Legal Question in Personal Injury in Virginia

Insurance Settlement Offer

I was involved in an auto accident in late august last year. I was hit from behind by a jeep traveling 50mph... I was stopped. My truck of course was totaled which has been settled. To this point, I have ~7200 in medical bills and have mostly mended with two exceptions. I have persistent ringing in my right ear and intermittent back pain which the Doctors say I am stuck with unless it eventually works it self out... i.e. no treatment for either condition. My employer was very good through the ordeal and didn't make me take sick time for time out of the office and extended flexible hours for when I was really suffering... but there was a cost. I believe that I was passed over for a promotion due to the time I lost from work in a very competitive work place. Further complicating this, I was an avid triathlete which I was unable to continue post accident. I regressed for almost 7 months and have struggling for the last 3 to establish any sort of routine in spite of the two conditions. Today I heard back from the adjuster with an offer to settle for about 20,000 minus the ~7200 in bills. How bad are they messing with me? Does this sound reasonable?


Asked on 6/30/08, 8:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Insurance Settlement Offer

Pain and suffering usually run somewhere around three to four times the "meds", as is often said in the arena of personal injury law. Consequently, in your particular situation, an offer of $20k minus the compensatory costs of medical treatment($7200)would appear to be a typical "low ball" offer from an insurance carrier attempting to settle the matter in a way likely formulated to protect their bottom line.

This, of course, is merely my opinion on the matter.

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Answered on 7/01/08, 8:49 am


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