How to settle car accident personal injury claim without a lawyer ?
My kid and I sustained whiplash-type injuries in a car accident 6
months ago and the other driver's insurance has accepted liability.
Medical and treatment bills are about $4000 and still ongoing my wage
loss is $20,000.
Does anyone have any tips on how to settle a personal injury claim on
our own?
Do I legally have to give the other insurance all the medical
information immediately?
How long should we wait until we settle?
what are the pitfalls dealing with the claim adjuster on your own?
How long after the settlement ended can we expect the money?
Is there an easy formula to calculate how much will my settlement be?
if you had settled on your own, any suggestions would be appreciated
if we settle, do I settle separately or do I settle together with my
kid?
My kid seems to be OK but I am worry about his future prognosis.
Should I wait till near the end of the statute of limitation and then
settle her case
You need to release all your medical information. That will include
*prior* medical information, too - to make sure that you're not
treating for something for which you already suffered,a dn to make sure
that your treatment is consistent with the injury claimed, and that it
is appropriate for the injury claimed.
You shouldn't settle until you're sure your injuries are either healed,
or as improved as they're ever going to be. The only pitfalls to
dealing with the adjuster on your own is that he/she will possibly use
language you're not clear on, or that you don't understand. (And
remember - anyone who tells you that you WILL get more with a lawyer?
That lawyer is going to take 33% off the top of your settlement. So if
the carrier decides to offer you (for example) $100,000, and someone
says a lawyer can get you more - you'd have to get nearly $150,000 with
an attorney in order to put you in the *same position* you were without
an attorney. Take that into consideration.) The carrier will not make
the first offer - they will wait for you to make a demand. General
area is 2-3x medical + out of pocket expenses. 6 months out of work
for whiplash is going to require a LOT of documentation about why you
could do no work - and if you're making a claim that there are things
you cannot do, the carrier will likely surveille you to see if you're
doing things you say you can't, or if you're doing things that you
would normally do in the scope of your career that you say you are
prevented from going back to.
You don't say how old the child is (and I'm confused if it's a boy or a
girl, you use both pronouns here). If your child is under 18, the
statute of limitations is generally age of majority + X (statute). IE
- in NJ, the statute for Bodily Injury is 2 years, so if a 12 year old
is in an accident in NJ today, the statute of limitations for that
child will generally not expire until 2012 (barring early emancipation,
etc.) Any settlement for a child under the age of majority will
usually require the involvement of a judge to approve the settlement.