so I got in a car accident today... :Pictures: (photobucket)

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#31 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 7:46 pm

http://uniweb.legislature.ne.gov/LegalD ... 6006146000
Getting a lawyer is probably a good idea at this point.

mattbiernat · #32 Post by **mattbiernat** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 7:54 pm

carbon_unit wrote:http://uniweb.legislature.ne.gov/LegalD ... 6006146000
Getting a lawyer is probably a good idea at this point.

'
ty for the link.

#33 Post by **tomh009** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:14 pm

mattbiernat wrote:regarding the freeway entrance. I believe that the law is the same as for two lanes merging. the guy on the right has the right of way because his lane is ending. don't quote me on that thou.

EDIT: i just saw what bill wrote. I might be wrong. I wish somebody could find actual law that explains this.

No way ... if your lane ends and you need to move into another lane, you need to yield to traffic in that lane. And in this case the other driver's lane didn't even end.

The laws are different in every state (and sometimes even cities), oh joy. If someone looks up the Nebraska laws online they might be able to find an actual reference, though.

#34 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 9:13 pm

Tom, Click on the link in my above post. It links to the particular section of the Nebraska traffic law.

jamerslong · #35 Post by **jamerslong** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 2:14 am

CAR PHOTOS! (big)
http://s242.photobucket.com/albums/ff83/jamerslong/
CAR PHOTOS! (big)

Ok, so according to the Law, a peroson Entering the freeway must yeild to cars that are on the freeway i am correct?

i am going to look into a lawyer tomorrow.

i had a question, does the insurance company cover the costs of the vehicle and all properties inside of the vehicle?

Also would an insurance company cover the cost of money lost form being unable to work?

If so the damages will total up to 7500$. 4500$ for the car 1000$ in belongings in the vehicle, and my wife is out for a minimum of 2 weeks from work which is 2000$

I dont want to sue the guy. it would make me feel bad. everyone is suing everyone these days. i just want my Dues.

#36 Post by **carbon_unit** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 6:07 am

That's why you need a lawyer. They will make sure you are compensated for all these things and maybe some things you haven't thought of yet. You can bet the other guy's insurance company has lawyers on the case.
Usually it is not the individual doing the sueing, it is the insurance company.

dsigma6 · #37 Post by **dsigma6** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 11:29 am

BillMorrow wrote:check billmorrow.com for my wifes little experience with reality on aug 5, 2004..

Bill,

I would indeed call that an "experience." She is so lucky. What ever happened with the driver of the Ford?

skitty4gzus · #38 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 12:15 pm

All i can say is know what your doing. Once you turn a lawyer loose on them they will not stop until they drain em dry. I had to retain a lawyer over a workman's comp claim. No doubt she got my bills and things taken care of, but she was like a wildfire, reaking havoc wherever possible. Lawyer's have to get paid too for their time so consider what you expect out of this and than you can double that because they want 1/3 of what you receive in monetary adjustment. Im not in anyway telling you NOT to get a lawyer but consider what you want out of this; your bills paid for and loss of work. If your insurance company can get this for you I myself would leave it at that. I hear ya on the loss of the gas money. I barrel rolled my truck in '98 and totalled it. It was VERY scary. I just got out of my truck and sat there for a moment speechless. I just put a fuel pump on that truck and tires about a month before that happened!!!

mattbiernat · #39 Post by **mattbiernat** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 7:29 pm

I would get a list of things that you believe have to be compensated to you:
- $40 gas money
- rental
- 100% of your car
-etc...
get a lawyer to try to have the company to settle on these costs by signing some kind of paper agreeement. if they don't I would just suck all the juices out of them. I've seen insurance companies making deals with service shops so that repair of a car costs less money, etc... there is no reason to behave morally and have any kind of mercy towards those guys.

jamerslong · #40 Post by **jamerslong** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 7:44 pm

I found a lawyar and will be having a consultation tomorrow. i hope it ends up working out in the end.

would anyone like to buy a 1994 honda accord? (j/k

#41 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:32 pm

I split off the rest of the posts from this point into a separate thread:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=48312

as it was drifting away from jamerslong's topic.

mattbiernat · #42 Post by **mattbiernat** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 2:57 pm

what did the lawyer say?

jamerslong · #43 Post by **jamerslong** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 1:00 am

the lawyer told me pretty much nothing, but i did get the police report today, the cop who investigated the accident was talking to the driver that ran me off the road the whole time and never new until another whitness pointed him out. lol. it's some 18 year old Religious person, hes a missionary. according to the report he said he never saw me unil i was in the median and had no clue that he had pushed me off of the road. he was ticketed for failure to yeild. my wife spoke with his mother today as all there was on the police report was his moms address but she said he moved out. i will be giving them an ultimatim of 48hours tomorrow to turn over the insurance information otherwise i will be hiring the lawyer and taking the extreme route. i dont have time to play games.

will update more tomorrow

BTW: my wife is doing much better and most of her skin has grown up, but she may lose functoinality in her fingers and it will leave a nasty scar

jamerslong · #44 Post by **jamerslong** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:39 am

yay!

I settled with the insurance for my Car. 3000$ + 186 for sales tax which is less than expected, but it pays off the loan and i pocket 560$ so i am good with it.

Next i will settle for the property lost in the accident. it's worth around 1000$ total, half of it being the phone.

then i will settle pain and suffering for me and my daughter, but i am unsure of where to go on this. i refuse to get a lawyer as long as the insurance company co-operates with me.

how do you put a price on 3 weeks of severe pain, fear of the Highway, Increased stress at home, loss of time at work, so on and so fourth. any tips on what i should suggest?

and once again please, NO LAWYERS. (just want to make that clear as sometimes i have been flooded with the same suggestion many times.)

Thanks guys

#45 Post by **rkawakami** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:07 am

I'd say ask the insurance company how much they normally allow for pain and suffering and emotional distress in these situations. Lost wages is easy to determine as long as you can prove how many days you and/or your wife missed work and your pay scale(s). Same goes for property losses.

If you can recover enough money to get a new car similar to what you had or a good down-payment towards one, then that should be equitable. If you or your wife need any follow-up medical care or consultation, be sure to keep those costs in mind. If your wife's disability affects her job or might affect her future suitability of some jobs, that needs to be taken into account as well.

Above all, be reasonable. I wouldn't think you can get hundreds of thousands of dollars out of this unfortunate accident. A few thousand or tens of thousands makes more sense to me. Sure you could bring in a lawyer and maybe get those hundreds, but I'll bet that a significant amount of the money awarded to you will go to the lawyer.

jamerslong · #46 Post by **jamerslong** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:23 pm

i dont care about the amount, i dont even need tens of thousands, at least as far as settling for me and my daughter, i will however be seeking a decent amount of money for my wifes injurys.

as far as i can tell, the only people who recive 100,000$ + range are the next of kin to a fatality. there are 0 medical expenses being in the military, but they will repay the military all medical expenses which tricare allowed around 2000$

i am thinking 1500-3000$ for me. like i said i am seeking compensation for :
3 weeks of severe pain, fear of the Highway, Increased stress at home, loss of time at work.

for my daughter i may not settle until she is 18, because she will have 4 years from the date in which she becomes legal age to file.
i want to make sure she won't suffer anything in the future.

8000-16,000$ for my wife, depending on how she comes out of this. she will be scarred and will loose partial function in her last 2 fingers.

as for work, my wife lost maybe 2000$ in wages from being unable to work. and for me i want to be repayed the value of the week of leave i had to take. (185$)

for the value of the car. 3000$ + sales tax is waht they offered and i took it, it will pay off the loan and i pocket 500$

The property loss is fine as long as they don't push me around.
does the cost of a tank of gas get included in that? what really made me mad for some reason was the fact that i had just filled the tank.

even talking about this makes me jittery still.

just yesterday i had to take the freeway to go to the hospital for my wifes hand therapy and i was so vervous, i was in the slow lane going 55 and i kept getting passed by people, i was looking at my rear view to see what was going on behind me and a guy was approaching fast, he got up to me and then tried to change lanes to go around me. He almost pushed sombody off of the freeway! they both swerved and i FREAKED! my adrenaline was p0unding the whole way there. needless to say i took the slow way back.

Website · #47 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:54 pm

Note before I continue: I am a paralegal and I used to work for a large personal injury attorney on the east coast. Just to be clear, as a paralegal, I am not allowed to give legal advice.

Typically, attorneys aim for about 3 times the medical bills. In your case, the value of the medical bills. I know that the military was working on subrogating the costs involved with third party claims for treatment that they provide.

The amount for your wife will be different if there is a permanent disability, but there is also the potential for claiming Social Security.

For your daughter, I don't want to tread on the line of legal advice, but you might want to find out what the Statute of Limitations is in your state. Sometimes the only way to protect the SOL, is to file a law suit, which you can do on your own of course.

Another thing that you might want to look at, and this isn't considered legal advice, just see if your auto insurance policy had Medical Payments Benefits. If you have questions on Medical Payments, feel free to PM me.

As for your tank of gas...that depends on the mood of the adjuster.

#48 Post by **BillMorrow** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 7:12 pm

jamerslong

i may be repeating myself, but (and with all good intentions).....

do NOT be a sucker..
CONSULT with a good PI lawyer..
you do NOT need to go to court and sue, but you DO need someone who knows the rules..
ALL the rules and the in's and out's of insurance..

in my wifes case, had it NOT been for the lawyer i hired, i (we) would still be paying doctor bills..

my allstate agent, who i have had insurance through, with allstate, for about 17 years at that point, tried to get me to sign away my and my wifes rights WITHOUT revealing exactly what i would have been signing..!
that is called fraud..

the driver that hit my wife had no valid driver license, no insurance and was probably under the influence..
he survived much better than my wife..

with the lawyer i paid all the doctor bills, the lawyer bills and put some cash (tax free!) away toward retirement..

MY uninsured mortorist insurance paid it all..

WHY..?

because the lawyer made them..
otherwise, allstate would have handed me $40k and said byebye..
i untimately got $500k..!
quite a differnece.. right..

you do NOT need to sue, but you DO need advice..
and counsel..

do NOT give away your wifes RIGHT to be fairly compensated for that idiots stupidity..

and if his insurance does not cover your wifes injuries, which will be with her forever, your insurance should cover the shortfall with the uninsured (or underinsured) clause of your policy..

i STRESS this part, GET THE ADVICE OF A GOOD LAWYER..
(not an ambulance chaser who advertises on billboards)
ask your friends for a referal..

think of the boardroom of MonsterInsurance, Inc and how they celebrate everytime they shortchange a policyholder..

and the bonus the CEO gets when the stock goes up on massive profits..

jamerslong · #49 Post by **jamerslong** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:00 am

thanks guys, wow bill 500K is a good chunk. i am sure that your wife suffered badly. and that your bills were high, i hope your wife came out ok. but i dont have to pay any bills.

me and my wife both agree, as long as the insurance company pays all medical bills back to the military and gives us a good settlement we are fine, neither of us would like to get a lawyer. if at all possible. We have consulted with a lawyer but i may consult with another one though. just for a better understanding.

we have Decided to wait until she finishes treatment before we settle for her. I will read all papers before signing anything.

before we continue, so for now lets pretend she wasnt involved.

I am just going to settle for meyself at this point, i am fine no pain, numbness, tingling, twitches, ect., ect. most of my problem is Emotional and a few weeks of neck & back pain.

jamerslong · #50 Post by **jamerslong** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:09 am

The Spirit of X21 wrote:I'm glad to hear that everyone is well. If humans had nine lives, I'd say you used seven of them.

a little late but yeah, one life for each roll of the car, which i must say was really smooth, as if the car had turned into a ball.

(i just saw this)

NS · #51 Post by NS » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:38 am

Dear god, you are safe and sound..

#52 Post by **BillMorrow** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:37 am

jamerslong:

you should not settle for at least a year..
whiplash can come back..

IRT the $500k..
they would have cheated me out of the $$ if they could have..
the lawyer is the one who made them pay up in full..

good luck..

NS (aka sharmaine):
your youtube video does not show your face anymore..

jamerslong · #53 Post by **jamerslong** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:28 pm

man i hope i dont have whiplash, i will just wait and see the doctor for a while more. you make a good point.

jamerslong · #54 Post by **jamerslong** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:49 pm

i saw the insurance agent and picked up the check for my car, the only thing i have signed so far is the Listing of lost properties.

he is going to include the gas

But the total for lost properties was 2000$ + but my wife didnt care to claim her 200$ purse or 300$ pearl necklace, but it totaled out to 1702$ which the insurance guy was like, "That sounds fair to me I will submit the check today." so it is all well, i should have that by Next Wendsday. The catch is, should i buy a thinkpad or an Ipod touch?
but thats a different topic.

i am returning to the doc because i have been having alot of pain in my Right arm and shoulder. it comes and goes like a Pins and needles type of pain. my mid back is also having problems. and i am having trouble remembering things.

The insurance agent seems real nice, he said that we can just call when Treatment is finished and he will begin the Bodily injury claims.

for now i am looking to my insurance company for information on services thay are offering

#55 Post by **JaneL** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:31 pm

jamerslong wrote:it totaled out to 1702$ which the insurance guy was like, "That sounds fair to me I will submit the check today." so it is all well, i should have that by Next Wendsday.

Examine that check on both sides to make sure that when you endorse it you aren't waiving your ability to make future claims. State Farm almost caught me with that one years ago.

for now i am looking to my insurance company for information on services thay are offering

Fox/henhouse.

#56 Post by **carbon_unit** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:37 pm

nonny wrote: Examine that check on both sides to make sure that when you endorse it you aren't waiving your ability to make future claims. State Farm almost caught me with that one years ago.

For sure! I almost got caught by that one 20 years ago. I'm sure it is still widely used today.

jamerslong · #57 Post by **jamerslong** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:18 pm

holy crap! i didnt think of that, i read the front but not the back. i should have checked.

what did they have to say about it?

jamerslong · #58 Post by **jamerslong** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:17 pm

update:

i seem to be well recovered from my accident as my back is healed up, i have been seeing a chiropractor for the last month.
i leave for the sand box in a month and would like to settle before i leave.

but before i start i need some help, 1st any suggestions for claim amounts? i was thinking at 35,000$ for a high start point.

2nd, how do i get a cost of medical treatments due to this accident? i did my treatment at the base clinic and do not recive bills.

mattbiernat · #59 Post by **mattbiernat** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:10 pm

jamerslong wrote:update:

i was thinking at 35,000$ for a high start point.

i would ask a lawyer if this is a high or low start point. imo you should milk those insurance companies as much as you can. they deserve it.

jamerslong · #60 Post by **jamerslong** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:14 pm

lawyers are no help, i can do this without one, i am looking for 25,000 so i figure a good starting point is 10,000 above just to see what they think.

my biggest problem is that i do not pay medical bills, so it makes for a difficult starting point. it would be nice to get a good settlement, i could buy a new car with it. but i dont care for being loaded. i live comfortably with the money i have.

i plan on cleaning them with my wifes claim as that one should be easy

so I got in a car accident today... :Pictures: (photobucket)

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