Help! Struck by drunk driver, and insurance not helping, advice needed!

[TENIA66]

Hello all


My family and I were struck by a drunk driver in our car a couple of weeks ago. According to my insurance my car has been totaled. Myself and dd were injured in crash, back and neck, shoulder injures. Their insurance has yet to even look at the car to provide an estimate. The medical providers require cash up front to see us in this situation. I may need an MRI on my shoulder I'd prefer not to have to fork over the 3 grand for although the pain is increasing. We need a rental car to drive. Our own insurance has been wonderful and wants to settle the car right now, then colllect from the insurance, but up front tells us that it will be less than the other insurance should offer since they need to recover their costs and that it will harm our experience rating with the insurance and possibly cause our rates to go up....

Thanks

What advice do you all have?

 

[kimmyann]

I would let the other drivers insurance company know that you have injuries and you will be hiring a lawyer, then I would hire a lawyer. I'm sure there would be plenty of them willing to take your case. If you go to an e.r for treatment they don't usually take payment at the time of your visit, you would then be sending the bill to the drivers insurance company through your lawyer at that point. Did you already go to the e.r by ambulance? If you don't become aggresive in taking care of your car and health, they will ignore you. I don't believe in sueing people just to do it, but sometimes you have to, to get what you need.

Also, if you have full coverage then let your insurance help you, atleast with rental car and your totaled car. They will go after the other driver & his insurance for the cost, that is what full coverage is for, use it. Your rates should not go up for it either.

 

[dfchelbay]

Would you mind telling us who their insurance provider is? I think everyone should know how they may be treated if they ever get into an accident and have to deal with this insurance carrier.

As far as your injuries, can your auto insurance cover your medical under your PIP (Personal Injury Protection) coverage that you pay for as part of your coverage? Then your insurance can go after their insurance for reimbursement. Maybe you can read over your 1st party benefits to see what coverages you have already paid for under your auto policy. Good luck with all of this and feel better soon.

 

[TENIA66]

That evening we would have been divided up into different ambulances and possibly taken different directions, all without a personal vehicle to pick everyone up in plus needing to be together after the upset of nearly being killed so we elected to go to a personal physician the next day.

 

[Tigger1]

I would hire a lawyer. In our state, state hospitals can not refuse you. Do you have health insurance? Would the MRI doctor except that, then reimburse the ins when the other persons ins paid?

 

[shaylahc1]

Definitely hire a lawyer. It won't cost you anything up front, they collect their fee when you settle. If you are injured, you NEED a lawyer.

 

[shaylahc1]

I also wanted to add to be careful with your own insurance and don't sign anything. When I had my accident my insurance company was wonderful...they handled the car damage (payed out on the claim, then recovered the money from the other insurance company) and also payed me Medical Payments. If you were not at fault nothing they do can harm your insurance rating or cause your rates to go up. If the insurance company suspects they won't be able to get anything back from the other insurance company they may be trying to "low ball" you in hopes that you'll go away quietly (and cheaply). Definitely hire a lawyer, they even have their own "recommended" physicians who would be happy to see you without having to pay any money up front.

 

[TENIA66]

They will see us, they just want cash up front because they don't bill auto insurance

 

[holycow]

Who is your insurance through???

I hope you get the treatment you all need and heal quickly.

 

[torinsmom]

When I had a car accident that was not my fault, I contacted my insurance agent(my dad ;-)) and got a rental car right away through my full coverage. I also went to the doctor for my back/neck injuries. Luckily, the doctor was able to file through my car insurance. I had full coverage for injuries as well. If not, I could have used my regular health insurance and then the other person's auto insurance would have had to reimburse the health insurance. After it was all said and done, I got reimbursed for medical bills and also for pain and suffering, and I did not even get a lawyer. My dad advised me that the typical payment for pain and suffering is 1 1/2 times your total medical bills.

There is no way you should be waiting to receive needed treatment! Either use your health insurance or call someone at YOUR insurance company. You may need to go higher than your agent if they are telling you that a claim will raise your insurance rate. I did not have to settle on my car before getting a rental car. I got one right away and then both insurances came out to assess the car. If you have any trouble, you can consult with a personal injury lawyer for free. In my case, the lawyer told me how to handle things myself, because we weren't seriously injured(thank God!)

Definitely don't sign anything saying you are settling unless you are happy with the settlement. The car settlement and personal injury are separate, but make sure you read anything you sign carefully.

I'm sorry this happened to you, but I am happy to hear there was no serious injuries. I hope that drunk driver went to jail! These little slaps on the wrists make me ANGRY!

Marsha

 

[TENIA66]

Our insurance is Country Companies and have been wonderful. I did not have rental car insurance though...will next time..

 

[mrsklamc]

I'd contact another doctor's office. (in addition to what others are saying to do.) Cash up front for an MRI is just bizarre.

 

[Anne34]

When my mom was in a car accident a few years ago - she paid all her own bills up front(less isurance) and kept copies for the lawyer. It went on for a few years -- at the settlement they added up all her bills, added for pain & suffering and a little more for any lingering problems that might come up.

 

[mrsklamc]

My other concern would be that by delaying treatment you may be putting yourself at greater financial risk. Their lawyers may argue that 1) Because you didn't get treated right away your injuries weren't as bad as you are claiming; or that 2) the injuries became worse because they weren't treated immediately, and therefore they are not liable for the full amount.

I'm not saying any of this is true, just that it might get argued in court and put you in a bad position.

 

[Leajess99]

Do you not have PIP (personal injury protection) through your own insurance?? When i was hit by a drunk driver I did not pay out a thing as my insurance took over everything. They fixed my car, etc and they knew they would probably never see a dime from the other guy as he had no insurance, license, etc.

Good luck but get your insurance to handle the situation as you may not see anything from the other guy's insurance for years.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Do as PPs said hire a lawyer. I was in an accident that resulted in going to the ER. My car had 3K worth of damage and my medical bills were about 5K. They were at fault but her ins wasn't paying. The hospital was coming after me. Hired a lawyer and the hospital was paid within 5 days. About a week later I got a check for the damages to my car. I received a small settlement because I was out of work for a month and the lawyer got his money out of that.

 

[nstem]

I would personally go to the ER now. You don't need to have the injury be in the last x hours to be in an ER. They will treat you and bill insurance as far as I know. You should be treated quicker that way than seeing a doctor, being sent for a test and waiting on results. I wouldn't wait another minute, it sounds bad. So sorry

 

[deerhart]

They will see us, they just want cash up front because they don't bill auto insurance

use your medical insurance (if you have medical insurance)

trust me these things can go very very slowly. I'm still in litigation over our 11/2007 accident

 

[Zoesmama03]

My advice would be find a lawyer. I was rear ended by someone going 40-45 mph and after not getting much out of the guys insurance because he had not called them yet. I went to a lawyer. Most will have no fees up front. Mine took 33% but it was worth it. I wasn't out to get a huge amount but they didn't want to get my rental car as my body shop said it was not safe to drive at night. My headlights were very far off, the force of him rear ending me pushed me into the car in front of me, we were stopped at a green light due to traffic not moving ahead on a freeway overpass.

Anyway it saved me a lot of headaches to have someone else dealing with the guys insurance. I got about 4000 and my then boyfriend got the same. I had whiplash pretty bad and it flared up a back problem with the boyfriend. Took a year to get our settlement done but there was no up front costs on anything other than my rental which the insurance finally paid me back a couple months later.

If the drunk had no insurance you may go your own if you have under/uninsured motorist on your policy.

I would tell the insurance you have hired a lawyer but don't give any details of injuries because they could come back trying to say you provided details different than what is brought in by mediation later. I had finally received a call from the guys insurance that he had finally reach them about it. And I just simply stated you will have to have all correspondence through my attorney and that was last I spoke to the adjuster. The adjusters like to take their time and then offer a teeny pain and suffering, missed work check. Do not sign it. They try to be sly sometimes and send it without really explaining anything so never sign anything they send without speaking to a lawyer. It can bind you into a settlement that will not cover those MRI expenses you may need. Lawyers are your best bet when you have injuries even if they seem small.

I will not get Farmer's Insurance because of that experience. They seemed to have on concern over reaching their client to see how he was doing. My agent with State Farm would have been on the phone with me that day to see how I was doing if someone had reported to them I was in an accident with them.

I want to add that I had vertigo pop up a couple years later that my ENT said was probably caused by some head/neck trauma. It was too late for it to go in the settlement but I did miss several days of work later on as it can flare up for 10+ days of constant vertigo/dizziness. I felt the 4000 more than covered that but it is still something I sometimes have to live with probably for the rest of my life. It flares up more with allergies when I get fluid in my ear and the crystals that float around in my inner ear move around with fluid otherwise I can be find for months on end. Don't feel that you weren't injured that bad because even if you seem fine now these things pop up later.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I would personally go to the ER now. You don't need to have the injury be in the last x hours to be in an ER. They will treat you and bill insurance as far as I know. You should be treated quicker that way than seeing a doctor, being sent for a test and waiting on results. I wouldn't wait another minute, it sounds bad. So sorry

ITA..an auto ins is not going to pay for something you might do and they don't get billed. They will pay for what bills you already have. I didn't see where you wrote it, but do you have a police report? This will be the sure fire way an atty can get the bills paid faster. Medical bills can be taken care of asap. Car damage shortly after. It is the settlement that can take years.