How much money should i ask for in a auto accident settlement?
I was in a auto accident back in May. I was rear ended the other person at fault. I went to the er that day for back pain, then again on the 1st, i have been to the doctors 3 times, referred to see a chiro, that didn’t help so they scheduled me a mri. after reviewing that they now have me in physical therapy. My medical bills without the chiro and p.t. is around $9000. how much is a fair settlement?
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! You DON’T do this yourself and you DON’T ask on Yahoo! Answers!!
You get a lawyer. I’m NOT a lawyer, but believe me, even with the 35% contingency fee to the lawyer, you will take home more money than if you do it yourself. The other insurance company wants you to do it yourself and maybe even made you an offer without you asking first (and if this is what happened, then you KNOW you have a case that a lawyer will help you with).
I was in an accident, and the other guy’s company offerred me a thousand bucks – and I hadn’t asked or even gotten my prescription for PT. I told a colleague, who tipped me off that my case was golden for a lawyer. In the end, I got a $7500 judgement, taking home $4500 – because I had a lawyer.
The downside is it took something like 2 years for this to finish up – and my lawyer told me it would take at least that long. I was prepared for it, and you should be too. What will probably happen in your case is you file suit, and then you sit back and let the lawyer do the stuff. At the end of the fiscal year (probably 12/31) of either 2006 or 2007, the other company will start trying to close it’s books – if your lawyer is good, he’ll know how this works and leverage it for maximum opportunity.
I’m sure you want your money NOW but patience is a virtue and a money-winner. GET A LAWYER – and NOT one of those 1-800 lawyers on TV. Go to your state bar association and get a list of attorneys who handle accident payments, and then call around. It might take a few calls – the first two I called pretty much laughed at me, but the third guy was helpful and was clearly not a flake… in fact, he had his degree from one of the top 10 law schools (Penn).
Good luck!
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