Legal Question in Personal Injury in South Carolina
Vehicle Accident Settlement
On Oct. 13th, 2006 (Friday the 13th) my wife and I were involved in a vehicle accident in front of the local police department with a vehicle crossing traffic making a left turn. I have since received medical treatment. I had to live with headaches everyday for about a month as well as muscle pain on the right side of my neck and a spot of pain on the T1 vertebrae. I was released from treatment because my doctor advised I was past the 80% recovery rate threshold. I still have the pain on the T1, the doctor says he can not determine what the cause is and can no longer treat the area. The insurance called yesterday to offer a settlement of $5500.00 from which $3800.00 will go to pay medical bills. $1700.00 seems a little unbalanced for what I went through and am still going through and with the uncertainty of what the future holds. Also, even though my wife was not injured enough to go to the doctors is she entitled to receive any monetary compensation from the accident? I also heard that the amount of vehicle damage is determined in the case and it was $1700.00 which they already paid for. Any advice would be appreciated.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Vehicle Accident Settlement
It is difficult to advise on whether a settlement offer is high or low without knowing ALL the facts of a particular case.
If you haven't already done so, you should certainly consider hiring an attorney to handle your case for you. Insurance adjusters deal with those issues all day every day and are often skilled negotiators. Therefore, they have a significant advantage over the general public when it comes to trying to convince an unrepresented person to settle his/her case.
However, having an experienced attorney on your side tilts the advantage to you. Statistics show that people generally receive more (ranging from some to much) from their settlement after they hire an attorney.
If you need additional information, you can visit our website: www.stevensfirm.com or contact our office. Thanks and good luck.
Ben Stevens
Re: Vehicle Accident Settlement
It sounds like you might benefit from seeing another doctor. I have never heard of the "80% recovery rate threshold." My understanding is the medical standard is MMI, which stands for Maximum Medical Improvement, meaning that they have done all they can. I have never heard of a doctor who quits because he/she got within 80%. Also, anytime a patient is still having pain and the doctor says they don't know what the cause is, it just seems prudent to seek a second opinion.
Your right. $1,700 seems unbalanced. You never said if the other driver was cited for the accident. That makes a difference from a legal standpoint. Understand this. Insurance companies do two things in life. One, take in premiums and two, pay out claims. The difference is thier profits. The reason they are offering you so little is because you don't have a lawyer and they are not afraid of you filing a lawsuit and taking them to trial. Sometimes a person is better off without a lawyer, but that is seldom the case.
Yes, your wife has a claim for Loss of Consortium. Its an old law and ususally doesn't amount to a lot, but does go into the mix.
I hope this helps. Your welcome to call or write if you have any other questions. I have handled these cases for years all over South Carolina and there is nothing unusal about what the insurance company is doing with you. Robert Johnston [email protected]
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