I got injured in a wreck...Help!?

I had an accident in May 8th of '08. A nigerian pulled out from a parking lot in a small car & hit me then fled the scene. He is a local pharmacist & ownes his own car lot. Police put it in report that he left scene but did not charge him because he said he did not know better. I have since been going to chiropractor 4 months for back & severe shoulder pain. I just recently got released from doctor. I run a small farm & lost alot of money over the summer. What should I expect from his insurance co.?
Additional Details
Him and his insurance company said they accepted full responsibility and I was told to send them all doctor bills, estimated crop loss data/expenses, my hired help expenses, any monies lost during the time I could not work. It was a horrible 4 months with lots of shoulder/back pain. I guess what I am trying to figure out is what percentages of what I lost should I expect, and what exactly is pain & suffering? Do they use a formula to come up with those numbers (such as a certain percent of total med. bills)? I would really like to settle this out of court if possible. Don't want to take him or insurance for a ride...just want what is justly fair. I drive a heavy duty extended cap Nissan TItan. This guy hit me so hard they had to replace the driver's side passenger door, rear axel, tire & quarter panel. If I had been in car he would have hurt me bad. When I took truck to body shop the guy laughed and said well, you're the third one I've had to fix for him.

We can't really tell you how much you will get for your injury claim. There are a lot of factors that come into play.

The adjuster will have you send them what ever bills you have. They will probably have you sign a Medical Authorization. This is a permission slip that you sign - the adjuster can then send it to the dr's that treated you. This allows the dr's to send the adjuster copies of the medical reports/notes about your injury.

The adjuster is also requesting documentation about your wage/income loss. I frequently ask self employed people to send me the last 3-5 years W-2's also. You are telling us that you lost a lot of money due to your injury. You will have to submit documentation to prove/support that. (even if you got a lawyer or filed a law suit you still have to provide the same documentation to prove the loss).

The adjuster will evaluate everything and make an offer to you. The offer should include consideration for medical bills/lost wages/pain and suffering.

I know you were "stove up" pretty good -- but soft tissue claims are generally not huge claims. You are not going to get rich and it won't solve all your financial problems.

Now....the adjuster is limited in how much they can offer you. The insurance company can not pay more than the policy limit. I would not get worried about this right now. If the adjuster gets all your meds/wages in and realizes they do not have sufficient limits to pay your claim, they will tell you. You would then file a claim with your insurance company under your Underinsured Motorist Coverage. At this point, your policy would pick up where the other guys ran out. I'm not telling you this to scare you.....just to let you know that the pot the insurance company can pay you out of is not unlimited.

As far as how an insurance company determines what your injury is worth: every company has their owe procedures. Some use computer programs and others do it old school (with a pencil, paper, your medical bills and a calculator).

A lot of people will tell you to expect to get paid 3 times the meds. This is wrong. Insurance companies do not pay 3 times the medical bills on a soft tissue injury (which is what your sprain/strain is). I'm not a fan of multipliers. They do not always apply. People that run up a bunch of medical bills in the hopes of getting a big pay day...are in for a rude awakening if they think they will get 3X their inflated bills.

But, if your treatment has been conservative -- you did not lay out or run up a bunch of medical bills that were not needed-- the 2x the medical bills + lost wages is probably somewhere in the ball park (more likely on the high side -- but at least in the general area).

The trick to settling an injury claim is communication. When the adjuster makes an offer - it's ok to tell them you want to think about it and get back to them. You can call back and make a counter offer. It's by talking to each other and listening to the other's point of view that this should be resolved. In exchange for the money, the insurance company will have you (and your husband if married) sign a release that ends your claim once and for all.

**not legal advice. Only an attorney can give legal advice. This answer is based only on the limited information provided. There may be facts/info that I don't know that would change the answer.

Were you injured in the accident, like, obviously?

If so, he had a duty of care to look after you- whether or not he spoke English (which is I assume why he didn't know better).

You deserve compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and repairs to the car.

Good luck.

You should have your car fixed by his insurance.
Him not knowing is BS.
Ignorance of the law is never an excuse.
How did you get license?
You should also get medical paid, and compensation for lost of work time on the farm.
If you get a lawyer tell him you want the other guy to pay his fees also.
Some lawyers will take a case on a contingency, they don't get paid if you don't get paid.

You'll have to ask your agent.

Heck, he might not even HAVE any insurance. It would be the insurance on the car he was driving, NOT the liability insurance for the lot, which would apply.

What you can get, is going to depend on your state laws, and what the actual injury was. If it's only been treated by a chiro, and not an MD, you're not going to get much at all for it. You need an MD to say, oh, his shoulder is broken, or something like that, for this to be worth money. And you have to be in a full tort state.

Why isn't your insurance company helping you?

You do not say if you put in a claim with his insurance company. You need to do that ASAP.

Please post more details.

First of all, you have to front the medical bills - the doctors/chiropractors don't care whose fault the accident was; they rendered service to you and will expect to be paid by you.

Second, you can attempt to negotiate a settlement with his insurer, but realistically that insurer has no incentive to hurry any such settlement.

Your ultimate "big stick" is to sue the other party - threats of that can sometimes induce their insurer to settle. The suggestion above that you "sue his insurance" is incorrect. You will have to sue HIM, not his insurer.

May? you need to start calling his insurance company. They should have already made a settlement offer.

You may have to sue his insurance company.

consult an attorney if they get jazzy.

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