Help on how to handle an accident

#18

Get an attorney. This accident was clearly not your fault.
As others have told you (and I know from personal experience) if you have no collision insurance, you are on your own to collect from the other driver’s policy. I’m more concerned as to whether the driver is listed as an approved driver on the other party’s policy, and your medical bills.

I’ve researched several auto cases here in Connecticut and have found that even in low speed “fender bender” cases, claimants have successfully collected after being “violently thrown about” inside their cars and suffering “lifetime effects due to their injures”.

#19

But only if you do everything the doctor tells you to. @Barkydog should go back to the hospital and get that lung xray they wanted.

I got t-boned when I was 17 by a guy who ran a stop sign because he was reading documents for his job while speeding. Destroyed my car and caused a permanent back injury. I went to PT for over a year, and it did nothing, so I stopped going even though my doctor told me to keep at it. I was heading off to college and didn’t want to squeeze in PT that wasn’t working amongst my classes and activities. By the end of my freshman year, it was very obvious that the back pain wasn’t ever going to go away, so I got a lawyer and filed a PI suit.

Because I had gone “against medical advice” and stopped going to the therapy that was doing nothing for me, I got very shafted in the judgment. Personally, I do not consider potentially as many as 80 years of back pain to only be worth $7,000. I should have gotten well into a 5-figure, possibly even 6-figure, settlement for that, but the defense successfully argued that maybe the injury wouldn’t have been permanent if I’d done what the doctor told me to and so they should only have to pay out for the pain up to that point.

You don’t want to screw around with this, and you should contact a personal injury attorney sooner than later so that you can have counsel as to what you should and should not be doing to avoid screwing up any potential future settlement/judgment.

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#20

you should contact a personal injury attorney

If Barky’s area is any thing like mine he won’t have far to look for an attorney as the ambulance chaser’s should be contacting him.

#21

Assuming that his car has ABS, I wouldn’t expect to see any skid marks.

+1

#22

Barky I know you are in pain suffering please keep posting as much as possible to keep us updated we are all thinking about you and hoping for the best.

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#23

I second that! It should have been done early on, but that’s water over the dam. The sooner the better.
This situation won’t be their first rodeo! They can advise whether you have a potential case or not.
CSA
:palm_tree: :sunglasses: :palm_tree:

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#24

Well, the black box would have that information. Getting it is another matter though. The information belongs to the guy that hit you and only the police can access it if they get custody of the car. So yeah the whole thing becomes complex.

#25

It can also be subpoenaed in a lawsuit.

#26

You do not live in a no fault state, YOUR insurance company will not pay for your medical bills not will medicare, once they find out they came from an auto accident. If you don’t have a lawyer, the other drivers insurance will yake advantage of you at every opportunity.

#27

You talking about health insurance? If so…yes your health insurance company will definitely pay your medical expenses. If it is determined the person is determined to be at fault has enough insurance then your health insurance company will put a lean on any settlement you collect from other persons insurance.

#28

My insurance Company will pay bills up to $10,000. They told me to send them the bills, unfortunately the ER will not do that. As the guy was not the owner of the car that hit me, the insurance company is waiting to hear from the owner that he had permission to drive. The other insurance company wants me to go to a shop in town for a damage estimate. I went to a nearby shop for an estimate, time to lawyer up I guess.

#29

Sorry to hear about all your trouble, Barky.
Make sure you do not sign any release of liability.
I made that mistake back in 2001 when my wife was rear-ended in the situation similar to yours, I was stupid to let them go too easy, had to pick up some costs, fortunately with no long-running health issues after 19 years.

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#30

I forgot about that part. Just so many complications, best to at least get your free 30 minutes anyway from a lawyer. Our law professor used to tell us that the purpose of the law class was to know “when to get a lawyer”.

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#31

My advice for your medical condition, get an MRI, not just an Xray.

As for insurance, those lawyers you see advertising on TV will work for a contingency so it costs you nothing to get one. As around for advice on which one to chose because some that advertise the most aren’t always the best.

The owner of the vehicle is responsible for your medical and vehicle bills regardless of insurance. I can’t say this is true in every state, but in most, the driver at the time of the accident does not have to be listed on the policy for the policy to be enforced. How ever, it the driver is listed on the policy as excluded, then the insurance company can absolve themselves, but that is between them and their policy holder.

2 Likes
#32

In NY state all of you medical bills up to the limit of your no fault insurance are paid for by the insurance of the car you were in. The minimum may be $25000, most people have $50,000. Your car insurance company cannot recover that money even if the other driver is at fault. The first thing a hospital here will ask is this injury caused by a motor vehicle accident ? If so, they will bill your car insurance until your benefit is exhausted.

#33

No advice to offer here. Just good wishes and hope that you’re on the mend soon, @Barkydog.

1 Like
#34

My truck was hit in the side a couple of years ago. I was at a stop sign at an intersection, and the other driver was turning right and hit the left side of my truck between the cab and the bed. I only have liability. I contacted my insurance company and they quickly told me I’d have to contact the other guy’s insurance, not them. I assume since the accident was obviously not my fault and I only have liability insurance on my truck. The guy driving the truck that hit me had no license, but the truck was insured by the owner (who wasn’t the driver). I was actually surprised how easily the insurance company paid for the damages to my truck. I only got one estimate and didn’t even have to bring a copy of the police report. I got a check for around $3500 in about a week or so. I kind of got the feeling they were eager to pay and avoid a potential lawsuit. However, I don’t recall signing any sort of waiver. Fortunately I didn’t have any injuries.

I hope you get feeling better and don’t have any permanent injuries. Maybe your story will be similar to mine.

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#35

When they saw the quote, they must have thought it was reasonable enough that spending extra in their overhead costs to get more estimates didn’t make sense. Any decent sized insurance company knows what it costs to fix things. If you show up with a quote in their range, it’s done. You may also have chosen a body shop they already use.

#36

Sounds reasonable. I have very little experience with accidents or insurance claims. Thankfully.

1 Like
#37

I went in to the General Ins suggested shop, got to go back Tuesday for a 3 hour inspection, guys first thought the repair cost will exceed the vehicle value, so totalled more or less. Contacted my doc that wants to do a followup, contacted an attorney. A few aches and pains and I call them drive by headaches, every now and then. Thank you all for your thoughts and concerns.