Expert: Doctor Settlement - 9/16/2006

Question
i was in an auto acident 11/05 the doctors have me off duty, the persons that hit me insurance is accepting 50%,i go in for surgy 9/26,i was making 50,000 yearly,my creit cards are maxed out and my savings went dry.am i intiteld to lost wages from this insurance company,and if so how do i go about recovering them asap?

Answer
Dear Leland,

Recovery of lost wages in your case is best pursued through your own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) or no-fault policy.  What you bought with that kind of coverage is the right to be reimbursed for 85% of your wage loss after the first two consecutive weeks of work.  

So notify your own insurance and open the claim.

If for some reason you refused PIP coverage, then you are without recourse at this time.  There is no obligation whatsoever for a third party carrier (i.e. the tortfeasor's insurance) to pay your lost wages as the claim goes along.  

In fact, it is a strategy of the insurance companies to WITHHOLD PAYMENT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.  When they withhold payment, they get to keep the money in short term investments, where it makes money for them.  Also, and equally as important, they know that you are going to be hurting for cash, so they know that you will be much more amenable toward settlement than if they had been sending you cash all along.

So, the main advantage is that they will secure a position of strength if you have elected to forego your opportunity to insure against such losses in cash flow yourself.  

Thus, your claim for lost wages will not be resolved until you settle your claim.  How you present the claim is by sending in a personal injury insurance demand letter.  Please see Write Effective Personal Injury Insurance Demand Letter http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0170.htm

And also: Keys to a MAXIMUM INSURANCE INJURY CLAIM SETTLEMENT http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0089.htm


The last topic is why are you agreeing to 50% liability on your part?  You did not present any facts to let me comment on that, but if you want to fight it, or if you do have any questions about liability, go ahead and use this site to send me another message and present the full facts and I will be happy to let you know my thoughts on giving up half of your claim value.

Best Wishes,


Doctor Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
Http://www.SettlementCentral.Com