Wow...what a subject for me...lol I have been on the phone all week with lawyers, doctors and insurance adjusters about a wreck I was in last year.
What I have found out is the general rule of thumb for settlements involving substantial injuries is the sum of three times what the medical bills are. Now when I say substantial injuries, what I have been told is that you need to have some sort of eveidence that you were hurt, bloody gory photos, scars, ex-rays of broken bones etc. If you do not have such evidence then this type of injury is called a soft tissue injury which does not pay off well with jurors, without the actual proof or photos then the jurors may think you are just trying to get rich quick like alot of people have done in the past.
I found out that here in Northern California the insurance company "All State" has actually lowered the payouts on soft tissue settlements by a third by doing some pretty risky market research. Basically what they did was for 2 years (I think thats how long it was) they basically offered $1000 for any soft tissue settlement...take it or take us to court they said. Of course most people took it to court and that's exactly what they wanted them to do. This gave them a very good idea of what jurors would award people for soft tissue damages. The outcome was in their favor and it dropped the standard offers by 30% or so...pretty smart of you ask me.
Now for my wreck heres the scoop... I was hit last year when a guy ran a red light doing about 55-60 mph, my 4 runner was totaled and I had a pretty nice bump on my head and bruised shoulder. I went to the doctor a few days later because I was loosing my grip in my left hand....doctor said I had a pinched nerve and suggested and MRI... had the MRI done, found two or three more compressed vertabraes (bulging discs). I was going through back treatment at the time of the wreck but had never had my neck checked out so there is no way to tell if this was caused by the accident or if it's related to some sort of disc disease. Basically it's a gamble on my part and the insurance companies part if we decide to take it to court....My medical bills were $8000 and the insurance compnay offered me $13000 to settle it right now...I told them $19000 take it or leave it....they came back at $15000....I once again said $19000 and am waiting for the response as I am typing this, he said he had to get approval from his higher ups....this all happened today.
The Lawyers I spoke with said different things but of course all wanted at least 33% plus court costs to take the case...but a couple said I could get alot more because they would use their own doctors and prove that my injuries were caused by the accident...a couple said it was a great offer...take it and run and a couple said I should counter offer and try to get them to $18000 or so. I did the last choice because it's such a pain to deal with all of this and it could take up to two years for a settlement to come through if I sue.
If you do try to get a higher settlement yourself, I would do some research first, find out some lingo that is used, speak with as many lawyers as you can and then get a fair settlement price in your head before you start trying to negotiate. Also just keep in mind that the other parties insurance adjuster that you are dealing with may seem very nice and act like he or she is working for you but in all reality they are paid to NOT PAY YOU!
Good Luck
