Insurance Settlement Without Lawyer Posted: 04-30-06 20:40pm
About 2 or so months ago my girlfriend got
into a car accident that resulted in a
broken clavicle close to the ac joint.
Her initial doctor recommended just
letting the clavicle heal and had her wear
a brace for a few weeks until she was able
to go around without one. She had
recieved a second opinion that said
basically not to go with the surgery as
well.
Now as she comes to the last doctors
appointment and physical therapy she is
dealing with the insurance company. The
details of the accident are very much in
her favor. The wintesses as well as the
driver who hit her all stated she was not
at fault in any way. Very clean case as
far as who is to blame. The insurance
company is asking now for the medical
billing so they can make an assessment for
her claim.
She has determined already that she would
like to do this without a laywer. The
information she has recieved from lawyer
consultation seems to show that having a
lawyer really has no more than a
convenience benefit for their services.
She has no case for a loss of wages though
she has been without her car since the
accident. She only seems elegible for
medical. She does have some concerns for
the amount of the settlement.
She's not a gouger but she does want to
make sure she is not left with any follow
up bills rising from this later. We both
have read a lot of sites online showing
accounts of patients having sharp pain in
the area of the break after the initial
6-8 week healing period (she is 24) and
then a year after the "healing process"
they end up requiring surgery. That's a
hefty bill she's not looking forward to.
To summarize: aside from the billing
information, would she benefit from
passing over her medical records showing
the procedures performed to the insurance
company? We've both read suggestions not
to submit all of the medical record
information as the insurance company may
pick and choose items that they will try
to justify a lower settlement for. We
just want to make sure that she is covered
in the event of a complication, especially
with the pain she has in the mornings in
that area. Her doctor says the bones are
healing fine, but that's also what the
doctors told the parties involved in the
surgery one year after "healing". Her
consistent pain as of current observations
(over 8 weeks after the accident) is
documented in her doctors notes.
What information do we need to have ready
to assure that we are best prepared for
the insurance company?
|
sandyallen
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 02 Feb 2004 Posts: 4580
Posted: 05-10-06 13:43pm
Don't be in no hurry to settle and do not
settle cheap, she/he could have problems
down the road with this, what you might
want to do is to put it in there if that a
problem arises with it later that she will
still be covered by it, be sure to mention
that the injured did not have decent
transportation or any transportation after
the accident and that the injured is still
having problems. Insurance companies are
always in a hurry to settle, she / he can
always get some advice from an attorney.
The best of luck!
