This is the first time we've been in something like this and it feels like we haven't done someting that we need to do. My husband was driving my car today (I worked from home) and went with 2 of his co-workers to get lunch. On the way back they were going about 40 in a 45 zone. They were halfway through a intersection (their green light) when a big huge van pulled out right in front of them, making a left turn. My husband tried to turn left to avoid the hit but there was nothing he could do. The result was a head-on at close to 30 mph.

DH is OK. He has cuts on his head from where the airbags pushed his glasses into his skin. He has a bruise/abrasion on his neck from the seatbelt, and a pretty dark purple bruise on his collarbone, plus scrapes all across his stomach, presumably also from the seatbelt. His arm is burned/blistered from the heat of the airbag deploying. There are also miscellaneous cuts & punctures, probably from the pieces of the console dislodged when the AB deployed. The top of his hand is VERY bruised, so much that his fingers are even discolored, and it's swollen about twice normal size. The underside of his arm has big areas where the friction with the airbag peeled the skin off. Both knees are scraped & bruised. Nothing broken, lucky there, and it def. could have been worse. He refused treatment at the scene because he was so worried about his passengers, esp. the one who couldn't walk, but when I got to the scene & the tow truck took my car away I made DH go to the ER. Misc damage - his glasses are broken from being shoved up into his head, and his cell phone was also broken - something actually penetrated the metal casing on the back and is lodged through the keypad on the other side. I had someone's fragile birthday present in the truck & it's shattered all over, and there's an entire case worth of Protein drinks spilled into my trunk. *sigh*

Of DH's two passengers, one is sore but OK, the other had to go to the hospital from the scene & ended up having torn ligaments in his neck. He was discharged & is back at home.

The guy who turned in front of them had a (likely) broken arm, but was able to walk and got out as soon as it happened to ask DH & the others with him if they were OK.

My car, which we'd just paid off early about 6 months ago is likely totalled. That's per the tow truck driver, anyway, and unofficially from the collision center it was towed to. The front end is completely smashed, and the engine is bulging through the console. The quarter panels are pushed back into the doors. The interior leather is torn from various things puncturing it, the guys' pants making friction tears, etc. The console is of course blown from the airbags... windshied smashed... the entire front end of the car was in a space about a foot deep. The radiator (what was left of it) had penetrated the engine so it was 100% undriveable.

I called the police station to see if I could get a copy of the police report and they said it would take 2+ days. I called back to see if we could find out of a ticket/citation had been issued to the other driver (we're trying to ensure the other driver is officially "at fault", since our insurance co has asked us about 6 times and the best my husband can say is, "unofficially") and they said they couldn't release that info. The policemen on site talked to the other driver, then gave my husband a piece of paper with the police officer's badge info, and some info on the other driver... ins co, name, home number, license #, etc. Then asked DH to write down the same and gave it to the other guy, then they left without another word.

We've talked with our insurance agent, the collision center, and made sure we didn't have to file a separate claim with the DMV. What else should we do? It seems liike we've done everything, but at the same time it feels like we haven't done a thing.

What a day. :angry

Good news (not). I have to leave next Monday for a business trip and I'm gone all week... so hopefully things move a little this week, or else... *sigh* Friday the other guy's adjuster called and said they were going to have a look early this week, but nothing more specific.

StrawartS - what an informative reply, I bet they taught you all kinds of things you didn't know! (major sarcasm). DH saw one of those commercials lastnight and winced when the impact happened, then looked at me and was like, "I really didn't need to see that..."

So sorry about your DH's accident, they are scary and not an easy thing to settle. I have been involved in a few through the years. The latest was last September, I had some serious knee injury from it being jammed into the dash/door panel. I had surgery on it, with PT following. They fixed my car, no problem there. My problems came with my knee. The ortho Dr. would not accept 3rd party insurance, so my insurance (Farmers) had to pay, and then subrigate (SP?) it from the other insurance(Geico). Which went well, for the MRI's involved, and the visits to get set for the surgery. I had other minor ailments we were letting heal. BUT in the surgery and all related costs, I went over my medical coverage limit of $10,000.00. Before I could see the Dr. for follow up or anything it had to be paid out of pocket. It was a nightmare. I literally quit my PT because it was costing so much. My original hospital bills and all went straight to the other insurance company thankfully. Well we were several thousand dollars into it, and I considered my knee as recovered as could be, but they drug out paying it for months.....and I do mean months, we were paid last month. They kept telling me they were waiting for my insurance to send something, when I checked with my insurance, they said it was all taken care of, and they in fact finally had to handle it for me, possibly with their attorney, I don't know. However my story has a happy ending!! Following the knee surgery I realized I needed to lose this weight! So I began looking into the band. My health insurance denied me twice, so I was looking into self pay, and figuring how to finagle funds to keep us out of the poor house, and still get my surgery. When lo and behold they finally settled my claim, paid me back all my out of pocket money, and even settled some extra on me for pain and suffering. And THAT is how I bought my band!!! I hope in some way you too find a happy ending! Maybe if they settle extra on DH for his P&S you can use it to help buy the car you want with no payment? Good Luck and glad DH and his passengers are all doing ok...and alive to tell about it!

Kat

So Wheetsin,

How's the claim going? Did they offer you a payout and are you happy with it? Of course, the injury settlement will take a lot longer.

I just got a letter from my company making sure the I wasn't out of pocket any $ for my accident that happened 12/5. I'm happy to see they asked, but unfortunately it's old news for me since that's 3 accidents ago.

:faint:

Why haven't you contacted an attorney? Document everything from the names of the officers, paramedics, witness, tow truck drivers, etc., and contact your local Bar Association for a referral to a good attorney.

There's no reason for you and/or your insurance to cover all the damages and medical bills if someone else was clearly to blame. Don't talk too much about the accident till you have legal counsel.

I realize a lot of people don't want to get involved in an ugly lawsuit, but when something legit (like this) happens you'll need good representation, not only to cover your damages, but to protect you in the event the other parties decides to sue you.

I usually don't advocate filing a Complaint with the court since I work on the defense side of the law, but in your case I strongly suggest you heed my advice.

Good luck to your family and friends.

Why haven't you contacted an attorney? Document everything ...

There's no reason for you and/or your insurance to cover all the damages and medical bills if someone else was clearly to blame.

DeLarla,

I don't see why Wheetsin should get an attorney and have to pay some of her settlement out to him/her when there has been no sign whatsoever that her family won't be adequately compensated.

If it looks like they aren't going to be treated fairly then absolutely, I agree, fight it. If it requires a lawyer then get one, but I don't see why that should be an automatic assumption. I do agree they should document everything.

As far as her Insurance company covering the damages, IF they do, then THEY will subrogate with THEIR lawyers (and foot the bill) that IS what they're there for.

Admittedly my opinion is biased.

As is yours of course, being a paralegal...

:deadhorse:

I don't normally bring up dead threads, but since I know a few others have had similar situations, shared my questions, and were following this thread...

As of yesterday around noon the word was still "Car has been moved to the salvage yard, we'll get someone out to look at it when we can." That had been the story for a LONG time. Well, about 45 minutes later DH got a call out of the blue telling him what they were going to offer us for buy out on the S60. Kare, you were right - we were pleasantly surprised, and they ended up offering us an amount considerably higher (more than 5K) than KBB's RETAIL value. So yep - we are pleased with the settlement, but disturbed by how slowly they moved. They said things that helped "up" the amount higher than average were the little details like the tread left of the tires (essentially brand new), the fact that when they pulled fluids they were crystal clear (prooved we were meticulous about maintenance schedules & kept the car in good shape), the fact that the interior was clean (proved we provided personal care, and didn't "trash" it) etc. I didn't know they considered that much detail!

Now that I know a little more about the process, if this ever happens again I'll run it through my collision and just be out the deductable until my carrier recoops their money. I didn't fully understand that was an option this time around.

DH has been told they're still "in negotiations" about his medical claims, but just his bills were about $2300. And just yesterday we found out who the right guy was (that was a little frustrating, Jack tells us we have to talk to Suzie who tells us we have to talk with Jack who tells us to Call Steve who says Mike is our man...") to deal with the misc losses... things like DH's cell phone that was punctured, his broken glasses we replaced, etc.

We weren't out to make money off this, I despise that mentality - I've actually seen people get HAPPY when they're in an accident, because their first thought it, "I bet I can get some money out of this!" Ugh. We definitely feel that what they've offered so far is above & beyond fair. We did talk to two different lawyers at one point, and both told us in more words that since DH's injuries were not significant, and could only be made to look a little more significant than they actually were, and they would pull their take from the medical payout, not the vehicular, our case wouldn't be worth their time. And all this time I thought the adjusters were the ones to watch out for!

Ok, excited, jittery & shameless new car enthusiasm, and a pinch of the "new car brags" syndrome up ahead...

------------------------------------

So the good news is, since we finally knew how much the ins co was going to pay out, owned the car free & clear so 100% of payout could go to a new car, and our dealer was willing to hold a check to cover that part for up to 45 days, we picked up our new car last night!

We put a huge chunk of our own money down, so combined with the insurance money we were able to pay over 85% of the total vehicle cost as our cash down payment, even after the extended warranty, service plan, and other options were added to the cost. We got virtually interest free financing on the remainder because we did very short term financing & signed up for their online bill pay. Woo! And I did end up picking the Volvo XC-90 (their SUV). And I love it. :second: It's white over taupe. It's nicely loaded with just about every available option except the xenon headlights and in-dash GPS. It's bittersweet because I want to drive it, and keep the miles off at the same time.

Wheetsin, can you smell the envy radiating off me? :second:

Seriously, congratulations on everything and I admire your attitude. I am the same way--and was appalled when it was the DOCTOR who seemed most corrupt during my personal-injury experience several years ago. He kept trying to make my injury appear worse than it was, and that I shouldn't worry because my lawyer was really good at this stuff (wink-wink, nudge-nudge). YUCK!

Enjoy your new wheels!!

WOW Wheetsin - What a Deal.. I am so jealous

My STBX wrecked his second vehicle in a 4 month period. Anyway he is going to eat the cost this time cause he only had Liability and the other drive did not have Ins. Go figure:faint:

What's STBX?

Soon to be Ex...