So There I Was, Coming Home From Spencer's BBQ...

[Annie]

Dang! Sorry to hear! Glad you weren't more bsnged up BUT before you settle ANY medical claims just remember that soft tissue injuries can be devastating and chronic (welcome to my world and the collision I was injured in was low impact).

My physical therapist was telling me Friday that I am not the only client she has who is dealing with the long-term affects from accidents they walked away from years earlier.

I hope that's not the case for you and your wife ... but just in case ... you need to be careful thinking you are okay and in dealing with the insurance company. They will try to get you to settle the medical claims as quickly as possible because they know the stats with regard to soft tissue injuries.

 

[dennishoddy]

I have a great deal of experience with insurance adjusters. I know of none that get bonuses for not paying out,, but - they are 'adjusters'.

Their job is to pay you as little as it takes to make the claim go away. They "adjust". They have leeway, and will usually recognize a legitimate, realistic claim.

But they still have to answer to management, and they have to justify what they pay. You can usually get more than the initial offer, if you can make your case.

That's not good or bad, merely reality.

That has been my experience. Visit with the adjuster with a smile on your face, but make your case, and when they go sit in their car to make out the final determination, it usually works out well. They are humans too, and don't like to deal with grouchy, mean people like anyone else.

 

[yukonjack]

Jack around and think you can settle it yourself and you'll end up getting screwed. Call up someone like Vaughn Conway. He handled my claim and I've referred 5 other friends and acquaintances to him and everyone has been very pleased with the outcome. There are other good personal injury attorneys out there. Use one.

http://www.vaughnconway.com

 

[John6185]

I sent a msg to USAA last evening and asked why they were getting involved when in the past when someone hit me I dealt with their insurance company. USAA is supposed to pick up the car from the wrecker yard Monday to "save" me storage fees and I asked them to tell me what my advantages are if they continue settling with me. It would seem that they'd settle with me and then go after the other insurance company at a profit. I think I'll tell USAA to hold off on pickup until I can do some research on this.

 

[dlbleak]

Jack around and think you can settle it yourself and you'll end up getting screwed. Call up someone like Vaughn Conway. He handled my claim and I've referred 5 other friends and acquaintances to him and everyone has been very pleased with the outcome. There are other good personal injury attorneys out there. Use one.

http://www.vaughnconway.com

He handled a friend of mines accident. If it’s not Conway at least retain an attorney ASAP

 

[Fyrtwuck]

I agree about getting an attorney. Let them argue while you recover. It was a long time ago, but I was involved in a no fault accident that totaled my truck. My insurance company showed me the blue book value and a bunch of ads from the newspaper where people were selling the same truck for more money. We came to an agreement just over the middle of what they showed me. I actually got more than what I expected out of it.

 

[chazroh]

Sometimes blue book is lower than what the vehicle sells for, my wife totaled an 07 expedition a couple years ago and the insurance used I believe it was Mitchell total loss evaluation. But they paid to get a comparable vehicle in our area, which resulted in us getting about 6k more that the vehicle blue booked for

 

[inactive]

I sent a msg to USAA last evening and asked why they were getting involved when in the past when someone hit me I dealt with their insurance company. USAA is supposed to pick up the car from the wrecker yard Monday to "save" me storage fees and I asked them to tell me what my advantages are if they continue settling with me. It would seem that they'd settle with me and then go after the other insurance company at a profit. I think I'll tell USAA to hold off on pickup until I can do some research on this.

If you contacted them about the accident, they’re going to proceed with the claim under your collision coverage. You certainly can choose to go through them or the at fault party so long as that carrier accepts liability for the claim (and it sounds pretty cut and dried that they will). It’s completely your call. But they’re going to proceed unless you tell them not to, as they have a duty to process a claim you presented to them and that’s what they’re assuming you had done by contacting them.

Either carrier is open to discussion about the value of the vehicles, though your own carrier has clauses in the policy on how to settle value disputes. That said, there’s typically room to discuss value without deferring to those if the book value or market value report appears off. With the other party’s insurance there is of course no contract with you but you can negotiate as well if you can find quantifiable information to show the offer is off and the vehicle is worth more.

Both parties will settle the vehicle without regard to the injuries. Special and General injury damages are separate from the property damage claim.

Go ahead and let USAA move it (presumably to Copart?) to get it out of storage. This kills any accruing storage and it can sit a bit before you decide which carrier to take payment from. Even if USAA moves it they can easily transfer it to the other company to process under their claim. That’s easy everyday work in our world. USAA has accident forgiveness that you can buy as an endorsement or receive automatically after some years (5-6? I think) without a claim, so if you have this coverage it won’t matter at far as your premium rates are concerned if you go through them or the other. The deductible notwithstanding (and if you go through USAA they’ll ask for your deductible back, or you can ask the other carrier to just forward it to you now)

I don’t work for USAA but I actually do have them myself. I’ve never had my own claim with them but I’ve never had any problem working with them on claims between our companies or their customers or even our customers pursuing claims as claimants against their policies. They’re well regarded.

 

[inactive]

Sometimes blue book is lower than what the vehicle sells for, my wife totaled an 07 expedition a couple years ago and the insurance used I believe it was Mitchell total loss evaluation. But they paid to get a comparable vehicle in our area, which resulted in us getting about 6k more that the vehicle blue booked for

Always wise to see what the initial offer is. Often the reports are so high you want to take the money and run. Other times, the data’s off.

 

[inactive]

I agree about getting an attorney. Let them argue while you recover. It was a long time ago, but I was involved in a no fault accident that totaled my truck. My insurance company showed me the blue book value and a bunch of ads from the newspaper where people were selling the same truck for more money. We can to an agreement just over the middle of what they showed me. I actually got more than what I expected out of it.

An attorney can be helpful for the injury portion. They typically won’t do anything meaningful at all to get more on the auto settlement. There’s no money in it.