Hi everyone,

I wanted to get ideas for what I should seek for medical damages in that auto accident I had back in december. I had soft tissue damage and will have had 12 sessions of massage therapy. My primary doctor doesn't think I'll have any other long term damage. I go in for a final check up from him at the end of the month and he thought I should try to start settling then. I was put on 2 prescriptions for pain and muscle relaxing. I have experienced numerous headaches since the accident, had to drive 200 miles to have my port checked out because of the accident and will have had about 20 doctors appts in regards to the event. I just have no idea what I should even expect. I'm sure they'll offer me some piddly amount but I have an attorney who is more than willing to help me if I need it. Anyway I've never been in this situation before and wanted to get some ideas. Teresa

Not to sound Money Hungry but you do not know how you will be affected by it down the road nor can your Dr be sure 100% or how many more Dr appts you will require for sure . I just say get the most you possible can so that you will be taken care of in the future should something come up.

Thank god you were not seriously injured. Seeking compensation for your lost expenses due to doctors appointments would seem like a great place to start. I worked for an insurance company for a long time and believe me, they have serious restrictions on how much they will pay out. The want to see proof about how your life has been affected by the accident. They even put up a fight to pay out to people who have been parazized and even killed in an accident. You should be very greatful you are living your life as you did prior to the accident. A friend of mine had an accident last week and is still in the hospital not able to move her legs. It is a shame. Good luck

Teresa,

In addition to the costs that have already been incurred, you should ask for money for future care as well. Your health insurance company will ask for reimbursement knowing it is an MVA. (Motor vehicle accident)

I had a car accident in 2002. A woman plowed into me and I had some whiplash and pain in my wrist and neck. It didnt seem critical at the time and my passenger seemed in worse shape than me, so I rode with her in the ambulance. A few days later, I could not pick up anything without having twinges in my wrist. I had an MRi done on my neck and a catscan of my wrist. My neck had C5, C6 radiculopathy with a nerve impinging my spinal cord. The gel sac was completely gone and then I had to see a neurosurgeon to find out whether I need surgery or not. The wrist was not fractured or broken, but after seeing a hand specialist, it was discovered I had DeQuervains disease which is an extreme tendonitis that is cause by blunt trauma or repetitive motion. As a result, I had to have nerve conduction studies, wrist to neck, since the docs thought I might have permanent damage being caused by the neck injury. My wrist got so bad that I could no longer pick up my newborn baby and my husband had to get up and pass my son to me at night cause I couldnt pick him up. One year later, I had to have wrist surgery to resolve the pain and to this day, I still need neck surgery. There were days I could not pick up my head from the bed. I have been postponing fusion for the last couple of years despite the urging of the neurosurgeon that it needs to be done. If I ever trip and fall, I could become paralyzed. (At least thats what they tell me...)

Please do not deal with the insurance company directly. They use a computerized software model to determine liability and frankly they wont care one iota if you have cost incurred as a result of lost wages, time and energy. This computer model will determine how much of a liability you are and they will offer you some rinky dinky amount that may not even cover your costs.

The woman who hit me only had 50K in insurance. Her insurance company offered me 10K to settel with 17K in medical bills. This did not cover the 400 hours I lost from work, pain and suffering, the fact I had my hand in a cast for 2 months and couldnt wipe my own butt. I would have minimally lost 7K if I had settled. Twenty months later, we settled for policy limit and this still did not cover everything. I had to go to my insurance company for underinsured motorist coverage and of course the lawyer got a third of everything we settled for. Please use the lawyer. You can try to settle this on your own first, but please know that the insurance company has no desire to settle this with you. Add up all medical costs to date, future care, lost wages, pain and suffering etc. No one here on this board can tell you what your case is worth, but just know you cant predict what might happen in the future, so you need to protect yourself. Once you sign the waiver, you cant ever ask for more money if you incur more costs.

Good luck!!!

Babs in TX

334/180

-154

Its true, you don't know how it could affect you in the future...BUT... are you out any expense thus far or did insurance take care of it for you? Was it your time, gas & pain that was the greatest expense? That is hard to place a price on. Since your PCP doesn't think you'll have any long term problems maybe, just maybe, you should let it go. Sometimes a lawsuit(not always) can cause more pain down the road than its worth & sometimes (just sometimes) its truely not worth your time for what you end up fighting for. Either or your attorney will have the best advice.. Just know what you will have to pay him once you settle. Best of luck to you.. I hope you get what you want & heal 100%.

Good Luck!!!

Our daughter was in an accident a few years ago and berated her parents for even suggesting she should have legal representation...until she was running a fever for unrelated reasons. And every place that had been hurt in the accident felt like someone was beating her with a sledge hammer. And she was in more pain than she had been after the accident. And then she was glad she had an attorney.

Have them buy you your own bed and breakfast! How's your back, Teresa?

Thanks for all the insights and suggestions. My own vehicle insurance company has payed all my medical bills under something called P.I.P. Personal Injury Protection. Evidently that is something I pay for under my full coverage policy and they don't expect reimbursement. I am basically out the time I spent driving and going to appts, the pain I have been in (bad at first but minimal now) and the basic shock of having to go thru all of this. Having had so many appts really has affected my work schedule and time. I have been unable to volunteer in the middle school since it happened because it seems like every week I have had appts on the days that I am available to go into the school. I just have no idea what to even ask for. The attorney I use is available to me thru my college and he is 100% free (expect for what I pay in my tuition fees but considering my hubby works at the college my tuition fees are almost nothing). I have used his advice and experience in the past with wonderful results. When I went to him regarding the loss of my car, he was very helpful and was willing to help me if needed for anything else regarding the incident. I was at a legal dead stop (waiting for a car in front of me to turn) when I was hit by that truck going 55 mph. It seems pretty cut and dry to me. The other drivers company hasn't offered me anything for my medical yet and their offer on my car was ridiculous. I ended up having to go thru my own company for that and was able to get what I wanted. Anyway I was just curious and wanted to get others' views on this. Thanks, Teresa

Hi Marie,

My back is fine. I still get a little twinge of pain when I turn my head to the right but considering how it was after the accident it feels 99.9% better now. I still have several massage therapy appts so that too should go away. I feel like I was pretty lucky considering how hard I was hit and the size difference of our vehicles. I still have moments where I miss my old car but I do love the new one too. Teresa

Teresa, what kind of car did you get? Just being nosy.

I don't have any advice on the settlement thing. Good luck with whatever you decide and I too hope you heal 100%.

Wow, I can't believe you weren't hurt even more, being hit that hard! Plus you've had to be out the expense of buying another more expensive car. I would get your attorney's advice. You do need to think about any future or long-term health problems. Best of luck to you!

Teresa,

That's pretty much how our daughter's accident went. The car in front of her stopped. She stopped. The car behind her slammed into her.

I'm not trying to drum up trouble where it doesn't exist, but our kid really did have a PTSD thing going for quite a while after that accident. She was always looking over her shoulder. She wouldn't go places with her friends with small sports cars. She was really reliving that accident. She's didn't "try to collect" for PTSD, and she's over it now, but it was real...and caused by someone who just wasn't paying attention.

I'm glad that you are okay...but don't sell your suffering short. There IS value to peace of mind.

Teresa my husband was rear ended 9 years ago and still suffers from it, in the last 9 years has had 3 neck surgeries, lives on fentynal ( narcotic pain patch) he also needs back surgery a;ll stemmingfrom an accident 9 years ago, wegot 25,000 which is nothing compared to the money we have put out over the years and for what my husband has lost, emotionally, physically and mentally. I would never have imagined we would still be seeing a pain management doctr 9 yrs later, still going to PT 9 years later, still waking up in pain 9 years later. This has changed my husbands life dramatically and our families. Think long term Teresa, because you never know how this will affect you later. My husband is living proof

Trust me, I want to get as much as I can. This has been a major inconvenience for me. I am truly lucky I wasn't more injured out of it but like Sue says about her daughter, I am totally a nervous wreck whenever a big vehicle is behind me now. I've even pulled over to let them pass just to get them off of my butt. I drive the speed limit and maybe go a few mph more but I hate it when vehicles try to push me along at faster speeds. I am built pretty sturdy and heal pretty easily so if the doc tells me I won't have any future problems its pretty likely he is correct. I'm not going to jump on the first offer they give me, thats for sure. I'll definitely go chat with the attorney some more too. Thanks for all the advice, Teresa