# Injured helping friends **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547 "2016-05-24T15:03:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/21 "2016-05-25T02:18:59Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I don’t think you’d be breaking even at all, I can just see an emotional reaction to an offer of a loan with ‘just a low interest’ as opposed to even an offer of no money at all. Now wait a minute - you’re saying that if I loan someone money, and get it back much later with no interest, I’m breaking even, but if I offer to loan someone money and they don’t accept the offer, I’m not breaking even? How am I losing money, exactly? And if someone is going to get upset at me offering to do them a favor, either they need to grow up and realize I don’t owe them anything, or they’re just trying to manipulate me which is a game I try to avoid getting involved in now. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/22 "2016-05-25T02:34:53Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > You mean STD. LTD comes from the government, and works on the assumption that your disability is permanent, barring some breakthrough new treatment. > > STD sounds funny. > . LTD can also be offered as an employee benefit (group policy) or purchased privately by an individual. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/23 "2016-05-25T02:35:00Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Now wait a minute - you’re saying that if I loan someone money, and get it back much later with no interest, I’m breaking even, but if I offer to loan someone money and they don’t accept the offer, I’m not breaking even? I was responding to your bizarre assumption that I don’t understand the time value of money. I should have probably put it in its own sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/24 "2016-05-25T03:04:21Z")
I don’t even think the medical expenses should have been covered. A person was participating in life and stuff happened, the end. I broke my collarbone in a cycling race a while back, I sure as hell didn’t expect anyone to pay for my expenses. I knew the risks and chose to participate. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/25 "2016-05-25T03:30:38Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > A low interest rate on a loan is breaking even, you’re ignoring the time value of money if you think that loaning someone $2000 for a couple of years means you’re ‘breaking even’ when you finally get it back. . Sheesh, interest rates a freaking low. What 2% maximum? $2000 dollar loan, even for a couple of years compounded daily is less than $100. It won’t “incent” anyone to pay it off faster. It’s seems extremely petty. "You helped out, unfortunately got hurt but shit happens. My insurance covers your medical bills, and, hey, I get it, you don’t have a lot of money so a small loan to help you tide over until you can pay me back. Here ya go. Oh, by the way, I want to keep things businesslike and charge you “interest” just to keep things honest. I mean it’s only $40 bucks, but shit you understand, business is business and I don’t \*have \*to loan you this money. " Help out or not, but charging 2% interest is just petty and unfriend-like. My 2 cents ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/26 "2016-05-25T03:41:45Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Sheesh, interest rates a freaking low. What 2% maximum? $2000 dollar loan, even for a couple of years compounded daily is less than $100. It won’t “incent” anyone to pay it off faster. It’s seems extremely petty. > > "You helped out, unfortunately got hurt but shit happens. My insurance covers your medical bills, and, hey, I get it, you don’t have a lot of money so a small loan to help you tide over until you can pay me back. Here ya go. > > Oh, by the way, I want to keep things businesslike and charge you “interest” just to keep things honest. I mean it’s only $40 bucks, but shit you understand, business is business and I don’t \*have \*to loan you this money. " > > Help out or not, but charging 2% interest is just petty and unfriend-like. My 2 cents Yeah, but per the OP it sounds like the wife has approached the friends with the attitude or expectation that they owe her family 3 months worth of his salary for her husband’s loss of income, not a loan, but a direct cash compensation. If faced with someone like this in my face I’m not sure I would even spring for a loan. You’re dealing with a person whose expectations are not rational and getting in deeper with a person like that has risks. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/27 "2016-05-25T03:43:44Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I don’t even think the medical expenses should have been covered. A person was participating in life and stuff happened, the end. I broke my collarbone in a cycling race a while back, I sure as hell didn’t expect anyone to pay for my expenses. I knew the risks and chose to participate. People have homeowner’s/renter’s insurance for just these sorts of things. If the homeowner (or renter, if that’s what he was) had insurance, the BIL’s own health insurance might have\* required \*him to recoup from them and only paid what was left after their insurance cap for the situation. When you read about something that seems heinous, like an EMT suing after slipping and falling on someone’s property during a rescue, it’s usually not the EMT’s idea-- it’s the EMT’s health insurer behind it. If the EMT needed medical care, his health insurance may have _required_ him to recoup from the homeowner before they’d pay. As I understand the OP, none of the medical expenses came out of the [ex-?]friends’ pockets-- it all came from insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/28 "2016-05-25T04:02:32Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > People have homeowner’s/renter’s insurance for just these sorts of things. If the homeowner (or renter, if that’s what he was) had insurance, the BIL’s own health insurance might have\* required \*him to recoup from them and only paid what was left after their insurance cap for the situation. > > When you read about something that seems heinous, like an EMT suing after slipping and falling on someone’s property during a rescue, it’s usually not the EMT’s idea-- it’s the EMT’s health insurer behind it. If the EMT needed medical care, his health insurance may have _required_ him to recoup from the homeowner before they’d pay. > > As I understand the OP, none of the medical expenses came out of the [ex-?]friends’ pockets-- it all came from insurance. Ah, if its just an insurance deal then that seems reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/29 "2016-05-25T05:27:50Z")
I’ll bet if the injured pursues any further compensation he’ll find that he signed a release when he accepted the $2500 from insurance. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/30 "2016-05-25T07:09:14Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > I’ll bet if the injured pursues any further compensation he’ll find that he signed a release when he accepted the $2500 from insurance. I bet you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/31 "2016-05-25T11:47:27Z")
I have a kooky friend who buys “event insurance” for things like family barbecues that she hosts. Maybe she’s not as kooky as I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/32 "2016-05-25T12:30:05Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Did the husband get injured because he tried to perform the task in an unsafe manor? Yeah, but if the manor were unsafe, then I’d presume the lord and lady would bear some liability. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/33 "2016-05-25T21:51:53Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Sheesh, interest rates a freaking low. What 2% maximum? $2000 dollar loan, even for a couple of years compounded daily is less than $100. It won’t “incent” anyone to pay it off faster. It’s seems extremely petty. I was thinking 5%, which comes to $200 after two years (assuming interest is compounded yearly and a lump sum payment), which is a reasonable amount for me. I don’t know where you’re getting the idea of a 2% unsecured personal loan, but if you can get that kind of deal you should definitely take it. Frankly, if you’re the type to whine that someone is _gasp_ charging interest on a loan, you’re probably not exactly the type to pay off the loan anyway, so your taking offense will keep me from getting ripped off. And you probably don’t have the credit rating to get a 2% unsecured personal loan from any professional lender. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547/34 "2016-05-26T17:02:41Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > People have homeowner’s/renter’s insurance for just these sorts of things. … > As I understand the OP, none of the medical expenses came out of the [ex-?]friends’ pockets-- it all came from insurance. Yeah, this. The part I don’t understand is, if the time off work is a medical necessity, why isn’t the loss of income covered under the homeowner’s insurance policy? They’ve already conceded that the injury itself was covered, because they paid out the direct medical expenses, so what’s the problem? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/injured-helping-friends/755547.md?page=1)