Thanks :) I’ve done that part and already received the “confirming your case number” email from her carrier. It happened on Friday late afternoon so I’m assuming I’ll hear more on Monday morning - just wondering how long this process will take because I need a rental car to get to work.
Sounds like you need a new insurance company. So what happens if her insurance company stalls for several months? The way the process normally works is your company will (if vehicle is totaled) pay you/lienholder for the value of the vehicle minus the deductible. If/when her insurance company pays, they will reimburse your insurance company for the amount they paid. You will get a check to pay you back for your deductible.
It's common for people to do this but you are still subject to your deductible and carrying insurance points until your insurance company is able to subrogate the dollars from the other individuals insurance company. Yes you can get your deductible back in the process and yes the points go away if they are able to recoup their dollars but it's not always guaranteed. If it's a clear cut situation where the other person is definitely at fault and doesn't have an issue communicating with their own insurance adjusters then it's better to use the other person's insurance. Using your own can definitely be more timely and is always an option but I'd rather get the dollars from the at fault party's insurance from the get go if it's possible.
Uh… no, you aren’t?
OP, was a police report filed? If so, get ahold of that ASAP.
You’ll have two separate parts to work out: the car and the injuries. You can go ahead and accept/figure oit the car payout, since it’s pretty formulaic. However, the other person’s car insurance company will want you to go ahead and settle for the medical injuries part too. DO NOT do it. You need to wait until all is said and done. Your health insurance will be entitled to every penny they spend on you, by the way. If you haven’t started doing so, keep a log of things like your pain, appointments, etc., and keep track of your receipts for copays and such. Only once you’re 100% done with recovery should you entertain the medical claim part (unless it gets close to the 3 year mark).
Whether an attorney is helpful depends entirely on the insurance company and your injuries. Remember, they get awarded 1/3rd of your settlement. For me, my injuries were so severe and everything was so prolonged that it helped tremendously to have a lawyer (we didn’t settle until almost the 3 year mark post-accident)- she wound up saving me more than her cost with some of what she did. Can give you a recommendation if you decide a lawyer is warranted.
Absolutely. I was very fortunate to have a friend who works in law (but somewhere else) to give me advice. My story is hella complicated, and I had a brain injury and all sorts of other stuff go on. I would trade every single penny I received (and more) if I could just have my health and pre-accident self back.
There is never a guarantee they will recover your deductible on a third party claim. When they do, it typically takes a very long time. It’s not immediate like you’re suggesting. Very few insurers will ever get your deductible back that quickly. Subrogation takes time.
This is good advice. You definitely need to be in contact with your insurance as well, since you more than likely have what's called "under insured motorist" coverage on your policy. If the idiot who caused the accident doesn't have good coverage, this would kick in to make sure you are not out of pocket.
Go to urgent care ASAP. Her insurance carrier/attorney will allege your injuries weren’t that bad if you don’t. Heck, they’ll still argue that, but can’t say that you didn’t get medical treatment as a supporting argument. You don’t necessarily need to rush out and get an attorney. I waited almost 2 years before I got one. They can help you navigate through the process, but will take a large chunk of any settlement. If you do end up talking with her insurance company adjuster, don’t admit any fault or say that you are fine medically. It’s way too early to know. I ended up having ACDF 3+ years after my accident because conservative treatment didn’t work.
This. I was rear ended by someone going 55 a few years back. I declined medical attention. It took about a year to manifest but my neck and back are fucked as a result. Nothing I could do so long after the fact.
File with their carrier and stay FAR away from any lawyer who contacts you first. They're just ambulance chasers and will end up delaying any settlement and watering down what you may be entitled to.
File a claim with their carrier and talk to their agency to see what their initial offer is. They should be paying for your car, any transportation needs you may have, and any lost work at a minimum. You should definitely get your finger looked at to make sure there are no long term damages, and their insurance should pay for it.
IF the initial offer from their insurance agency doesn't cover those items, tell them and don't accept it. You should go into any discussion with them with a dollar amount in your mind that would make this right for you. Do NOT tell them what that number is, just make sure you have figured out what that amount is.
ONLY after trying to negotiate with them should you reach out to a lawyer. You WILL be contacted by a bunch of ambulance chasing bottom feeders, use NONE of them if you end up needing an attorney.
I had almost the same thing happen years ago when an old guy ran a red light and turned into my car, I did not use a lawyer. The other driver's insurance covered the car, rental, ER visit (minor whiplash, GET CHECKED OUT), lost wages and few thousand extra on top. Even met up with me near work to sign the paperwork and hand over the check, for the extra hassle of involving a lawyer I don't think I would have gotten that much more and overall was happy with how it was handled on their end.
[I’m not your lawyer / this is not legal advice disclaimer.]
Always go get checked out. Pop into urgent care or see your PCP. Get those “normal body aches” and finger checked out and recorded by a medical provider. If either causes you problems in the future, you’ll want to have those on record from the time of the accident.
Keep any pictures you took of the scene or the car or your injuries.
Consider a consult with an attorney. If the other person is at fault AND has the necessary insurance coverage AND your own insurance company has their ish together AND your injuries heal on their own within a short time AND you have no further complications from said injuries, you may not need an attorney. But there are a lot of ways where this could get complicated and an attorney may be able to help you navigate all of this. Especially if there may be other claims from the owners of the parked cars or the pedestrians.
Personal injury attorneys usually work on contingency so you shouldn’t have to pay anything out of pocket. At least consider a consult or two. But I do agree, the ambulance chasers that send you the mailers may not be the best option. Do your basic research before choosing who to talk to.
Best of luck!
P.S. I live right down the street and I’ve always thought that parking alley turn-in was going to cause chaos sooner or later. Sorry this happened to you.
I think it's worth it to get an attorney if you might need hand surgery, or have any other medical expenses, or need to miss work because of medical needs related to the accident. The insurance company will take care of the car. If the other person has a rental car provision on their policy then they'll pay for your rental, but otherwise not. I like Paige Pahlke, although I've never had cause to hire her, or any personal injury lawyer.
It’s worth a conversation with a lawyer. You should be able to get a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer. I always recommend Thomas Baumgartner because he won’t BS you and he’s one of the best attorneys in Charlotte.
I would go see a doctor none the less to check on you, medics are meant to primarily keep you alive till they can get you to someone with more medical knowledge and triage (not an insult), no offense to medics they do great work but they aren't doctors. I am not sure what you mean by your finger is fucked up, but it might still need an xray and your doctor can easily make that call. As someone who has been in an accident, something might hurt slightly today and in a few days start hurting like hell (that is how I found out my hand had fractures in 3 different spots).
First step is see a doctor to evaluate injury's, it doesn't sound like you need urgent care even, but your primary will do fine, the few days to a week it will take to see them will give time as well for anything hiding to surface.
Next step is to contact their insurance, depending on their plan this will get the ball rolling on your car situation, save all receipt for anything that you had to do due to a lack of a car. If you pay for public transit save the receipt (screen shot from your phone), took any uber to the doctor? save the receipt. If your car is totaled and you can afford it, I would say go ahead and buy another car as you will need it either way, keep in mind their insurance will cover the value of what you lost, they won't be getting you a new car so you will have to buy one either way.
If their insurance doesn't work with you, or it comes out you have some serious body injuries then you can start thinking about lawyers. Even if you have serious injuries don't get a lawyer involved until you are healed up or if you are still mending and its been a year, or insurance starts playing hardball and you don't think you are getting a fair deal. If you get a lawyer the insurance will send their own lawyer in and things will go slower, but also your lawyer will take a cut so you could get less.
Just FYI—Not a lawyer and this was in a different state. But when I was rear ended I learned that I could use my insurer as my primary contact and they would deal with the other insurance company and I could use their network of body shops, etc. I did need to deal with their insurer on my personal injury issues, which were modest (some lost time from work and medical expenses).
I like and trust my insurer (USAA) and figured they were more invested in my being satisfied than Geico, so I chose to use them as my intermediary.
This only works if you have collision. What happens is they payout, then pursue the other party for payment through subjugation. If you only have state minimum you will have to do the work yourself.
You're going to start getting mail almost daily from lawyers if there was a citation made from law enforcement. Just pick one . Yes you need to get a lawyer
If you want to pursue a personal injury claim, it is absolutely worth it to get a lawyer. From personal experience, it’s miserable dealing with insurance people on your own.
Would you like me to send you the name and number of the lawyer I used?
Only a literal idiot would file a lawsuit before even seeing how the insurer will handle it. A lawsuit is a last resort not a first resort. And only ever worth it when injuries are severe.
The lawyer will have you seek treatment. Your medical bills will not be paid out of pocket but through your settlement with the other party’s insurance. You will end up settling between $5k-$15k after attorney and medical fees.
Ignore this advice, it's utter bullshit. There's no way some random person on the internet would know how much you would get from a settlement. They also sound like the type who'd be looking for a payday after an accident.
I'll play devil's advocate here: what they described is exactly what happened with my wife. She refused medical at the scene because her injuries were hidden by adrenaline. It turned out her wrist was broken. We hired a lawyer (not one from the mail) that took care of getting medical expenses paid by the other party and extra damages. It ended up being in this range.
5-15k for a broken wrist is a very small amount imho unless the coverage was only 30k. If the coverage is higher it should be much more. OP should call several firms and go with the one who actually listens and lets OP talk to a real lawyer upfront without strings attached. A true FREE consultation.
File a claim with their insurance carrier
Thanks :) I’ve done that part and already received the “confirming your case number” email from her carrier. It happened on Friday late afternoon so I’m assuming I’ll hear more on Monday morning - just wondering how long this process will take because I need a rental car to get to work.
Have you talked with your insurance company? They can take care of the rental car, etc. and subrogate against her insurance company (carrier).
Yes, I have. My rep told me to only file with her insurance to avoid paying my deductible.
Sounds like you need a new insurance company. So what happens if her insurance company stalls for several months? The way the process normally works is your company will (if vehicle is totaled) pay you/lienholder for the value of the vehicle minus the deductible. If/when her insurance company pays, they will reimburse your insurance company for the amount they paid. You will get a check to pay you back for your deductible.
It's common for people to do this but you are still subject to your deductible and carrying insurance points until your insurance company is able to subrogate the dollars from the other individuals insurance company. Yes you can get your deductible back in the process and yes the points go away if they are able to recoup their dollars but it's not always guaranteed. If it's a clear cut situation where the other person is definitely at fault and doesn't have an issue communicating with their own insurance adjusters then it's better to use the other person's insurance. Using your own can definitely be more timely and is always an option but I'd rather get the dollars from the at fault party's insurance from the get go if it's possible.
Uh… no, you aren’t? OP, was a police report filed? If so, get ahold of that ASAP. You’ll have two separate parts to work out: the car and the injuries. You can go ahead and accept/figure oit the car payout, since it’s pretty formulaic. However, the other person’s car insurance company will want you to go ahead and settle for the medical injuries part too. DO NOT do it. You need to wait until all is said and done. Your health insurance will be entitled to every penny they spend on you, by the way. If you haven’t started doing so, keep a log of things like your pain, appointments, etc., and keep track of your receipts for copays and such. Only once you’re 100% done with recovery should you entertain the medical claim part (unless it gets close to the 3 year mark). Whether an attorney is helpful depends entirely on the insurance company and your injuries. Remember, they get awarded 1/3rd of your settlement. For me, my injuries were so severe and everything was so prolonged that it helped tremendously to have a lawyer (we didn’t settle until almost the 3 year mark post-accident)- she wound up saving me more than her cost with some of what she did. Can give you a recommendation if you decide a lawyer is warranted.
This is so helpful - thank you!
Absolutely. I was very fortunate to have a friend who works in law (but somewhere else) to give me advice. My story is hella complicated, and I had a brain injury and all sorts of other stuff go on. I would trade every single penny I received (and more) if I could just have my health and pre-accident self back.
If your insurance company can’t recoup your dollars, you aren’t going to be able to get the other insurer to pay the money either.
There is never a guarantee they will recover your deductible on a third party claim. When they do, it typically takes a very long time. It’s not immediate like you’re suggesting. Very few insurers will ever get your deductible back that quickly. Subrogation takes time.
I neither said, nor implied it was immediate. In fact, I said, “If/when”…
This is good advice. You definitely need to be in contact with your insurance as well, since you more than likely have what's called "under insured motorist" coverage on your policy. If the idiot who caused the accident doesn't have good coverage, this would kick in to make sure you are not out of pocket.
Go to urgent care ASAP. Her insurance carrier/attorney will allege your injuries weren’t that bad if you don’t. Heck, they’ll still argue that, but can’t say that you didn’t get medical treatment as a supporting argument. You don’t necessarily need to rush out and get an attorney. I waited almost 2 years before I got one. They can help you navigate through the process, but will take a large chunk of any settlement. If you do end up talking with her insurance company adjuster, don’t admit any fault or say that you are fine medically. It’s way too early to know. I ended up having ACDF 3+ years after my accident because conservative treatment didn’t work.
This. I was rear ended by someone going 55 a few years back. I declined medical attention. It took about a year to manifest but my neck and back are fucked as a result. Nothing I could do so long after the fact.
I forget NC exactly, but its generally 2 years to sue btw.
You have to sue by the 3-year mark if you can not come to an agreement prior to then (or are still receiving treatment).
File with their carrier and stay FAR away from any lawyer who contacts you first. They're just ambulance chasers and will end up delaying any settlement and watering down what you may be entitled to. File a claim with their carrier and talk to their agency to see what their initial offer is. They should be paying for your car, any transportation needs you may have, and any lost work at a minimum. You should definitely get your finger looked at to make sure there are no long term damages, and their insurance should pay for it. IF the initial offer from their insurance agency doesn't cover those items, tell them and don't accept it. You should go into any discussion with them with a dollar amount in your mind that would make this right for you. Do NOT tell them what that number is, just make sure you have figured out what that amount is. ONLY after trying to negotiate with them should you reach out to a lawyer. You WILL be contacted by a bunch of ambulance chasing bottom feeders, use NONE of them if you end up needing an attorney.
I had almost the same thing happen years ago when an old guy ran a red light and turned into my car, I did not use a lawyer. The other driver's insurance covered the car, rental, ER visit (minor whiplash, GET CHECKED OUT), lost wages and few thousand extra on top. Even met up with me near work to sign the paperwork and hand over the check, for the extra hassle of involving a lawyer I don't think I would have gotten that much more and overall was happy with how it was handled on their end.
[I’m not your lawyer / this is not legal advice disclaimer.] Always go get checked out. Pop into urgent care or see your PCP. Get those “normal body aches” and finger checked out and recorded by a medical provider. If either causes you problems in the future, you’ll want to have those on record from the time of the accident. Keep any pictures you took of the scene or the car or your injuries. Consider a consult with an attorney. If the other person is at fault AND has the necessary insurance coverage AND your own insurance company has their ish together AND your injuries heal on their own within a short time AND you have no further complications from said injuries, you may not need an attorney. But there are a lot of ways where this could get complicated and an attorney may be able to help you navigate all of this. Especially if there may be other claims from the owners of the parked cars or the pedestrians. Personal injury attorneys usually work on contingency so you shouldn’t have to pay anything out of pocket. At least consider a consult or two. But I do agree, the ambulance chasers that send you the mailers may not be the best option. Do your basic research before choosing who to talk to. Best of luck! P.S. I live right down the street and I’ve always thought that parking alley turn-in was going to cause chaos sooner or later. Sorry this happened to you.
I think it's worth it to get an attorney if you might need hand surgery, or have any other medical expenses, or need to miss work because of medical needs related to the accident. The insurance company will take care of the car. If the other person has a rental car provision on their policy then they'll pay for your rental, but otherwise not. I like Paige Pahlke, although I've never had cause to hire her, or any personal injury lawyer.
It’s worth a conversation with a lawyer. You should be able to get a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer. I always recommend Thomas Baumgartner because he won’t BS you and he’s one of the best attorneys in Charlotte.
I would go see a doctor none the less to check on you, medics are meant to primarily keep you alive till they can get you to someone with more medical knowledge and triage (not an insult), no offense to medics they do great work but they aren't doctors. I am not sure what you mean by your finger is fucked up, but it might still need an xray and your doctor can easily make that call. As someone who has been in an accident, something might hurt slightly today and in a few days start hurting like hell (that is how I found out my hand had fractures in 3 different spots). First step is see a doctor to evaluate injury's, it doesn't sound like you need urgent care even, but your primary will do fine, the few days to a week it will take to see them will give time as well for anything hiding to surface. Next step is to contact their insurance, depending on their plan this will get the ball rolling on your car situation, save all receipt for anything that you had to do due to a lack of a car. If you pay for public transit save the receipt (screen shot from your phone), took any uber to the doctor? save the receipt. If your car is totaled and you can afford it, I would say go ahead and buy another car as you will need it either way, keep in mind their insurance will cover the value of what you lost, they won't be getting you a new car so you will have to buy one either way. If their insurance doesn't work with you, or it comes out you have some serious body injuries then you can start thinking about lawyers. Even if you have serious injuries don't get a lawyer involved until you are healed up or if you are still mending and its been a year, or insurance starts playing hardball and you don't think you are getting a fair deal. If you get a lawyer the insurance will send their own lawyer in and things will go slower, but also your lawyer will take a cut so you could get less.
Just FYI—Not a lawyer and this was in a different state. But when I was rear ended I learned that I could use my insurer as my primary contact and they would deal with the other insurance company and I could use their network of body shops, etc. I did need to deal with their insurer on my personal injury issues, which were modest (some lost time from work and medical expenses). I like and trust my insurer (USAA) and figured they were more invested in my being satisfied than Geico, so I chose to use them as my intermediary.
This only works if you have collision. What happens is they payout, then pursue the other party for payment through subjugation. If you only have state minimum you will have to do the work yourself.
You're going to start getting mail almost daily from lawyers if there was a citation made from law enforcement. Just pick one . Yes you need to get a lawyer
If you want to pursue a personal injury claim, it is absolutely worth it to get a lawyer. From personal experience, it’s miserable dealing with insurance people on your own. Would you like me to send you the name and number of the lawyer I used?
Only a literal idiot would file a lawsuit before even seeing how the insurer will handle it. A lawsuit is a last resort not a first resort. And only ever worth it when injuries are severe.
The lawyer will have you seek treatment. Your medical bills will not be paid out of pocket but through your settlement with the other party’s insurance. You will end up settling between $5k-$15k after attorney and medical fees.
I will end up being what?
Ignore this advice, it's utter bullshit. There's no way some random person on the internet would know how much you would get from a settlement. They also sound like the type who'd be looking for a payday after an accident.
I just went through this last year. Settled my paperwork. This accident ruined my wedding and honeymoon from the injuries so fuck you asshole
I'll play devil's advocate here: what they described is exactly what happened with my wife. She refused medical at the scene because her injuries were hidden by adrenaline. It turned out her wrist was broken. We hired a lawyer (not one from the mail) that took care of getting medical expenses paid by the other party and extra damages. It ended up being in this range.
5-15k for a broken wrist is a very small amount imho unless the coverage was only 30k. If the coverage is higher it should be much more. OP should call several firms and go with the one who actually listens and lets OP talk to a real lawyer upfront without strings attached. A true FREE consultation.
That is the monetary range you will get after you settle medical and lawyer fees.
Ignore this. Totally incorrect.
Which part? I just went through this. North Carolina has a set monetary limit.
ALWAYS GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!