Expert: Doctor Settlement - 1/3/2006

Question
This past summer I was a passenger on a friend's small ski boat on a river in missouri.  My husband was at the wheel bringing up a skier.  Next thing I know I was thrown up in the air twice and came back down on my spine and pitched forward in the boat.  I ultimately had back surgery and had 2 rods and 8 screws placed in my back.  I spent 10 days in the hospital(due to some mis-diagnosis. I am not 100% and have dealt with depression and medicine problems.
My hospital bills were about $150,000 and my doctors bills were about $50,000.  My husband has talked to the boat insurance company's adjuster.  They found him to be 80% negligent.  They are offering a settlement of $40,000.  What should I be aware of when negogiating a settlement?

Answer
Wow, that is a good reason to be an "EXBOATER"!

I hope your injuries heal and you do make a complete recovery from your surgeries.

I express no opinion on the value of the claim.  I guess they are saying that their insured was 20% negligent, and hence they are valuing your claim at $500,000.

Here are Dr. Settlement's Tips on your settlement.  

First, isn't there some homeowner's insurance that can be brought into play here?  Even if you are renters, you might have renter's insurance.

Most of those policies WILL cover your husband for his negligent acts away from the house.  BUT, the issue is: does the policy exclude operating a boat?  Most policies do exclude operating a motor vehicle.  So why don't you take a look at your own homeowner's policy and see if you can get some added coverage there.

You would be making a claim against your husband for his negligence that injured you.

Next, if your husband has big assets, you might want to consult an attorney to learn how to preserve your claim against him.  It does seem that the boater's insurance company is valuing the claim at a half a million dollars.

The next thing to be aware of is whether or not anyone is going to claim a subrogated interest in your award.  For an overview of subrogation, go to Dr. Settlement's site (www.SettlementCentral.Com) and do two things.

First, click on the "policy limits tutorial" on the home page and that will give you a little idea of how it works.

Second, click on "search" and type in "subrogation".  You will get a ton of members' side returns, some of which can provide valuable information just based upon the content of the sentence that shows up.  But there are some free pages in there too, so you can pick up some info on subrogation.

Oh, BTW, Dr. Settlement also has a good new section on negotiation in the members' area.

Bottom line here for you is to seek as little subrogation payments from your award as possible.  ZERO is a good number.  

I trust that this has been of help to you.  Please leave me some feedback so that way I can know if I am helping people or just confusing them!

Best Wishes,

Dr. Settlement
www.settlementcentral.com