I live out in the country and the guy pulled out in front of me - he had a stop light. (he got a citation) It was at the very last split second and I couldn’t do anything. I hit him, veered in to the other lane, through a farm fence in to a ditch and teetered almost turning over.
My air bags didn’t deploy for some reason. I was going about 45mph - His car is a goner… not sure about mine. If I had hit him more in the door he woulda been toast. I had x-rays taken just in case the seat belt did something internally. I’m sore as heck right now. BUT… no one was seriously hurt. (had has broken ribs and clavicle I came to find out)
His insurance company came to see me. They offered to pay all my medical up to a year after we ‘settle’. They made an offer for pain and suffering and lost wages (This happened over a week ago, I’m still not at work). I am okay, but with certain movements a MASSIVE headache is triggered. x-rays were negative.
So anyway - I am not sure how to handle this. I really don’t want to get a lawyer and go through that. It was an accident. But, I don’t want to be a shmuck either - what is reasonable to ask for here? They offered lost wages and $1000 (+wages)
Getting a lawyer does not mean you’re being antagonistic; it means you’re being sensible. They are going to lowball their offer. You need a lawyer on your side, as you can bet that the insurance company has a horde of them. Just because it was an accident doesn’t mean that your injuries can’t turn ugly later. A week has gone by and you’re still hurting? Something serious could be up.
Please, get a lawyer and protect yourself. Don’t regret not getting one later.
Ditto to what Scarlett said. Suppose it turns out later, for example, that you have one of the many kinds of soft tissue injury that doesn’t show up on an xray? Suppose you suffer recurring headaches for the rest of your life and can never work again (I sure hope not)? $1K + your current wages for how long? How about your EXPECTED earnings that never increase above the 2003 level because you are out of work so long that you can’t keep up while inflation eats away at your current earning power, and everybody else is getting raises and advances? Suppose you can’t work and lose your health insurance? These are questions that you should ask yourself and your lawyer, incidentally, not things I’m expecting you to tell a bunch of strangers on a message board!
Personal account: I had a similar accident more than a decade ago. The broken bone in my neck healed fine after 6 weeks. Three months later my knee (no broken bones) still hurt. I eventually had to have surgery to remove torn cartilege. I was in rehab for 3 months after the surgery. It was a long time before I walked without a limp, and the knee still hurts if I am on my feet too long. I will never be able to do any high-impact activities, like running or jumping, again. I got a settlement from the insurer of the person who ran the stop sign that seemed o.k. at the time, but I’d rather have my knee back the way it was.
Repeat: See a lawyer. Lots of damage does not show up on xrays. The reason they came to you with such a low offer – and it IS low – is that they think that you may have cause for much higher damages and they want to get you to sign off on something that lets them off the hook. Don’t know how it works where you are, but here the lawyer gets a percentage of what you get after direct costs.
I understand that you are not trying to be some slimy rip-off artist milking the insurance system for some bogus injury that doesn’t exist. Maybe in another week or two you will be absolutely fine and no further problems will occur. I hope so. But you will really feel foolish if things don’t get better and you let this guy who can’t obey stop lights off the hook.
Oh, also, the LONGER you wait before settling, the better. It helps you to assess what the long-term damage really is. Then you can truthfully say, “Look, it’s been two years and I’m still in pain.” There is probably a time period after which you can’t submit a claim, but it has to be longer than a week. You would really feel like some kind of fool if you signed off on what they offer now, and then it turns out later there is something wrong that xrays didn’t catch. .
Presumably you have already notified your own insurance carrier? Again, I don’t know what the auto insurance rules & procedures are where you are.
Think about it this way: the other side has already got lawyers working on the case. Those lawyers work for the insurance company that is offering you the settlement.
Getting a lawyer doesn’t mean you’re going on the offensive - in this case, it seems like a smart defensive move. It sounds like you want a fair settlement, but it’d probably be smart to get someone on your side who has more experience with what “fair” means in this particular case.