RoadWarriorFromLP

I had the impression from the OP that his accident occurred in the United States while visiting his employer's US offices. If my impression is mistaken, I am open to correction.

As he has indicated that his employer's insurance is already involved, I don't see the problem. If the OP was intending to sue the other party for pain and suffering, then yes, I would want to remove it from their hands and get my own lawyer. But if he just wants his medical bills paid, it sounds as if the process may have already begun.

lapin_windstar

Jesus, this is like a law school pop quiz.

TruBrit

seems the OP has gone awol but yes, he's here in houston until saturday.

username 34

we had a big accident in the US in Oct last year, rented through National, went to the hospital as I was injured (dislocated elbow, broken shoulder and other things) our car written off, SUV that hit us written off, school bus damaged.

Got a claim form faxed to us from the rental company, filled in the details of our medical insurance cover and the forms and details given to us from the hospital and was sorted. Hubby received a citation from the police as did the other driver and resulted in a $180 fine which we paid via the police website within 30 days.

we were suprised that the hospital (Aventura in Miami) didnt demand credit card payment there and then - they just asked for the medical cover details (which we have with our jobs) and we gave them those details and they did it from there, we never paid a penny

total claim against us and our insurance company ....

$29,000 our car (brand new, 3 weeks old)
$11,400 SUV we hit (Ford Expedition)
$23,312 damage to school bus
$310 tow fees
$480 Ambulance fee
$4,187 medical bills

the STUPID rental company tried to bill us for the car being stored after it was towed away, claiming they did not know where it was and had to track it down ..... errrr - we called you from the accident to tow it!!! (swiped our credit card details whitout us knowing for over $1000) but after MANY emails, and 5 weeks complaining to them and a final threat of immediate legal action through my hubbys company they refunded our card within 2 hours of that last email.

RoadWarriorFromLP

No worries. Based upon today's exchange rate, that works out to be about 30 quid.

arbroath_abroad

thanks for all the responses..

been for medical today...

I am here at my companies HQ and they are covering all the insurance and medical costs direct..

With regards to personal injury claim......i dont know about that..

RoadWarriorFromLP

Stories about mammoth awards for pain and suffering are grossly exaggerated. They aren't common, and when these few large judgments are granted, the victim is usually permanently disabled and could use the money, or else has been grossly disfigured and is being paid as a form of recompense for the degree of their trauma and their inability to live a normal life. (Without a socialized health care system, badly debilitated victims in need of long-term or lifetime care need a lot of money to pay for it, so when granted, it's usually more than justified.)

If you're just a bit banged up from a garden variety car accident and are in need of some relaxation and aspirin, then there's nothing much for you to claim aside from repair and medical expenses, which will ultimately be paid to your doctors and the rental company, not to you.

If your accident provides a temporary inconvenience, then some factor based upon the value of your time would be used to secure a judgment, but you'd need your own lawyer for this.

Since these cases are taken on contingency, with your lawyer getting about one-third of the proceeds if you win, there have to be enough damages for it to be worth a lawyer's attention. There's no hard and fast rule, but if your pain and suffering claim can't be justified in am amount that is a fair bit into five figures, no lawyer will touch your case. Which means that you need to have either incurred a genuine, fairly substantial loss, or else work pretty hard to fabricate the appearance of one if you expect to have a case.

username 34

lapin_windstar

Ouch! And *that's* why the legal minimum insurance is crap! In PA, the legal minimum coverage for property damage is $5,000. If you'd bought that and had your accident, you'd have been about $65,000 in the hole!

tamms_1965

"Ambulance chasers" may approach an accident victim...your crash is public record. In Ohio, they usually start asking the at-fault party for 3x the medical bills. This assures that (1) the bills are paid off, (2) you get 1/3 for "pain and suffering," and (3) they get their 1/3.

Now if you have more than a few bangs and/or scratches, lost work, etc., they go for more. If all parties cannot agree to a sum, the ambulance chaser threatens a lawsuit (which no one wants to deal with, including the amb. chaser). In Ohio, you have 2 years to settle/file your suit.

A lot of times if you are having difficulty with an insurance company not paying what is owed you, you can threaten them with "I think I need to hire and attorney for this," and they become a little more receptive to your demands. They would rather pay what they owe to you than the increased cost that an attorney will add to the bill. There are sooooo many of these tort lawyers around that they WILL take smaller cases. It's there bread and butter. However, I do not think you need one for a minor accident.

Some states (Kentucky) do not allow claims for pain and suffering....I think it is because they are commonwealths.

RoadWarriorFromLP

Fair points; however, insurers have been changing how they handle these matters, in order to discourage minor claims.

Once upon a time, the typical routine was to threaten a suit, then milk your accident so that it becomes a lottery ticket. It was quite easy to turn a minor collision into moderate winnings.

Within the past decade, insurers reacted to this phenomenon by tilting the other way -- they dispute just about everything. They keep law firms on retainer (which are really often just indirect employees -- they set up the law firm, and that insurer will be its only client) so that their legal costs are relatively low. This puts pressure on the claimant, because most claimants won't be able to retain a lawyer if the case isn't worth enough, which gives the insurer the advantage.

If you are getting BS from the insurer, having a lawyer should help. But it's getting the lawyer that can be the problem. If your case is small, you'll have a tough time finding one on contingency, and most of us certainly don't want to pay for legal counsel by the hour.