I need answers from people who have received a settlement from an auto injury lawsuit...?

Question

My husband had a motorcycle accident on 3/2/08. We hired an attorney and they have been doing their thing.

The accident was NOT my husbands fault. The person who hit him was 18 years old and was under their parents insurance. The person who hit my husband only had $50000. worth of insurance coverage for injury. The motorcycle my husband was driving did not have insurance yet. (Our stupid mistake)

The lawyer called my husband earlier today and said that if we settle now, we will get $29500 total... and we'd get it pretty quick. Or we can wait (probably about a year) and we could take this to court where he (the lawyer) is sure we will get a bigger settlement, but he says that we may still only get the same amount as if we had settled now, because the rest of the responsibilty to pay would be on the family of the person who hit us. He (the lawyer) says that they can just file bankruptcy and then not have to pay us at all. Is this just how it works?

My husband was very seriously injured. He still cannot work and the Drs. told him it would be a year or more before he is able to go back to work. If we settle now, that amount wont even cover his salary that he was making for a year! How is this fair and is there anything we can do to get what we deserve in this situation?

We don't want some crazy amount of money, but we were a 2 income family. We have done a tremendous amount of work to be able to scrape by so far with only one income. We will soon have to start selling stuff that we own just to keep up with our monthly payments. (And we don't have debt besides one car and our house... this is just for our reg. monthly payments for utilities, morgtage, and such... no credit card debt or anything like that.) Not to mention the stress that we have had over the past 6 months... and the stress that is yet to come.

If anyone has been in a similar situation and can offer some advice it would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance...

Answer 1

just wanted to say, if you take the settlement now will your husband have to pay out of pocket to continue any therapy?  my girl was hit while crossing the street, inside the cross walk and shes is still waiting to go to court, but they are covering her therapy... sorry and good luck

Answer 2

You ain't heard the worst yet! Depending on how you settle, the offenders insurance may not be liable for any future problems. That could devolve to the offenders. It is not as simple as it once was to declare bankruptcy. A lot would depend under which chapter they declared as to whether they could escape the legal liability. However, whatever transpires, your attorney will get a sizable % of your settlement.

Answer 3

I know its hard, but hold out for not only more money, but lifetime medical payments in case anything else comes up from the accident. Also if he is diabled or expected to be disabled he can draw Supplimental disability Income from Social security but he must have a time frame of disability documented by a doctor.He can also sue for mental and physical anguish on his behalf and in some states your behalf since you are his wife. I had to file bancrupcy when I broke my back at work as it was the only way to make ends meet. I sure hope they are at lest paying all his medical biils, testing and prescriptions and take them to court. Its worth it.

Answer 4

If you take a settlement, the lawyer's cut is typically 33% or 1/3.

If a case goes to litigation, the lawyer's cut usually increases to 40%

You are PAYING for expert advice.  While you can never tell what type of judge you are going to get, you need to put this decision back on your lawyer.  If he feels you can collect more through litigation, then follow his advice.    If he feels it isn't worth the wait AND it's not likely to put substantially more money in your pocket... take the settlement and be done with the LONG DRAWN OUT nonsense of a court case.

REMEMBER - proceeds from legal cases are TAX FREE.

Just thought I'd brighten your day.  

Answer 5

I don't believe a personal injury judgment can be discharged in bankruptcy.

Answer 6

I can tell you from experience that your lawyer is correct. I was also in an accident. The other parties insurance was willing to pay for the vehicle, but not for anything else. I refused and went to court, the judge awarded the cost of the vehicle, which the insurance company paid and the remaining award was the responsibility of the guy that hit me.

That total was right at $24000, the guy filed bankruptcy two days later.  

Answer 7

Don't settle yet.  Once you do settle - you are stating that you feel compensated for the injury, the costs of all medical bills, lost wages, and lost property.

Of COURSE they want you to settle - they would be paying pennies on the dollar of what you are actually due - and are counting on your ignorance of the law to get away with this.

The lawyers dont give a hoot about  your family - they want their 33% cut - and now...don't forget that 29k will still be still be split with the lawyer, and they will remove from your share all their bills they claim they ran up.  They are even going to charge you for postage stamps out of your share.  

That 29k wasn't sufficient as a total share....but will really be insulting when you realize you will only get about 15-20k max after the lawyers are done dipping into it.

Answer 8

Well, it's a gamble: a judge and/or a jury may not award you anything. The other important consideration is that most personal-injury attorneys have the bulk of their experience in dealing with insurance companies AND NOT in actually appearing in court. So, your attorney's effectiveness in the court room is to be considered.

You might want to ask the attorney just what assets the other party has: that would be something to think about.

You ask "how is this fair?" -- at least you were hit by someone who had insurance. I was hit by an unlicensed drunk who didn't even know what insurance is.

  

Answer 9

If you do go to court, the jury would have to award you a total sum and this would include any medical or total loss settlements that you've already received.  Also, the lawyers will take a higher percentage if they have to go to court.  I settled outside of court when it came to my case (which was the other drivers' fault as well) because if the jury also decides on a lower number, you can't go back to that higher amount.  Of course a lawyer will say you'll get more in court, but you would more than likely break even after paying your lawyer a higher sum of money, not to mention retrieving and paperwork and finding and paying any witnesses would come out of your settlement as well.

Answer 10

Your lawyer is probably working on a contingency basis. This means that if he can get you 50% of the money with 10% of the effort, he is way ahead. The other thing to remember is that collecting judgments from individuals is very difficult, as he said. So, it sounds likely that you may wait an additional year and get an additional $7k ($10k minus the lawyer's cut). If I were you, I would tell you lawyer to make certain that he is getting the absolute max out of the insurance company and then settle.