View Full Version : Dealing with auto insurance company
I wasn't sure where to post this.
My DD was in an accident last year and even though the insurance company was incredibly slow to pay the bills, they did pay mostly everything. Now they've called DD and said "We're offering you $250 to bring this to a close, do you want it?"
I'm not real insurance savvy.......but feel that $500 would cover a few extra expenses we had to pay during that time (bus tickets, gas for us to drive her, etc.) (she was in school in a different state).
Does this seem reasonable to you? She has no health issues since the accident and we don't foresee receiving any more bills for this accident.
I just don't want to screw ourselves over and want to be (fairly) reasonable with the insurance company (that we pay out the wazoo in insurance to).
Thanks.
"they did pay mostly everything"
What didn't they pay? Are you sure no more bills will be coming in?
Their $250 and your $500 are pretty close, so negotiate and get them up a little. Nothing wrong with that.
Thanks IL and Y,
Yppej, I guess I'm just thinking about all the inconvenience it caused. (uninsured, unlicensed driver). DD had to go without a car for months (her's was totaled). She had to drop a class at the university that she wasn't paying for (yoga), but it was helping her alot to deal with stress; she had to pay for bus tickets if she needed to travel. She missed classes because of her pain. We had to do alot of extra driving to get her to places when she didn't have a car. We have no receipts for these things, but hopefully the insurance company will go up a little, just to make us feel better! I'm not trying to rip off the Insurance company, but I also don't want to do something stupid.......like not ask for enough.
We haven't received any bills for about 4 months, so we're thinking its over.......but you never know!
my son was hit by a car when he was riding a bike when he was about 14 years old. he had a gash on his leg that required staples, but otherwise no damage to self or bike or property. and no long term pain, just one ER visit and one doc visit to remove the staples. they settled with him for about $1000. this was 10 years ago. i think they should offer your daughter about $2000 from what you describe to me as the inconvenience to her life and school, as compared to what my son got.
My one word of warning is to make certain that you really have no long term issues before you sign off.
I was in a bad accident about 13 years ago, in which someone t-boned my car at an intersection while he ran a red light at > 50 mph. I thought I was fine after a few months, signed off on a settlement which merely covered replacing my car, and my medical costs to that point. I thought I was being a nice guy not holding them up for "pain and suffering", or any long-term stuff.
Silly me. I've had significant neck and back pain ever since, which started up about 6 months after the accident, and which most of the doctors I've seen think came from the impact. Apparently some of these types of injuries take a while to develop. Who knew?
I wonder if they offer something at the end, dependent on what they put out from the start. They paid for the ambulance, the ER and the xrays, doctor bills, etc., they paid a really fair amount for her smashed Honda, they paid for her broken french horn case, her school parking pass that she'd just paid for. So since they paid for all that, maybe the final cash offer is dependent on that. Its been a year since the crash. I wanted DH to ask a lawyer if this offer was reasonable, but he said it would probably cost us more to ask him than we would get from just taking the $250-500.......which is probably very true.
She really hasn't had any physical problems since about 8 months ago, so I don't think she will develop any now. I was more worried about the young man with her in the passenger seat. He had 3 broken ribs with a pneumo/hemothorax and a broken clavicle and needed a chest tube and was hospitalized for a week. We were so happy that he recovered. I guess it was a terrible experience for DD. She thought the boy had died. They were both unconscious for awhile after the accident. All thanks to an unlicensed/uninsured driver.
It was all one of those second chances things, for which we will always be grateful.
Anyhow......thanks for your suggestions.
I'm thinking her crash caused her Veganism. haha just kidding.
I'm thinking her crash caused her Veganism. haha just kidding.
Mine accelerated my plans to retire early. I was hit coming out of the intersection at the parking lot at work. Four days out of five I would have been on my motorcycle, and the crash would simply have killed me on the spot. Luckily, I was in a large Mercedes sedan, which gave its life for mine :-)
Sounds like you got a second chance too Bae! Was it traumatic for you? DD was very traumatized by it for awhile, which is understandable. It worked out fairly well that she didn't have a car to drive afterwards, because I'm not sure she could have, with her fears.
She was driving a Civic, which isn't the biggest car, but had good safety ratings. She had stopped at a 4-way blinking red light. It was raining at night and the lights weren't working right, so they all went to blinking red. She was stopped for a short time, finally realizing that all 4 were red, and started up through the intersection when it was her turn.. She didn't even see anyone coming from the other direction, so he must have been flying. What really ticks me off is the policeman said he couldn't say for sure who was at fault (even though there was a witness).
DD was conscious for a second and as she put it, she struggled to stay conscious and just couldn't. She thought she was struggling not to die. The young man with her was out of his head and screaming and flailing about. If they hadn't been in such a safe car and hadn't been wearing seatbelts..........well, I don't even want to think about it. This boy was 6'7" so it was a bit of a challenge to get this flailing, injured guy huge guy out of this small car. He's the sweetest young man, and I'm so very happy that he recovered.
As for the jerk driving the SUV that hit them......he's probably out doing the same thing now. :(
Did you develop something like fibromyalgia after your accident? I've heard that's not uncommon.
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