Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 2/26/2010

Question
Hello, I was involved in an auto accident Jan 8-09 i was driving to work at about 50mph and a guy pulled out in front of me, causing me to tbone him.  I was trapped in my vehicle as well as him and we had to be taken out with the jaws of life.  we both went to the hospital, I had major bruising of my whole body and was released from the Er and told to go to my regular doctor, i did and she diagnosed me with costochondritis from where i hit the steering wheel on impact.  I had alot of muscle spasms and problems i had to have injections to help those, then I went on the physical therapy for about 2 months and have been released from the dr, in all my medical bills and lost wages etc are 14800. I had to hire a lawyer and he sent a demand letter today asking for 78750.00, my question is how much of that should i expect as my settlement, I know it will not be that amount but how much would i expect to receive. the other driver admitted 100% fault.  My car was totaled and so was the other drivers.

Answer
Hi Beverly,

There are too many variables for me to give you a real answer. The insurance company will initially try to claim that some of your medical treatment was unnecessary and will therefore try to reduce the amount of the medical bills. They may also try to claim that you over treated and again try to eliminate some more. Then they may try to claim that the individual cost of the treatments was too high and try to lower them as well.

Depending on the state you live in, the insurance company you are dealing with as well as the individual adjuster handling the claim the process of back and forth negotiating could take from several months to as much as a couple of years. The amount of settlement and the time frame may also be affected by your attorney. The timeliness of his/her responses as well as his/her overall reputation with the insurance comapny could be a factor as well.

You should really discuss with your attorney their experience with this particular insurance comapny and where they feel the case may settle based on that experience.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh