Minor car accident - now with ambulance chasing law firm
- Thread starter Jovec
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Mist
Eeyore Enthusiast
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Southern Rhode Island. I live with my mom, who's disabled, and my stepfather bailed and left us with the house. She's stuck in this mortgage and has nowhere else to go. I certainly want to get the fuck out of here, but there's literally no one else to take care of my mom or deal with the repairs to the house.
First disaster was a flood, 53 inches of water in the basement, kept coming back for 5 weeks, far outside of a flood zone. Second was Irene, which wasn't too bad besides a lot of damage to the property, like massive trees downed. Third was Sandy, that was just fucking fucked so much I don't even want to talk about it. Then stuck without power in zero degree temps during Nemo, shitty Walmart candle caught fire and wrecked the bathroom, plus some damage to heating system/well pump from the cold.
Only good part was that the soot from the fire clung to the mold from the flood claim and the insurance company got stuck covering all the mold removal.
Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Joeboo
Molten Core Raider
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Auto insurance is a joke in the US. The state I live in still only requires a minimum of 10k property damage and 25k bodily injury per person. The same limits now as when insurance became mandatory in 1987. Those limits didn't go very far then and they are just ridiculous now. Most states are roughly the same, and with the current state of the economy for the lower and middle class in the US, a LOT of people just carry the minimum requirements. It's scary.
Jalynfane
Phank 2002
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I'd love if all my clients opted for higher limits, esp after I suggest them, but most often they want "The cheapest thing possible". Been doing this 20 years (looking for other stuff to do now) and it has always been the same. It would be sweet if limits were higher, that would just mean all the attorneys would raise the settlement amounts however.
The biggest issues with coverage/claims here is the PIP coverage. The "hospitals" around here all ask if a vehicle was near the person when they check in for whatever incident and try to submit it as a claim on the person's car insurance.
The biggest issues with coverage/claims here is the PIP coverage. The "hospitals" around here all ask if a vehicle was near the person when they check in for whatever incident and try to submit it as a claim on the person's car insurance.
Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Well what are good amounts of coverage to have? Think im at 100k property and 100k medical right now.
TrollfaceDeux
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Lejina
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1M is pretty much the standard in Canada and to bump it to 3M is generally just a few bucks. We nowhere near sue each other as often as you guys do down south; not to mention that medical bills are not a thing here either.
I'm seriously mind blow that you have people driving around legally with 10k/25k insurances. 0_o
I'm seriously mind blow that you have people driving around legally with 10k/25k insurances. 0_o
Hoss
Make America's Team Great Again
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Depends on your total net worth. No sense carrying ridiculous amounts over that.
Hoss
Make America's Team Great Again
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Depends on your total net worth. No sense carrying ridiculous amounts over that.
Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
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Hatorade
A nice asshole.
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BI doesn't work like that, IF some one else was driving the car their insurance if they had it would be for BI and depending on the state old ladies PIP may or may not be primary. Scenario above all insurance can do is Max the PIP/medpay and close the claim she ain't getting shit from other coverages.
Companies will release limits when they are sure or in danger of reaching the policy limits, it is safe to assume whatever is on the table it isn't anywhere close to their limits(at least from their point of view).
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No, in many states if the insurance company has had an demand of policy limits and refused it, and later on the case turns out to be worth more than the policy limits, then the insurance company will be on the hook for the excess and not the policyholder. Since by far most policyholders are judgment proof, it is standard plaintiffs attorney practice to demand policy limits to make sure that if they get an excess verdict for some reason (turns out your client was drunk, their client develops mental problems, etc) then they can get the money from the insurance company.
It's also kind of a blind all-in to see if the insurance company is hiding anything; if the insurance company is scared and thinks they might bust limits at some point, they might just pay policy limits and get it over with. Easy money for the plaintiffs lawyer.
You're thinking of this like its a normal negotiation, and you shouldn't. This game has its own rules, and the lawyers in most cases are not douchebags. They have a job to do just like you do. If you hate anybody, hate the clients that are willing to stand up there and claim injuries from a "wreck" that caused only minor paint damage to the car.
It's also kind of a blind all-in to see if the insurance company is hiding anything; if the insurance company is scared and thinks they might bust limits at some point, they might just pay policy limits and get it over with. Easy money for the plaintiffs lawyer.
You're thinking of this like its a normal negotiation, and you shouldn't. This game has its own rules, and the lawyers in most cases are not douchebags. They have a job to do just like you do. If you hate anybody, hate the clients that are willing to stand up there and claim injuries from a "wreck" that caused only minor paint damage to the car.
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Insurance company isn't going to lie about it. Any attorney is going to ask the insurance company, not you. Insurance coverage is discoverable in the ensuing lawsuit so if they were to lie it would come back on them. Its just not productive.