Everyone wants to know exactly how much their personal injury insurance claim is worth. Guessing the exact amount that your injury claim is worth is like predicting the winning numbers to the lottery. However, you can see trends with insurance companies and begin to get a good range that your claim might be worth.
The first thing to understanding how much your claim is worth is to break your claim down into two categories. The first category is your property damage. The more damage to your vehicle, the more likely you are seriously hurt. This isn’t always the case because cars are safer than they have ever been, but it is a good indication to the insurance company that you are more likely to be hurt in a serious accident versus a minor accident.
The second category is your actual medical treatment and therapy. This is the bulk of your evidence and where you really start to determine how much your accident claim is worth. If you have $500 in medical bills and you make a good recovery, your claim probably isn’t worth much more than just your medical bills. However, if you spent 3 days in the ICU and 6 months in recovery with 2 major surgeries and $60,000 in medical bills, your claim is obviously worth a lot more. The next step in determining the value of your injury claim is figuring out how the insurance company values your evidence and offers you pain and suffering for your injuries.
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READ MORE: accident documentation, how much is my personal injury car accident settlement worth?, insurance companies, negotiation tips
Part of our weekly series of case studies of recent car accident settlements. These case studies should help you determine the market value of your personal injury insurance claim. The finer details have been kept out to protect the identity of the individual, but the overall details are accurate and true.
Case Study
Gender: Male
Age: 20’s
Type of accident: The at-fault driver sideswiped his car after losing control in wet conditions
At-fault insurance company: American Family
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This is part of our continued coverage on my wife’s injury claim with Progressive
We are now entering week 4 of my wife’s injury claim. At this point, I thought it would be a good opportunity to take our Free Crash Evaluator™ and find out what kind of an injury claim we are looking at. Keep in mind that her injury can still change and I will probably have to take the Crash Evaluator again after she has completed treatment if her injury gets worse of any of the variables to her personal injury case change.
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Tags: wife's claim
READ MORE: features, medical treatment, negotiation tips, recent personal injury settlements
This is part of our continued coverage on my wife’s injury claim with Progressive
Since the accident my wife was in happened on a Friday afternoon, we weren’t able to get in contact with the adjuster until after the weekend. On Monday morning, I called over to Progressive to set up the claim and talk with the adjuster. After giving him the details that I wanted to give him and being light on details on the ones he wanted, he asked if he could set up an appointment to meet with my wife. I said that would be fine and we scheduled an appointment for Wednesday.
Wednesday came and my wife and I were driving to meet with the adjuster. I took a few minutes in the car to give my wife some pointers so that she would be prepared for what the adjuster was going to ask her. I could have predicted the conversation any better than I did. In fact, you can call me Nostradamus because the adjuster was word for word on what I told my wife to expect. The key points of the conversation went as follows with some inserted commentary for your benefit:
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Tags: wife's claim
READ MORE: insurance companies, medical treatment, recent personal injury settlements
Part of our weekly series of case studies of recent car accident settlements. These case studies should help you determine the market value of your personal injury insurance claim. The finer details have been kept out to protect the identity of the individual, but the overall details are accurate and true.
Case Study
Gender: Female
Age: 20’s
Type of accident: The at-fault driver attempted a left hand turn in front of the vehicle
At-fault insurance company: Allstate
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READ MORE: how much is my personal injury car accident settlement worth?, recent personal injury settlements
The last holiday weekend of the summer is here. With it comes all the good things we love about summer. Barbecues, college football and unfortunately, drinking. I thought I would take a minute to help you navigate the tricky waters of a being hit by someone that was DUI.
Let me be clear, this is not for someone who is DUI to find out tricks on how to get off with the least penalty possible. I despise DUI’s and frankly, I have no sympathy if you choose to drive under the influence. This post is designed to give tips to those hurt by DUI’s a little more leverage to get greater compensation.
If you take a DUI case to court, the judge will instruct the jury to award what is called punitive or exemplary damages. This is defined as compensation in excess of actual damages. That means the jury is instructed to penalize the DUI defendant extra just because he was DUI. This is to send a message to the DUI defendant that what he did was more than just an accident, but his actions to drive under the influence are socially wrong.
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READ MORE: insurance companies, negotiation tips
Part of our weekly series of case studies of recent car accident settlements. These case studies should help you determine the market value of your personal injury insurance claim. The finer details have been kept out to protect the identity of the individual, but the overall details are accurate and true.
Case Study
Gender: Male
Age: 20’s
Type of accident: Rear-ended from behind at a stop light and thrown from his motorcycle across the intersection
At-fault insurance company: State Farm
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READ MORE: how much is my personal injury car accident settlement worth?, recent personal injury settlements
In the wake of reduced claims and stiffer premiums required by auto insurance companies, not to mention unsatisfied attorney clients, a free new website has launched to educate consumers on the accident recovery process, including do-it-yourself techniques, settlement tips, and when to hire an attorney.
SALT LAKE CITY (Aug 31, 2009) — It used to be the only way to combat stingy insurance companies was to hire an attorney. Today, with the launch of CarCrashAssist.com, consumers have a new resource to help them navigate the complex auto accident process, which affects some 6 million Americans every year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
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READ MORE: insurance companies, lawyers, negotiation tips, press release
This is part of our continued coverage on my wife’s injury claim with Progressive
By the time I had showed up to the accident scene ten minutes after my wife first called me, she was already complaining of instant neck pains and a severe headache. Anytime you have head trauma, it is wise to be seen by a doctor right away. I first took her to an InstaCare, but they wanted us to pay up front for the visit. They would not bill my insurance. Because I didn’t have any cash on me, I drove her to the nearest ER.
While sitting in the ER, the adjuster from the at-fault driver called my wife. This was less than 1 hour post accident. One of the first questions he asked was, “what are your injuries?” This question only has one intention this soon after the accident. The adjuster is trying to get you to say that you are feeling fine. Most whiplash symptoms will not show up for a few hours or even days after the accident. The adrenaline is pumping so high that you probably don’t feel much pain, if anything at all, especially within the first hour of the accident and you certainly won’t know the full extent of your injury for a few weeks or even months. If you tell the adjuster that you are feeling fine, he will hold it against you for the rest of your claim. I whispered to her to tell him that she did not know the extent of her injuries and that we would call him back Monday after being seen by the ER.
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Tags: wife's claim
READ MORE: insurance companies, medical treatment, recent personal injury settlements
Part of our weekly series of case studies of recent car accident settlements. These case studies should help you determine the market value of your personal injury insurance claim. The finer details have been kept out to protect the identity of the individual, but the overall details are accurate and true.
Case Study
Gender: Male
Age: 30’s
Type of accident: T-boned while driving through a neighborhood intersection
At-fault insurance company: Geico
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READ MORE: how much is my personal injury car accident settlement worth?, recent personal injury settlements
