dbj1000

A day on, and things are not so clear in terms of lack of injury. It seems that my wife has pretty significant whiplash, and possibly so do my daugthers (they're all being checked out by a doctor today). All of them are in some pain around the neck and back, particularly my wife. I hadn't realized that it was common of whiplash that it doesn't start to really hurt for a day or two.

I'm going to talk to a lawyer. It's clear at this stage that the damage to the car is the least of my worries.

Any advice dealing with a lawyer? I've never had to deal with one myself.

RoadWarriorFromLP

That's true, but not really the issue here. The point here is to fight for as high of a value as possible, and the KBB number will generally be above whatever adverts are in the Auto Trader.

KBB includes two prices, a "wholesale" amount (theoretically what you should receive if trading in the car at a dealership) and a retail amount (theoretically, what a consumer would have to pay to a dealer to purchase the car.)

In practice, a dealer will attempt to pay you well below "wholesale" if you were to trade it in, but that isn't the issue here. The insurer should be paying based upon replacement cost, which is the price that you (not a dealer) would pay to purchase the car.

If you are a savvy buyer, you won't pay anything close to retail KBB, but that doesn't mean that shouldn't fight for that amount as a payout. The adjustor's job is to pay you as little as they can get away with without creating a bad faith liability to their insured, so you can expect them to make excuses about it. From your standpoint, anything that justifies an increase in the amount of your payout is a good thing, and you should fight for it, regardless.

One thing I forgot to mention is that you should also be sure to get paid for the cost of whatever sales tax, doc fees, etc. that you would have to pay for getting a replacement car. That's not in the KBB number, so you will have to be sure to include this in addition to the published figure.

User Name

You might want to contact the local Bar for your city/town/State to ask for some referrals. There are lots of personal injury lawyers, you might find some in Yellow Pages, but it is important to do lots of research to find exactly what you are looking for. Sorry to hear about your family's distress, hope things work out well for you all. G-d bless.

scrubbedexpat099

They could, but I have not heard of anying providing that service, but then I have not heard of any doing that, but I do not have enough samples to make a definitive comment and was just wondering if they normally do or normally do not. Will see if I can find out.

There seems to be no US equivalent of the UK Insured Loss Recovery product, I have asked and got blank looks so if anybody knows anything different, please shout.

scrubbedexpat099

My sentiments as well, there are certainly no shortage of operators in this area, but you need someone who is State specific and local.

BigDavyG

They will not volunteer to do it on your behalf, but you may be able to persuade them to do so.

scrubbedexpat099

All fair enough, just quite happily surprised that most people who have mentioned this from personal expoeriance have been satisfied with their settlement numbers. I was expecting a lot of negativity.

snowbunny

Do NOT sign anything until your family's physical condition is sorted out. In many cases as has been mentioned signing over the cheque to pay for the car's damage constitutes an acceptance of a final agreement.

A lawyer is not a bad idea. There are plenty that specialise in auto accidents because it's such a common cause of monetary and physical damage.

RoadWarriorFromLP

It's pretty typical that you don't feel whiplash until the following day or so. If you were hit fairly hard from behind, it's par for the course.

I hope that you have a police report in progress that will substantiate fault. (If the report ends up citing the other driver, so much the better.) An accident of that magnitude should always include a police investigation. (Side note, but I recommend carrying a disposable camera in your car at all times, just in the event that you have an accident, as supporting evidence will help.)

Most PI lawyers are sleazy, but you will want a ballbuster that will fight for every dime. Keep in mind, though, that the attorney's fees usually amount to about a third of the judgment amount, plus actual costs, so you had better have a substantial claim in order to merit hiring a lawyer. (You don't want the lawyer to end up pocketing an amount equivalent to all of your medical injuries, plus a portion of the value of the car.)

It is difficult to evaluate an attorney whom you have found without a referral, but I would be looking for one who can provide examples of what he was able to get on behalf of other clients who had similar damages, and learn what process he used to get those payoffs, and how much of it was ultimately paid to his client. In any case, you should be able to get a free consultation during which you can get his feedback. You want someone who is aggressive,but if he overpromises, I'd be nervous.

scrubbedexpat099

In Colorado.

A third would be very high.

But there ois a gap in the system, bottom end you get in on the Small Claims Court, high end it is not such a big deal and you need a good lawyer anyway.

Were the middle is I am not sure, I have heard the figure $5k to $50k mentioned.

blaze

I understand completely, if you can't find someone on here to answer your questions I'd be very surprised, everyone seems to have knowledge in all different areas, combined we are knowledgeable beyond belief!

RoadWarriorFromLP

Not sure about knowledgable, but I'm definitely beyond belief (or so I've been told...)

snowbunny

We have many years of combined experience.

I've been in a serious crash; my mother and brother were in an identical crash to the OP's and my mother suffered whiplash (the axle of the car broke and the front seat collapsed backwards).

This is really a situation that needs to be taken one step at a time, and no one should rush the OP.

jjmb

don't bank on any big personal injury award. My daughter was in an accident where she received chemical burns to her shoulders and lower body, complete lost of memory for 24 hours and a back injury which the specialist said she would suffer from for the rest of her life. Her lawyer said the days of big compensation in TX are long gone. After she received her compensation, around a 3rd of it was taken by our health insurance, to cover for expenses she incurred in hospital and the follow up care.

Still, all in all we were just grateful she survived. The car she was in (driven by her then boyfriend) was rammed by a big dodge truck as her boyfriend was waiting to do a left turn. The car was flipped on it roof and skidded about 70ft futher along the road. Fortunately there was no on coming traffic. The burns were from the gasoline when the gas tank split. Yet again fortunately, there were no sparks.

It took nearly 3 yrs for the other cars insurance to settle, they were debating the value of the car...guess which insurance company - allstate....one of the worst insurance company's according to her lawyer, for settling.

dbj1000

I'm terribly sorry to hear about your daughter... it sounds like a dreadful accident.

I'm not doing this to get rich. I'm going to a lawyer because I'm finding it impossible to deal with his insurance claims person, and I feel that we need someone on our side. I don't like the idea of a lawyer, but I think it's my best choice to get this all sorted out.