I got hit by a car… how much will i make?

[gatodeq]

@raphacam my lawyers will not actually give me a numbering

 

[raphacam]

@gatodeq Guess they're not the top notch lawyers you think they are then.

 

[gatodeq]

@raphacam on the contrary- no lawyer worth their salt would provide a numerical value to a case before seeing any sort of medical bills etc.

All of the lawyers on billboards I talked to were more than happy to tell me I would make assloads of cash in hopes they would get me signing a retainer.

 

[raphacam]

@gatodeq Yet you're wanting strangers on the internet, strangers who know next to nothing about your case, to give you numbers that your lawyer can't/wont. Might as well go walking down the sidewalk asking random people you pass what they think you'd get.

 

[gatodeq]

@raphacam I’ve gotten some pretty constructive advice from other commenters- just not you

If you don’t have anything nice to say…

 

[pocahuhntosss]

@gatodeq I highly doubt this is the pay day you think it is. This is a personal auto policy, and you'll have expensive medical bills. My guess is you'll get a solid chunk of the medical bills covered, your attorney will get their 35% and her policy will max out.

 

[gatodeq]

@pocahuhntosss interesting… based on my research thus far, I would qualify for “Pain and suffering”. The way I understand it, the court takes the overall value if current and future medical costs, then assigns a multiplier (1-5) based on the severity of my, well, pain and suffering. Seeing as my medical bills will be at least 80k, this should mean a good chunk of change.

Am I making a critical misunderstanding here?

 

[kaririopelle]

@gatodeq The courts COULD do that but the likelihood of recovering anything beyond her policy limits are slim. I would have your attorney send a policy disclosure request to her insurer via the DOI per CO handling and find out her limits. That will give you some good direction.

 

[gatodeq]

@kaririopelle Will do- thanks for the actionable advice.

 

[pocahuhntosss]

@gatodeq The policy will have a limit. We don't know what that limit is at this point, but I'm guessing your attorney will ask the insurance company to disclose her policy limits. I can tell you in my state most policies are 25/50k. The highest is 100/300k, but those are unfortunately not as common to see. Generally, your attorney will go for policy limits in a case like this. With two broken wrists you'll have sizable medical bills, and that will eat up most of the coverage. Your attorney needs to get paid too, and 35% is a big chunk.

 

[kaririopelle]

@pocahuhntosss What state has a max limit of 100/300? Regardless that’s not the case in CO as I personally carry more.

 

[pocahuhntosss]

@kaririopelle I'm saying that's on the higher end of what I would see for a personal auto policy in my state. Not saying that is the highest available. Just because more exists doesn't mean people will buy it. I have 300/300k. But I am an injury adjuster.

 

[pocahuhntosss]

Let's play " guess the policy limits". What kind of vehicle was the 88 year old lady driving?

 

[gatodeq]

@pocahuhntosss this could be really tricky game for you- she was driving a POS 2002 Camry. but, she lives in a $600,000 house. Also, the attending officer told me that her insurance policy was very good.

 

[pocahuhntosss]

@gatodeq The officer will have no idea what her policy limits are.

With a 2002 camry, I'm not betting on a high limit. Maybe if you're lucky there will an umbrella policy, but that's a maybe.

 

[gatodeq]

@pocahuhntosss Weird- then why did he say he did?

How would her having an umbrella policy change stuff? what exactly is one of those?

 

[elvent]

@gatodeq Cops like to pretend they know a lot about insurance but they are mostly full of shit when discussing things related to it.

 

[sheyoreo]

@gatodeq An insurance id card is not going to tell the officer she has really good insurance only that it meets state minimum & the name of the company. With a 2002 Camry even w/a 600k home I wouldn’t think that = hitting the lottery. With a little investigation your lawyer would simply ask her insurance company what the bodily injury liability limits are & if there is an umbrella.

 

[kaririopelle]

@gatodeq Am umbrella covers most losses above and beyond your limits, I am no umbrella expert (I AM a co litigation expert for the record). So it would cover losses for any of your policies: boat, homeowners, auto, etc in 1 policy. So let’s say you have an auto policy of 250/500 with a 5 mil umbrella, I don’t know if there is any offset but potentially you could recover the 250 from auto plus the 5 mil umbrella. However most umbrellas require a higher minimum auto limit so like a 25/50 limit would not qualify.

The officer could be guessing based on the company?? Like if I see the Hartford vs the General, I’m definitely assuming the Hartford is a better policy. Just company reputation.

 

[pocahuhntosss]

@gatodeq That's private info for the insured, and the insurance company is not going to disclose her bi limits to a rando traffic cop. He probably meant it is a "good" insurance company. In your case that means nothing, you are concerned with the amount of coverage she has and there will be a limit to that coverage.

Umbrella coverage would potentially provide additional coverage when the auto insurance is exhausted. That is, IF she has umbrella coverage. Not everyone does.