Car Wreck Insurance Claim

So my coworker was in a car wreck. He was sitting at a red light when a 19 year old girl rear ended him going about 45-50mph. She actually texted him and said "I shouldn't have been texting and driving lol." Long story short:

Car Repairs: $2,100
Personal Property: $650 (his Macbook Pro screen in the trunk got smashed and it cost that to replace)

Injuries to Adam:
- Full thickness tear from 11 o'clock to 8 o'clock of his rotator
- Humeral Head fracture
- Broken clavicle
- Broken scapula
- Broken Nose
- Busted lip
- Tendons/ligaments in his shoulder are tore up
- Whiplash

He has to have two surgeries on his shoulder to get it all corrected and then 5-6 months of physical therapy. He had to get three MRIs.

Anyone have experience with these things? He spoke to two lawyers and are being told vastly different things and I figured I'd check with our intelligent community. Thanks folks!

If he already talked to 2 lawyers then I don't know what better advice you're going to get from a figure collecting forum

Good info provided in your initial post.

Few things to nail down-
1. Who actually owns the car Adam was driving?

2. Who actually owns the car the girl was driving?

3. Was Adam belted?

4. What state did the accident take place?

5. Does the girl or owner of the vehicle have insurance? If so how much?

6. Are all injuries you listed related to this accident? Does Adam have any pre existing conditions?

7. How old is Adam?

8. What does/did Adam do for a living? Has he missed work? Did he lose any pay from his time off?

9. What is the total of Adam's medical bills? How were they paid?

10. Any issue with driver inattention? Was she drunk, texting, etc.?

11. Was a police report issued? If so get a copy now.

12. Was Adam immediately hospitalized? If so did he go by ambulance? Is there an EMT record?

13. Is Adam married? Children? If so, ages?

14. Did Adam report this accident to his own carrier?

15. On what date was this accident?

16. Has Adam actually filed suit or just looking for advice at this juncture?

17. Is Adam living home, a hospital, care facility?

18. What was the weather? Raining? Snow?

19. What model and yr car was the girl driving? Any issues with a recall?

20. Does anyone recall the girl making a statement at the scene?

21. Was Adam conscious after the accident?

I can think of more but these are the questions that someone should be asking. The biggest is the isurance issue for the girl.

Few things to nail down-
1. Who actually owns the car Adam was driving?
- Adam
2. Who actually owns the car the girl was driving?
- The girl
3. Was Adam belted?
- Yes
4. What state did the accident take place?
- IL
5. Does the girl or owner of the vehicle have insurance? If so how much?
- USAA, and evidently "it is the maximum"
6. Are all injuries you listed related to this accident? Does Adam have any pre existing conditions?
- Adam dislocated his shoulder 9 years ago, but it was minor and didn't need surgery
7. How old is Adam?
- 34
8. What does/did Adam do for a living? Has he missed work? Did he lose any pay from his time off?
- He is a computer programmer, and yes, and yes
9. What is the total of Adam's medical bills? How were they paid?
- Thus far $68,000 roughly, and he goes to the VA
10. Any issue with driver inattention? Was she drunk, texting, etc.?
- She texted Adam and admitted to texting and driving
11. Was a police report issued? If so get a copy now.
- Yes, she is listed at fault and was cited
12. Was Adam immediately hospitalized? If so did he go by ambulance? Is there an EMT record?
- No, he got checked out and they didn't do enough studies (VA Hospital)
13. Is Adam married? Children? If so, ages?
- Married but no kids, he was alone in the car
14. Did Adam report this accident to his own carrier?
- Yes
15. On what date was this accident?
- September 18th
16. Has Adam actually filed suit or just looking for advice at this juncture?
- Advice, the two lawyers have said very different things (one said he might get $10,000 and the other said $120,000 so he doesn't know what to think)
17. Is Adam living home, a hospital, care facility?
- He is at home
18. What was the weather? Raining? Snow?
- It was clear
19. What model and yr car was the girl driving? Any issues with a recall?
- 2015 Ford Fusion
20. Does anyone recall the girl making a statement at the scene?
- The police report said "distracted driving, cited"
21. Was Adam conscious after the accident?
- Yes, but had concussion

Accident occurred 9/18...I would think USAA already reached out to your friend Adam and offered some sort of monetary settlement by now. I hope he didn't accept anything short term, as it probably included Adam signing some documents that prohibit any further legal action on his part...

And okay, the girl is 19, but it was stupid on her part to text your friend and admit to texting and driving. Should any legal proceedings go forward, Adam has a very strong case.

I'm not a lawyer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn.

USAA did and tried to get him to sign something for $350. He stopped all communication at that point.

$350? Wow, USAA.

Yeah he said "no thank you, don't send me any documents please" and just waiting. He knew it was something about "maximum medical recovery" and his wife had some appointments set up with lawyers. One canceled and the other two said vastly different things. I know we have a diverse community here so figured I'd check on here.

$68k in meds and the atty said $10k? I would ditch him/her.

Print out the text where the girl says she was texting. Whatever you dont dont lose that text.

Adams biggest problem is that the girl prob only has $100k in coverage. Most individuals do. In that case youd have to look for someone else to sue to get more money. Was the girl in the course and scope of her job? That way you get to her employer. Otherwise my guess is adam is stuck with the $100k. Which given what youve said her carrier should pay w/o issue.

DinoDB1975 said:

Accident occurred 9/18...I would think USAA already reached out to your friend Adam and offered some sort of monetary settlement by now. I hope he didn't accept anything short term, as it probably included Adam signing some documents that prohibit any further legal action on his part...

And okay, the girl is 19, but it was stupid on her part to text your friend and admit to texting and driving. Should any legal proceedings go forward, Adam has a very strong case.

I'm not a lawyer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn.

Click to expand...

They can still sue. My mother was in an accident years ago which was determined, though wrong, to be her fault and the guy signed off, then a year later sued her (her insurance) and they paid him off.

In fairness to usaa I'm guessing that didn't have a single medical record for Adam. Adam will have to provide everything he has- every test, procedure, bills, wage statements, etc., etc., etc. They won't make you any offer of meaning without all the records. Nor should they. They can't just take his word for it.

How did you/he come up with the $68,000 for medical bills if he is using the VA?

Did the VA send him a bill?


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That's the amount the VA said would have been charged if he had private insurance.

So wait, if he didn't actually have to pay that...what would he be suing for?

Damage to car and emotional duress + time missed from work?

Damage to car should be covered by his own carrier who will bring suit against her carrier to recover what they paid in reimbursing Adam. Adam will sue mainly for pain and suffering, also his lost wages. I assume at some point he will go back to work. His wife has a fair loss of consortium claim. But again, there's probably only a pot of $100k the girl has in insurance.

There's a big issue about past medical expense payments and it varies from state to state. In most cases if you didn't pay it, you can't collect it. In some cases you can show what was charged, in others what was paid. The numbers are almost always different. But if the VA paid it, I'm guessing the VA has an action against usaa.

Then it becomes an issue as to priority. Does Adam get the whole $100k? Or does the VA stand first in line? If there's only $100k, and the VA provided $68k worth of treatment, does that leave Adam a recover of only $32k before atty fees? I'm not sure because I don't know how the VA works. And I don't know who takes priority in line in Illinois.

Did he have his entire Sideshow statue collection in the backseat and trunk?

LOL No, he doesn't like this kind of stuff.

Just his macbook. Oh and a few coffee mugs.