I'm once again, turning to y'all for non-boating advice. I've looked around and researched elsewhere, but the background, experiences and advice from C-Brats is often far more useful than picking through a gazillion Internet resources of unknown quality.
The issue: Dana and I, were in a nasty car accident a few days ago. Rear ended at 45-50MPH (we were at or near stopped, fortunately without our brakes applied), car totalled, 100% other driver's fault. Need advice on how to deal with the "insurance dance."
First up - while there's going to be medical bills, we're likely going to be OK. We were taken by ambulance to the ER as a precaution, had xrays done to both of us, CT scan done on me - with nothing abnormal in either. Still - quite a bit of bruising, lingering pain and stiffness. Hopefully nothing long term, but we're well aware how such accidents can have issues crop up days/weeks after the event. Hopefully, some physical therapy, massage and/or chiropractic will have us 100% soon.
On to the insurance issues...first up, we're hopeful to get a reasonable settlement, without involving an attorney. We're not looking for a payday - just reimbursement of legitimate expenses. We have three areas of expenses that I see - and each, seems to have a different method of settlement. Add to that - I'm not getting very clear instructions on how to proceed from my insurance company.
- The car. My insurance company, appears to be cutting the check for the totalled vehicle - even though they'll go after the responsible party's insurance for reimbursement. The initial number they came up with, seems low by $2-3K...and based on details I've found online, this is not unusual and the figure is often negotiable. I submitted documentation to them (KBB retail price, comparable vehicles for sale with higher prices, etc.), so hopefully they come up a tad. If they don't - what are my options? If I accept their amount (we need something soon in order to replace the vehicle), can I attempt to claim an additional amount from the responsible party's insurance? Or, once we accept the check, is that all she wrote?
- Medical/lost wages. These costs are easily documented, but from what I understand insurance companies typically want to settle them quickly...which is at odds with possible longer term effects we might have. Since we're in no rush for this portion of the settlement (insurance is covering all medical, except chiropractic/massage), I assume it's wise to hold off on accepting any settlement until we feel we're back to 100% physically? Also - while I've been told this portion of the claim is handled by the responsible party's insurance company, it's unclear to me whether my insurance company works as a liaison on our behalf, or whether we're dealing with them directly. I got a wishy-washy answer on this, from my insurance company.
- Personal effects. We only lost one significant item. The crash was violent enough, to ruin Dana's brand new MacBook Pro. The laptop has a dented case, and the screen cracked. My insurance company is suggesting I need to make a claim with the responsible party's insurance company, but also suggested it might be covered under my homeowner's policy. My concern with a homeowners claim - I don't want something like this on my claims record. My concern with making a claim with the other insurance company - I don't want it tied to an overall settlement with the medical. We'd like the laptop replaced ASAP, but as mentioned above - don't want to settle on medical until we're sure our rehab is complete.
Any words of wisdom or guidance, would be most appreciated.
On a related note: I've got to say, I'm most impressed with the Honda Element's performance in this crash. It was a significant hit by a Chevy 1/2 ton truck - which deployed the other driver's airbags, and ruined all body parts on his entire front end. The wonders of modern engineering - specifically, crumple zones - certainly kept us from suffering a much worse fate. The rear of the Honda buckled and was shoved forward almost a foot...but virtually everything, was taken up in the area of the car aft of the occupent area in an incredibly uniform manner.
The issue: Dana and I, were in a nasty car accident a few days ago. Rear ended at 45-50MPH (we were at or near stopped, fortunately without our brakes applied), car totalled, 100% other driver's fault. Need advice on how to deal with the "insurance dance."
First up - while there's going to be medical bills, we're likely going to be OK. We were taken by ambulance to the ER as a precaution, had xrays done to both of us, CT scan done on me - with nothing abnormal in either. Still - quite a bit of bruising, lingering pain and stiffness. Hopefully nothing long term, but we're well aware how such accidents can have issues crop up days/weeks after the event. Hopefully, some physical therapy, massage and/or chiropractic will have us 100% soon.
On to the insurance issues...first up, we're hopeful to get a reasonable settlement, without involving an attorney. We're not looking for a payday - just reimbursement of legitimate expenses. We have three areas of expenses that I see - and each, seems to have a different method of settlement. Add to that - I'm not getting very clear instructions on how to proceed from my insurance company.
- The car. My insurance company, appears to be cutting the check for the totalled vehicle - even though they'll go after the responsible party's insurance for reimbursement. The initial number they came up with, seems low by $2-3K...and based on details I've found online, this is not unusual and the figure is often negotiable. I submitted documentation to them (KBB retail price, comparable vehicles for sale with higher prices, etc.), so hopefully they come up a tad. If they don't - what are my options? If I accept their amount (we need something soon in order to replace the vehicle), can I attempt to claim an additional amount from the responsible party's insurance? Or, once we accept the check, is that all she wrote?
- Medical/lost wages. These costs are easily documented, but from what I understand insurance companies typically want to settle them quickly...which is at odds with possible longer term effects we might have. Since we're in no rush for this portion of the settlement (insurance is covering all medical, except chiropractic/massage), I assume it's wise to hold off on accepting any settlement until we feel we're back to 100% physically? Also - while I've been told this portion of the claim is handled by the responsible party's insurance company, it's unclear to me whether my insurance company works as a liaison on our behalf, or whether we're dealing with them directly. I got a wishy-washy answer on this, from my insurance company.
- Personal effects. We only lost one significant item. The crash was violent enough, to ruin Dana's brand new MacBook Pro. The laptop has a dented case, and the screen cracked. My insurance company is suggesting I need to make a claim with the responsible party's insurance company, but also suggested it might be covered under my homeowner's policy. My concern with a homeowners claim - I don't want something like this on my claims record. My concern with making a claim with the other insurance company - I don't want it tied to an overall settlement with the medical. We'd like the laptop replaced ASAP, but as mentioned above - don't want to settle on medical until we're sure our rehab is complete.
Any words of wisdom or guidance, would be most appreciated.
On a related note: I've got to say, I'm most impressed with the Honda Element's performance in this crash. It was a significant hit by a Chevy 1/2 ton truck - which deployed the other driver's airbags, and ruined all body parts on his entire front end. The wonders of modern engineering - specifically, crumple zones - certainly kept us from suffering a much worse fate. The rear of the Honda buckled and was shoved forward almost a foot...but virtually everything, was taken up in the area of the car aft of the occupent area in an incredibly uniform manner.
