Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 3/14/2009

Question
In August, 2007, I was rear ended by an uninsured driver and pushed into the car in front of me.  Police found him at fault. Because I am short, I sit close to the dash.  Even though I had a seat belt on, the impact shoved my knee into the dash. Within a month after the accident, I was having pain in my right knee which had not been present before the accident.  My orthopedic Dr. diagnosed it as a torn meniscus related to the accident.  He started injections, but not much help.  In July,'08, I had surgery to repair the meniscus.  I need to add at this point that I have physical problems with my left leg due to a prior medical problem.  Because of this, my right leg was my good leg until the accident.  The surgery did not do much good.  Now both of my legs are limited and this will not change without further surgery such as knee replacement.  It has definitely impacted my daily activities.  I teach and it has made my job more difficult.  Because of the uninsured driver who also was unemployed, my insurance is covering.  They recently made an offer to pay medical bills at $14,000 and a settlement of $25,000 to me.  My question before I settle, is this a fair amount?  I am not involved with an attorney.
Many thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Ruth,

Based on your description I would say that your claim should be worth closer to $100,000.00, especially considering the future medical costs and the pain & suffering you will endure from a knee replacement.

You should visit www.collisionwizard.com . This is a website produced by the Better Business Bureau Video Series in cooperation with person injury attornies. The site will allow you to enter all of the information about your accident, injuries, treatments and property damage and will help you calculate a range of the value of your claim. It will also help you prepare a demand package to present to your insurance company.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh