A few more things you need to consider if you decide to listen to the "experts" and retain an attorney before you settle the vehicle and need one. When the adjuster gets the call or representation letter from an attorney, any urgency handling the claim and cooperation with the damaged party disappears. The adjuster knows that settlement is going to be a long and drawn out process with attorney involvement and the handling will be as prescribed by law and no effort will be made to expedite the claim. The attorney doesn't want to fool with the vehicle settlement as there is little money in it for him and documenting the damage takes his time away from more profitable claims. They generally settle the property damage just to get them out of the way.

On the insurance company side, once a claim is investigated, many are transferred to an attorney negotiator who has several hundred claims pending because they are going to be around a long time and the negotiator works with the same attorneys all the time. Many times, the adjuster will have several claims with the same attorney and they will make package deals. The attorney will settle several claims at the same time and the settlements will be what is the most profitable for the attorney. Your claim may be settled cheaply so he can settle other claims that will be more profitable to him. You might get lucky and if your claim has been open for a long time, yours might be one of the claims that gets more money due to his sacraficing others. You are still waiting months or years for you money and it will probably net you less than what you would have been offered.

Also, remember to look at what you will net after paying your attorney, witnesses and other expenses. For example, if you have a claim that is worth $30,000 and the insurance company offers you $25,000 and you determine that the amount is not fair, you hire an attorney. If the attorney settles the claim for $35,000, you will feel you have put one over on the mean insurance company. But who won? After the attorney takes his fee of a third, you are down to $23,345 before he subtracts the expenses you are responsible for. The winner is the attorney.

 

yup. I just had a friend that did that, on an accident he was offered 10,000 for, thought he was owed more. after a little over a year and his lawyer, he endded up with 3000 after the lawyer and other expenses. if he would have just taken the offer, he would have netted 10,000. he won a little more with the attourney, but netted a heck of a lot less at 3000.

 

I've been through a few of these, and I've yet to find an insurance company that would find a replacement car for me.

I also think that this serves as evidence that there is something really wrong with our society. Whenever someone feels wronged, the first thing they do is file a lawsuit. The dislike of attorneys is so widespread in this country there are hundreds of lawyer jokes, but the moment someone sneezes in our direction, our first thought is to call a lawyer. Can someone explain that to me?

 

a lot of good advice--but me thinks someone is trolling--darn ins co's

 

When I wrecked my '99 Ranger, I received a settlement offer from my carrier (State Farm) which was based on book value of the truck. I spoke with the adjuster and related the reasons why I thought their offer was too low for my truck and pointed out the reasons for my opinion, including a list of additions that I had filed before the accident with my agent. He asked me to submit my objections in writing and the offer was raised to an acceptable number.

 

If you're hinting about me, not true. I spent 31 and a half years handling claims and watching people make mistakes that cost them money, happiness and sometimes their marriage. I worked the entire time for the same company but it evolved into 6 or 7 different companies over the years as new management took over with different approaches to handling claims. I had to follow the rules whether I agreed or not and sometimes I had to do things I did not want to do. The adjuster can only pay what he can document so the secret is to document your loss so the adjuster can justify the payment to you. The adjuster wants to pay the claim and close the file but if you don't give him something to work with, he can't do it and pay what you want. Almost all of his claims will be reviewed by someone else. As I said before, asks for his documentation regarding his offer and check it out for accuracy. Some adjusters don't know the difference between a clean car and a washed car.

 

Thanks for the replies and ideas everyone. We've agreed on the property value - $3859.

We'll take awhile for the Medical/Other settlement aspects. After 2 x-rays it's been decided that the stiffness and the small knot on my wife's neck was/is caused by an irritated disk. The headaches also continue. She's now having to having to take 2 types of muscle relaxers and pain pills....GGGRRRRrrrrrrr.

We're not trying to get rich out of this whole thing..... we just want to get back to "normal".

 

A couple of suggestions regarding the injury claim. If the injury sticks around and you don't settle the claim quickly, there is a statute of limitations and it can vary depending on the state. Some states has a year and many have two years to either settle the claim or have it in court. If the statute is exceeded, you have no claim. If you feel like the offer of settlement is fair regarding your bills, pain and suffering and inconvenience (or permanency if there is any) but you are unsure if you (you includes wife) will have any other medical expenses, most companies have a scheduled release that allows them to pay you for your claim but leaves open any additional medical expenses for a specified amount and for a specified time. Probably 95% of the people who sign a scheduled release never use them but is is more for peace of mind. Don't sign a full release until you are sure the injuries are healed and all expenses are accounted for.

 

What a shame this happened, but as others have said, thank goodness your wife was not more seriously injured. If her syptoms persist, you really have no choice but to get an attorney....I'm sure they'll be tripping over themselves to talk to you.

It really isn't fair that you KNEW that Contour was a good relaible car because you completely knew its history, but now you must shop for one that you can only guess about its past. Sure, you can do the carfax report, but you won't learn how the car was treated. Of course, if a salesman is involved, you'll be assured its a creampuff. Salesmen make me wonder if there was EVER a used car on their lot that ever once went more than 3,000 miles between oil changes (well of COURSE NOT!)

Good luck finding a car, and unless you think you can document that your car is worth more than their offer, grit your teeth & take it. You can hold out for more but it will become a "time is on their side" situation that may end up costing you more in rental fees than the additional settlement. I went through this once & they really "milked out" the process, with each subsequent offer taking longer to be presented. In the end I think it took two months to get an extra $200. out of them. In hindsight, the aggravation wasn't worth it, because the car search alone was aggravating enough.