Advice on settlement offer

[Calimus]

Ok, so nearly 7 months after my accident, the insurance company has just (as in 20min ago) made their first offer to settle medical + Pain & suffering.

So here's the deal. My medical expenses were about $650. Their offer is $2,550. I ended up eating a weeks vacation time to heal up from the accident (already had the time off and couldn't change it). So, my question is, does this sound about right, or is it low?

I know it doesn't factor into the settlement, but I was without the bike for almost 3 months, it took them till Janruary to settle on my damaged riding grear (Accident was in August) and I have had to hound them constantly durring the whole process. So should I settle for this or push for a bit more.

I'm not greedy by any means, but I have had to fight them tooth and nail for everything and the pisser is, this is my insurance company (The driver that hit me and I both have the same company) and it's taken this long.

So, what do you guy's think? Settel and be done, or push for a bit more since they have been corn holing me for 7 months? Also, I'd like to know rough estimates of what you guy's think I should push for if thats the case. I've never delt with this before and most info I can find deals with auto accidents and major claims. Small stuff like this doesn't seem to get documented all that well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DaSpyda]

Just my opinion, but add up all your expenses, including the value of your vacation time, and then increase that by 100% - then settle for 50%.

 

[NMRoadRunner]

The old average was 3 times the medical expences and cost of lost income only if you wern't compensated for lost time. In this case you had Vac time to use. A lawyer could get you more, but you have to pay them 45% of of the settlement. But they could recoup alot more then the amount of thier original offer. Which seems low when you look at the fact you were hurt and did lose time at work. Call a couple of lawyers and ask thier opinion. consults are free on these types of cases.

 

[NMRoadRunner]

I forgot to mention that after my daughter was hit by an un-insured driver we had to hire a lawyer to deal with "our own" insurance company due to their low settlement offer and "pain in the *** " factor dealing with them. Punish the basterds and bring in the "law dogs"

 

[Randy]

Never accept the first offer. Tell them it is not acceptable. They may ask you what is acceptable. Tell them that you don't know what is acceptable, but, you know that their offer is not acceptable.

Some ****** plowed into me a few years back. My friends mom was in the business and she said I should go for 8x-10x my medical bills.

Took about 4-5 phone calls, but, I successfully negotiated just under 8x my medical bills.

 

[Calimus]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Called them back, had them break it down, interjected my feelings and concerns and came to an agreement. I'm happy with the outcome an appreciate the advise, it helped.

 

[dbvolfan]

Wow, I guess my wife and I were too soft when we took the first offer. Even though our car was totalled we did not need medical attention, just had a stiff neck for a few days. Only thing that pissed me off was that our car still had a good 3 yrs left in it so we had to buy a new car sooner than we wanted to.

Now, if it were my bike and I missed work and riding time, I would go for the jugular!

 

[Calimus]

Well, in my case, I'm salaried, so I didn't miss any work. What pissed me off is that the day of my accident was the day before I started some vacation time where the wife and I were planning on taking the bikes and touring around for a week. Instead, I used it to try and heal up. I wasn't hurt that bad, but the damage to my knee's made it a royal pain in the *** to do anything. So the new agreement compensated me for a ruined vacation.

Ammounts were certainly not substantial, but I feel they are about where they should be.

 

[FJRBluesman]

Glad you're OK now. Insurance companies are a pain. :angry:

I've gone through similar issues with a settlement. It's almost better to call in the dogs...I mean a lawyer. :glare:

 

[AethonFJR]

Since when (or maybe where) is loss of use of a vehicle NOT a recoverable expense?????

 

[dbvolfan]

Since when (or maybe where) is loss of use of a vehicle NOT a recoverable expense?????

In our case the insurance company only had an obligation to pay us what it would cost to replace a '98 Eclipse GS-T in 2004. Just because a new car was going to cost us ~$19k, it didnt matter. I felt the amount offered for the car was fair, had I been intending to sell it but the fact that it had a good 3 yrs left on it before I would have felt the need to trade it in was my only loss. It's frustrating but I guess there is no good way to look at it unless policies were for replacement value and I am sure that would jack up everyone's premium.

On a plus side, the other insurance company sprang for a rental car for ~2 months and the rental company gave us a prius which was pretty cool.

 

[evilmedic13]

Glad to hear you had a favorable settlement. I'm still fighting w/ the ins from my july accident. They gave my lawyer the run around until after Jan 3, then offered barely anything because a "witness" stated I was speeding! Due to Mr.speed expert the ins is now saying I'm negligent even though SHE had the stop sign and I had no traffic controls, yet somehow I caused her to pull in front of me as I was checking 3 o'clock. Once I got my head back to 12 o'clock, there she was, 8-10 ft away. Yet it was MY fault <_< . Luckily, I had a trade day and vacation time coming up, unfortunately vacation was supposed to be spent in Utah less than 2 weeks later :angry: .

I'll edit/update after our suit is finished............................******** all of 'em.

 

[weekend rider]

Insurance companies a real pain in the ***.

If you are trying to negotiate with them they have the upper hand and the money. the ony way to get a fair settlement

is call in the law dogs and take a big *** bite out of their money.. They have millions to spare and millions to play with, they can wait you out for a cheap settlement.

Just remember, they are in business to stay in business and not give their money away. Think stock option for the president of the company, golf tourneys sponsors, etc..... That is what they do best