Property damage and Personal injury are two parts independent?
Property damages (PD) and bodily injury (BI) are 2 totally different things. With PD, easy, since, the at fault insurance either pays to fix, or if repairs exceed the value, they total it and pay fair market value. If, repairs, it is black/white. The adjuster gets the estimate, and they pay based on the estimate. Since you are 3rd party, they issue the check to you. You can have a shop of your choice do the repairs (based on estimate) and once done, you can just sign over the check from the insurance company. Now, while the car is in the shop, then the insurance owes for a rental, and in your case, they are paying you daily (less) since you still need another car to get around, and with a rental, they are paying for salaries and business expenses, that you do not incur with your own auto. Now, if you choose, you can cash the check and spend it however you like and not get the vehicle fixed and it is legal, and the insurance company does not care, since you have the choice to drive a damaged vehicle and they close their file. They will, stop any loss of use, since if you don't fix, don't get entitled for the daily rate they are paying you now. With PD, most companies will not have you sign a release, since once paid, you are done. Even if there is a BI claim, NO insurance company expects you to hold onto the check, or not fix your car, since think about it, it does not make sense. An injury claim could be settled w/in days if minor, or could take years, if serious. The adjuster will need all your medical bills, doctors reports, any lost wages etc, before they can even consider what/if any settlement is owed for BI. Depending on state laws, may determine if you must meet a thress-hold, like scarring, surgery, broken bones or a permanent impairment, and in others, even whip-lass is paid. Now with a BI settlement, most all require you to sign a release before they issue a check to be paid. The reason is, they don't want you to come back later and complain of more injuries, so you have to be ready to settle or wait till all of your medical problems are solved, or if the statute of limitations runs, then you have to file a lawsuit to keep it open till settled.
How does the personal injury claim process work?
The process begins with an injury. There are many types of injuries. Your injury doesn't have to be to your body to be valid. The list of potential injuries that might fall under the "personal injury" blanket is large, so I won't spend much time discussing that here.Once you have been injured, you have to decide whether you want to sue. If you do, the following is the general process. Some steps can differ based on your claim and jurisdiction. For example, employment claims can require mandatory arbitration.I will assume that the suit is not settled. Step 1) File a complaint. The complaint can be pretty vague in most jurisdictions for most claims. However, some claims (i.e. fraud, antitrust) may require a more detailed complaint. In those instances, you might have to conduct some initial research before filing the complaint. But generally, simply describing the injury and the circumstances that led to the injury (plus some other technical statements regarding jurisdiction) will be adequate).Step 2) The other side will file an answer. In their answer they will deny some/all of your claims from your complaint.Step 3) The other side may file a motion to dismiss. If they do, you will have to respond. Step 4) Discovery - you can request information from the other side, and likewise, the other side can request information from you. These requests might take the form of document requests, or specific questions which must be answered or objected to.Step 5) Various motions might be filed leading up to trial. These include motions for summary judgement, motions in limine, etc. These motions are basically essays that request the court to do something (drop the case, deny evidence, etc.)Step 6) TrialThis process can take a while (1-3 years). There are a lot of mini steps throughout which I did not mention.
Insurance Adjuster Question: What is reasonable car accident settlement with neck damage?
Recently my wife was in an accident on the freeway. The other driver hit her from behind and smashed the back of her car while at a stop. The car has been repaired, but we are still getting her neck worked out. X-rays revealed damage to her neck. My question is regarding the BI portion of the claim. For a few weeks I had to take time off my part time job to watch our baby, as my wife could not use her neck/shoulder. I do not know if this will matter, but I probably lost 600 bucks in wages. The total medical bills will probably be in the range of 5k to 10k when it is all said and done. We have had a great experience with the company paying out the claim so far. What is a fair settlement once her neck injury has been resolved? Will the lost wages be calculated as some sort of "inconvenience"? I'm not trying to take advantage of anyone, just a dad looking to have a professionals opinion. By professional I mean an insurance adjuster... not a personal injury attorney :)
Personal Injury offer too low from insurance company?
The policy limit has nothing to do with the value of your claim. The value of your claim is based on the injury. It is highly unlikely that an adjuster would open at 50K when they have a top dollar of 250K. Adjusters usually don't set their ranges that wide. It's standard for an attorney to take 33% of the settlement. In general, the insurance company does not consider your attorney fee in the offer. You hired the attorney. It's your job to pay him. Settlement offers are usually based on the injury itself and the facts of the case. Your best source of information is your attorney. He's the one know has all the details of your case and injury. In order for any of us on YA to give you a good opinion on the value of your claim, we would have to evaluate all your medical records and the claim file. Since we don't have access to that information - any value anyone suggests on this site is just cr@p that was pulled out of thin air. Since you are paying your attorney a huge chunk of money for his legal expertise - you need to ask him your questions. That's what you are paying 33% for.
Is it dangerous to leave a broken bone un-treated
Ehhh.. seems a little far fetched. This is a toe we're talking about! You should be fine unless you are in a great deal of pain, having trouble going about your normal day, or if you can see the actual bone coming out of your skin.. then I don't think you have anything to worry about. The worse of your worries should be how your toe is going to look in sandals from now on. Don't sweat it.