I received a fracture in my 5th metacarpal bone in my foot. They are treating without surgery, because a pin may further damage the bone. However, they didn't rule out the possibility of needing surgery sometime in the future. The accident happened in NY, and I live in CA. We swerved to miss a deer, and hit a telephone pole instead. I was out of work for one month, and am back on limited hours. I am a hairdresser, so standing on my feet all day is common. THe Dr. told me today, that it may be 3 more months until the bone is healed.....so no hiking trips or other activities I enjoy. Does anyone know what ammount I should look at for a settlement? I really don't want to involve a lawyer, but I already feel like the company is trying to jerk me around. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!|||I was in an accident that tore my shouler apart, requiring surgery, a total of 6 months of physical therapy, and 3 years of post-surgical pain.
By the time all my bills were paid back to my health insurance and my lawyer took his cut, I got $20K.
A friend of mine got hit by a car while riding his bike and got even less, despite months of PT and now must live in constant pain.
My recommendation is to get a lawyer if you are looking to get anything more than your medical bills paid. It sounds like you are about to sue a friend. I did as well.
Funny things will start happening when yoy sue a friend. People you don't talk to will come out and say you did this or said that. You friend will understand, but probably take it personally anyway. The insurance will blame your injury on everything else. If you get into another accident (like I did), Lord help you.
My views and advice:
1. Get a lawyer (you will get what you pay for...remember that...don't be afraid to ask them about previous victories and screw ups). The insurance is going to string you along until the statute of limitations is up (2 years in Illinois). A good lawyer will also make sure you receive good medical care at intervals that won't screw up your case)
2. Be prepared for a very stressful time. Going through lawsuits sucks...period.
3. Don't expect to get much. A lawyer friend of mine who worked both sides of auto claims told me to expect about 2 times medical bills (and you pay the bills out of that). Medical bills can be negotiated (another thing a lawyer should do for you..my medical bills had about a $50K sticker price...my insurance negotiated with the doctors and my laywer with the insurance. In the end, I think I paid about $12K for medical.)
Good luck. Get a lawyer!!!
Edit: BTW...if you think you might need surgery, a lawyer can work the system so that you can continue medical treatment after the statute of limitations. You might be able to have a lawyer stall long enough to figure out if you need surgery or not|||My wife had an accident that involved another driver who was at fault so it's not similar to your situation but she was also hesitant about hiring a lawyer. Eventually she had no choice because the insurance company simply would not return her calls. Unfortunately the insurance companies sometimes make it almost impossible to handle these things without involving lawyers. As soon as she hired a lawyer things started to happen and the insurance company started to respond and she is expecting to get a settlement within 120 days. I can't answer your question about how much your injury is worth but you may want to at least consider looking for a lawyer. Try asking friends or getting referrals from people who know a good lawyer. Sometimes a little push from a lawyer can go a long way to getting things moving. If you get a reputable lawyer things should move fairly smoothly. The lawyer will get 33% of your settlement but settlements handled by lawyers are usually much higher than if you try to settle on your own. If you decide to go it alone you can look at this site for information that you should gather to build your case. http://accident-law.freeadvice.com/auto/car-accident-claim-worth.htm or search "car accident worth"
I hope this helps! Good luck!|||they will try to get u to settle for as little as possible but because u have lost work and may have to lose more put that together and then add a few grand on top for pain and sufering my uncle was hit in the head by a peace of ice and got 50k pluse med and lawyer fees but mined you will always get more with a lawyer then on ur own get a lawyer it will be better for u and them|||You need a lawyer. The defendant's insurance company will jerk you if you don't have one. Almost all law firms in New York work on retainers, that they take 1/3 of what ever you recover as their fee. They might take out expenses they spent on your case also. Since NY is a no-fault state and you're accident happened in NY, then you don't have a deductible or copay, so that's a good thing.
Is your metacarpal bone the only thing fractured? Do you have any other injuries? When insurance companies evaluate a case, they look at the injuries. What are yours? I'd hate to say it but you didn't do surgery on your foot. So to insurance companies, they don't recognize a fracture without surgery. Did you herniate any discs in your neck or back? If you did, then you can include that too.
NY is a threshold state. If you have a verbal threshold on your policy, then you must prove permanent injuries. Permanent is herniations, broken bones, loss of a fetus, etc. Bulges are not recognized in NY as a permanent injury.
You said that there might be a possibility that you will need a surgery in the future. Did you think how you would afford it if you don't have health insurance coverage in the future? Insurance companies are willing to pay now. Who will pay later?
Your case will be worth a lot more if you do the surgery. Do physical therapy too. Its seems like you have a case thats probably worth about 20-25K. Do the surgery it will be worth at least 40K.|||First, insurance companies are not afraid of attorneys. And they will pay the same with one as without. You'd need to tell us a little more about this for us to say. Where it happened in New York makes a difference as well.
Do you really plan on hiking this time of year?
Off the top of my head I'd say 10-15,000, but all claims are different, all injuries are different, and no one here will hit this on the nose.|||Just enough to cover the med bills and the amount of money lost for work purposes.
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