Need help with my insurance settlement... i am so confused with it!!!?

Question

ok, so it was a car accident and my attorney is working on my insurance settlement. It was through uninsured motorist coverage of mine so my limit was 30,000 per person. My medical bills when i added them up from the papers from the hospital(s) and doctors and surgeons...came up to about $29,800.I had an 80/20 health insurance policy but i also had an arisa policy? i guess where ihave to reimburse my health insurance for their costs because it was due to an accident. whatever!! i dont get it but anyways... my lawyer told me today that the people that were taking care of getting the money back from my settlement for my health insurance are only asking for $8,150.17 but they were billed $52,000...(?) and then they told me that they are trying to get the fee waived... and then my costs for my 20% of my bills should be covered by my deductible... (?) does thsi make any sense to anybody? i though for sure i would walk away from this accident with absoltely no money at all..... cont.....

Answer 1

1/3 is standard, are you telling me you didn't read anything you signed?

Answer 2

You  have an ERISA plan - that is an employer sponsored health plan. It has language in it that allows them to recover from any settlement you get. Thats standard.

Although they paid out more than the 8000- and is entitled to recover the full amount of their payment - the ERISA plan has reduced their lien amount. Again, not uncommon. Believe it or not...they are not unreasonable. They know that you also have a claim and a right to recover from the settlement too. When you have an attorney - ERISA will usually reduce their lien amount to about 1/3 of your settlement.

This is because they know the attny fee is 1/3 of the settlement. (Again - pretty standard). That leaves 1/3 for you. This way, everyone gets a piece of the pie. It's pretty fair actually.

If you don't have an attny- so the pie is only to be divided between you and ERISA - the ERISA plan will usually reduce their lien amount to 1/2 of the settlement and that will leave 1/2 of the settlement for you.  

Its a process that is a pain in the neck - involves a lot of phone calls....lots of paperwork but is not uncommon.

** not legal advice -- just general information -- your attorney can provide specific details related to your case. **

Answer 3

You're paying your attorney big bucks to handle this for you.  HE should be sitting down and explaining where the money goes.  

Yes, he gets his cut first.  THEN the medical providers get their cut, THEN you get whatever is left.   Many times, people don't end up with anything - the lawyer and the medical bills take it all.

Answer 4

Yep, you are a kaligirl.