlement – you can try to work directly with the insurance adjuster. If the negotiations fall apart you can always hire an attorney then.
**the above is for information only – use at your own risk **
if it was rear ended then it was not your faultbut the other drivers fault, my husbund had that happen last winter, it did not total the car bur is was damaged, what we did is talk to the driver first and make sure he has insurance, i hope he does, go to a doctor and be shecked out, most of the time the insurance company will make you an offer and if this offer is not good for the injury you suffered then i would go and get an attorney, but the insurance companys dont like to be taken to court but you can refuse what the offer you and then the start to up it, but if you think you need an attorney then please go cause back, hip, neck you wanna be sure your going to be ok later on, please talk it over with the drivers insurance and also report it to yours and with the injurys your wife has it might be best to get an attorny.good luck to you and iam so sorry for the trauma your wife has to suffer.
Only if you want to take a third of settlement you are entitled to, and give it away. If you were hit from behind, the other company will most likely accept blame and make you whole. Just keep track of your expenses so you can settle for the right amount when the time comes. Insurance companies are not out to rip you off. If you have any questions, your best source of information is YOUR insurance agent, not an attorney.
If you listen to the nay sayers, and get an attorney, please address all questions to the attorney and don’t ask here, and plan on it taking much much longer to settle anything.
Your wife could go for a consultation with an attorney and get an idea as to what would be the best way to handle her situation because of her injuries. Go to several. Most all attorney’s give a one hour free consultation and she wouldn’t be obligated to take the first one she talks to if she decides to use an attorney.
Let your insurance and that of the at fault driver do what they are paid for. You would only need an attorney if the settlement is not fair. Do not sign off on any portion of the claim until you are sure the injuries and other issues are handled to your satisfaction.
Make sure she keeps all Dr appointments. and after the insurance tries to settle with you get an attorney
You should get an attorney b/c it’s free, if you don’t win and they don’t get paid until the end of the case. This is exactly what she should do: (1) Go see a Chiropractor – See should treat consecutively and report all injuries she’s feeling. (2) Go see an Orthopaedic Surgeon for her hip. (3) About a month after treatment with the Chiro., she should ask him to refer her for an MRI of her Cervical and Lumbar Spine (neck back), if he doesn’t send her on her own. (4) Have her Chiro., send her to a Neurologist and have nerve testing done.
Just b/c she was in an accident does not mean she has the right to collect money. She has to have injuries based on your state laws. In most states, you have to have permanent damage…meaning a herniation. A bulge typically does not count. The only way to determine this permanent damage is by MRIS and the nerve testing. The nerve testing usually confirms the MRI results.
If you have bulges, you probably won’t get offered much, if anything. If Allstate is the other insurance comp., you are going to have to fight to the very end. They don’t like to pay. So honestly if the MRIs don’t show any herniations or fractures, there’s no point to purse a claim.
And without an attorney, the insurance adjusters try to play you out. And that’s why you get more money with one, than without one.
I have to confirm what many here are stating, only get one if you feel like giving up 1/3 of your settlement. If you handle things correctly then you should get the same amount with or w/o an atty. Those who actually get screwed are those that accept a settlement w/o knowing the full extent of their injuries at the time. Wait it out, get treated, hopefully heal up well. Once she is ok and you know all your expenses you can make a settlement with the company. Regardless of what many think, it is the atty’s who play games. Keep in mind they get paid regardless. They don’t have to get you more money than was offered in the 1st place. If you are offered 5k, decline, and get an atty, and the settlement remains at 5k, they still get 1/3. Also keep in mind that most attys dont go to court (some personal injury attys may never have seen a courtroom). They just want you to finish treating, settle, and move on to the next client. Attys and insurance companies have been in this for so long they know what the proper settlements are. Thats why most cases are settled because they know that the settlement is not going to change much if any by taking it there. Speaking of games, what these lawyers do is always ask for policy limits, then they send the claims dept documents stating you must reply in X amount of days (some of the crafty ones even backdate it, state that you must reply in 15 days from the 20th but end up faxing it on the 25th), and that is just to start. Just remember those that get screwed are usually those that settle early without really knowing the full extent of the injuries. The only reason you may get a bigger settlement is because the atty may overtreat you, but just because you get a bigger settlement doesnt mean you personally get more money. Keep in mind more treatment still means you have to pay those extra medical expenses, and even though it makes it look slightly worse getting a little bit extra in pain/suffering money it still doesnt make up for the huge 1/3 cut they take. Good luck whatever you decide to do
I’m not going to reiterate much of what most of the insurance professionals have already stated on here, but do not run out and get an attorney. I handled many bodily injury claims in my day before managing adjusters that handle those claims.
Keep this simple fact in mind, attorney representation does not equal a higher settlement. Despite what many people like to believe, the insurance company isn’t out to ***** you over. The insurance company is obligated to pay a fair amount for your wife’s injury claim, no more no less. If you’re getting offered a fair settlement amount from the adjuster, then he/she should be able to explain how he/she came up with their offer.