Car Accident Settlement

[ladonnarosso]

I was in a car accident in March, from which I suffered a cervical strain/sprain. I got medical treatment and am currently doing just fine, but I did contact a lawyer to get my medical expenses reimbursed, as they are more than the initial amount the insurance company wanted to pay me. I just received the paperwork from the lawyer's office, and it appears that they are going to ask for waay more than I ever would have asked for. Does anyone know if there is negotiation that goes on between the insurance company and the lawyer? If not, I'm looking at about $6k left over after paying off all of the medical expenses. I will be paying off a small debt (about $2600) but am torn about what I should do with the rest. Add it to our emergency fund? Invest it? Pay down the mortgage or student loan? I want to use it as wisely as possible.

[snafu]

If your agreement with your lawyer is contingency, they will share your settlement plus their expenses. $ 6,000. - $ 2,600. = $ 3,400. How stable is employment? Does your EF cover 2 months basic expenses? Do you collect all matching retirement contributions annually from employer[s]? If you like 'snowball' idea, pay down principal for lowest balance loan. Do you have a low interest mortgage? What interest rate SL?

[sv2007]

I'm surprised that you needed to get a lawyer involved for the auto ins to reimburse you.

I was in a car accident in 2000 and suffered an injury. It was a cut (a few stitches) and my health insurance paid everything and I was only out copays ($5 * 2 = $10). Yes, back then, my company's copay was $5 ER, it was a very large, major bay area company. My last co prior to retiring, the copay was $50 ER -- crazy prices in only 14 years.

It wasn't anything major, but the auto ins offered me $1500 when I asked for $10 just based on my medical bills (the agent told me that I may have to pay the whole hospital bill because it was a car accident).

(I visit ER pretty often; actually, come to think of it, I've not been to one this year... knock on wood)

[GoodSteward]

Of course they ask for a lot. Lawyers don't make money by sending letters only.

Also, They ask for a lot just to get close to your needed amount. Settlements work a lot like health insurance. Hospitals charge a TON, but once the insurance steps in they bring it down to the max allowed, much less. For settlements, they will ask for a ton and then negotiate a more realistic number with the insurance company when everything is figured out. They try to get things done without court. If they asked only a little more than what you wanted/needed, then you would get even less. It's just the game they play.

Someone near me was in an auto accident, pretty severe for one of them. Lawsuit lasted 5 years, but eventually they got a settlement out of court. Initially, the lawyer was asking for five hundred thousand. They ended up getting around one hundred thousand after lawyer fees.