Is It Ok to Phone Someone who Hit Me?

[Thomas NW]

Is there any particular reason why you don't want to use an attorney? 9 weeks in the hospital with your injuries and you're hesitating to hire a professional law firm? You will never negotiate $50k by yourself. Forget about calling the other diver, call a lawyer instead...

PS. The more you talk directly to the insurance company, you risk saying something that will cost you money.

 

[m_bambour]

Is there any particular reason why you don't want to use an attorney? 9 weeks in the hospital with your injuries and you're hesitating to hire a professional law firm? You will never negotiate $50k by yourself. Forget about calling the other diver, call a lawyer instead...

PS. The more you talk directly to the insurance company, you risk saying something that will cost you money.

I didn't know if I'd need an attorney or not. It's not that I'm hesitant, just didn't know what to expect from the insurance co. I'm going to hire one now.
Just wondering something. The claims adjuster said she note the file that I am unwilling to negotiate for any less than 50k. Does that mean she's done? That she's done negotiating? Or do they say these things then sit on it for a while then call back with another offer? Just curious since she seemed like she was trying to strong arm me. But yea I'm calling an attorney.

 

[djs]

Several things:
Yes, you can call the insured but it won't do any good. His insurance company is responsible to deal with you, that is what he pays them for.

The good news is, they are offering something towards pain and suffering. I'm assuming you are pretty much healed or at least well on your way to a full recovery. If not, it is to early to even talk about this.

I assume they have already covered your medical bills, loss of income, any expenses directly related to the accident, from transportation costs to rehab, to renting wheelchairs, etc. The $3600 offer is over and above that.

Reality test though......

If you spent 9 weeks in the hospital, that is 7 days a week * 9 weeks at a minimum of $1000 a day, that used $63000 of any policy limits he had. Through in some surgery, xrays, therapy, drugs, etc, you are pushing well above that.

If then you add in lost wages, direct expenses, and other misc things, you are probably pushing policy limits of 100/300 very easily. I would suspect above that actually, but you are at this limit very easily.

Progressive is probably offering the remnants of the policy limit and knowing this, is why they aren't budging much. They simply aren't on the hook for anything above the limits.

Recommendation:
Talk to a personal injury attorney. He will take a significant cut of any settlement offer, but its not going to cost you anything to get their help. They will quickly find out the policy limits and go after what they can.

Realize they will take 40% of the settlement though. I don't know of any that will do this for the 20% someone mentioned above, but keep in mind, they need to earn it. They will also pretty much stop pursuing things when the policy limits run out unless the person who hit you has some real assets to go after.

If you call the insured and he tells you his policy limits, he is a fool. Then again, I've seen it happen.

Dan

 

[Thomas NW]

They are trained to do what's good for their company, meaning to pay the least they can get away with. Don't bother with negotiating anything, your lawyers will do much better job. Just research the market and find a reputable firm.

 

[scagnt83]

Realize they will take 40% of the settlement though. I don't know of any that will do this for the 20% someone mentioned above, but keep in mind, they need to earn it. They will also pretty much stop pursuing things when the policy limits run out unless the person who hit you has some real assets to go after.

I shopped around for personal injury lawyers for an ex of mine. I found 20% - 35% to be the norm. A few quoted 40%, one quoted 50%. We settled on one that took 20% as long as his time stayed under a certain amount of hours. Of course attorney fees vary by region.

But I did ask a client of mine who is an patent attorney what they thought the norm was. They told me around 30% for an insurance settlement, 40% if a lawsuit is filed.

 

[BlockO]

Progressive is probably offering the remnants of the policy limit and knowing this, is why they aren't budging much. They simply aren't on the hook for anything above the limits.

logic would agree that that is probably what's going on here. but if that were the case, why would the adjuster bother with playing negotiating games? from the insured's perspective, it would seem awfully petty to me and unnecessary to haggle over what little is not exhausted.

this makes me wonder if this accident didn't occur in the state of Michigan, where there would be no policy limits. either that or the insured has higher limits than the 100K we're assuming.

 

[scagnt83]

Is the adjuster required to tell him what the policy limits are if he asks? How do lawyers find out?

 

[briko3]

I didn't know if I'd need an attorney or not. It's not that I'm hesitant, just didn't know what to expect from the insurance co. I'm going to hire one now.
Just wondering something. The claims adjuster said she note the file that I am unwilling to negotiate for any less than 50k. Does that mean she's done? That she's done negotiating? Or do they say these things then sit on it for a while then call back with another offer? Just curious since she seemed like she was trying to strong arm me. But yea I'm calling an attorney.

I had a client that was in the hospital for the same amount of time as you and what they did for him was they gave him all the insurance money available. That included my client's insurance and they "stacked" the other guy's insurance. After medical bills, I think he pocketed about $105,000. That being said, the way it was determined was in case he had another issue come up in the future as a result of his injuries.

Edited to add: He did have a lawyer. The going rate is 33.3% unless it goes to court and then it's 40%. TV lawyers always charge more, so don't go that route. Their lawyer was really nice and actually took his fee down to 10% because he said just getting all the insurance money together hadn't been that much work. (he did that after the case was settled).

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Is the adjuster required to tell him what the policy limits are if he asks? How do lawyers find out?

Lawyers can get that information, but it can apparently be a pain in the butt for them as well. It's up the company if they want to tell you as an individual.

 

[m_bambour]

I hired an attorney today. He says I've already won since I share none of the fault and I have hard injuries. They Can't dispute X-Rays. Just don't know how much yet but he says we will learn what the bodily limit is through discovery. Also whatever assets the dude has. I know the guy lives in a house on a golf course. My buddies have driven to it. Looks like he's got something. The lawyer is charging me 25% but if it goes to court then it's 35%. He also said it would had been a bad idea to call the guy at fault. Also not to good to talk to insurance companies because it's their job to get you frustrated so manybe you'll say something they can use against you. So Im giving it all to him. See what happens. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[Thomas NW]

Also not to good to talk to insurance companies because it's their job to get you frustrated so manybe you'll say something they can use against you.

That's exactly what they are trying to do. I'm glad you hired the lawyer and 25% fee is very reasonable. In Washington state, they usually start with a 1/3 of the settlement and 40% if it goes to trial.