Street Racers hit my dads car and fled and now arrested, dad suffered serious injuries. how much settlement?

Question

Ok my dad was innocently driving to pick up his vitamins, when 2 street racers hit my dad and tottalled his car and knocked my dad unconcious and serious injuries. one guy drove away and wasnt caught for another 2 weeks. the other guy 19 years old/driving stolen car/no insurance/no full licence was yelling at my dad while unconcious (according to wittnesses) and he then fled on foot where firefighters actually chased him until police arrested him. It turns out they were actually shooting at eachother during the incident. the guy who fled got arrested and he HAS insurance. our lawyer is working on suing them. My dad was in the hospital for about a week, fractured his foot, broke 3 ribs, and sadly suffered a brain injury and has blood in his brain and the doctor says he will lose some of his memory withing the next 3 months. hes going to rehab everyday. and cant work or do anything. Our van was worth around $4000. My question is, what can we expect in terms of a settlement? I just want a ballpark figure of how much we might get for all thats happend, like a ballpark figure. some people tell me around $15000, some are even saying up to $300000? btw the charged laid against them include failure to remain at the scene of an accident, eluding police, resisting arrest,street racing and a whole bunch of other charges that the police wont tell us yet. so please can somebody just give us a ballpark figure on how much money we may get? our lawyer is taking %25.also they have changed my dads life forever because he cant work now he isnt active anymore and has caused pain and suffering for him and my family

Answer 1

Well I am so sorry to hear about your Dad but your question is impossible to answer. You should ask your lawyer and be more worried about your DAD's Health at this time not MONEY. This will involve lawyers and no doubt court, judge and jury if you don't settle. If the individual is of modest means than you will get what the insurance company will pay. Is this worse than just a regular accident? I say  yes clearly there was racing, but in many accidents some fault or carelessness is involved. You can't punsh the other driver for stupidity or street racing, that is the job of the law and he will suffer the penalties of possible fines, loss of car, licence and even jail time. I WOULD WORRY ABOUT YOUR DADS HEALTH MORE THAN HOW MUCH MONEY YOU ARE GOING TO GET. The insurance company should pay immediate medical bills with out settlement. If you Dad's injuries are minor or he recovers 100% he will get less. NOT SAYING YOU ARE DOING THIS, but some people will try and milk their injuries to be more sympathetic, thinking they hit the mother load and will get millions. Forget it. Also if your Dad earns a modest amount of money his loss from work will be worth less. Yes hurting a rich person will cost you or your insurance more. Yes being rich and hitting people and being at total fault will cost you or your insurance more. Its called deep pockets or "you can't get blood from a turnip". ITS ALL VERY COLD AND CALCULATED BY INSURANCE AND LAW. You can expect to be made WHOLE. You  can expect your car replaced or repaired, your Dad mended with medical paid, loss of wages and some amount to compensate for the event. That amount may be a few thousand to 10's or even 100's of thousands, BUT IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE ABOVE.  STOP worrying about MONEY AND THINK OF YOUR DAD. It may take a year or more to settle. Going to court will take longer. Don't plan on being rich from this accident. Also your Lawyer will get a big chunk. He has taken this case because he thinks he will make money, not out of the goodness of his heart. If he wants to TURN IT OVER and get the case closed to get his cut faster, he will not be aggressive and go for the GOLD. If you want to go for the GOLD and sue for millions feel free, but there is precedence of case and limits. Unless you sue the person personally and they have lots of money, than you are stuck with insurance. The insurance co. has lots of time and lawyers. Not saying you should bend over, but pick a price. If you get all bills paid, car replaced and Dad recovers what will make your Dad (not you) happy for pain and suffering> $10k? $20k? $50k? $100k? Don't be greedy. Insurance is not lottery to make your Dad rich. You have nothing to do with this case and you will not get any money. Even for you to worry about money at this point shows a little misplaced priorities unless you family is having problems paying the mortgage. If that is the case than you will want to take care of the immediate needs. If the insurance company works in good faith they will help with out strings. However they may use the situation to their advantage to force you to settle early. KEEP IN MIND, the Lawyer and insurance wants to settle and get this over.

Answer 2

Its all up to dads lawyer and the judge. just be happy he is alive.

Answer 3

sue no more then 5.2 mill and settle out for 3.3 million

Answer 4

You should really be asking this question to your father's attorney.  Without complete medical information, nobody can answer your question.  We need to know the extent of his permanency, if any.  How long he was totally disabled, partially disabled.  How long has he been treating?  What are his total meds and lost wages.  Does he have PIP coverage that will pay for the medicals/lost wages?  What kind of fracture did he sustain to the foot?  Did it require surgery?  The brain injury adds value to the claim.

Case value also varies greatly from state to state.  Punitive damages are not covered under most auto policies in most states.  It is against public policy.  He will not recover additional monies beyond the actual case value.  Your mother may have a loss of consortium claim, but usually this is included in the single limit coverage available to your father.  Again, it varies from state to state.

How much can you expect?  Well, you will not recover anything from the person who's vehicle was stolen.  They have no liability.  The maximum you can get from the other party would be his policy limit.  However, his insurer may deny coverage depending on the terms of the policy.  

I assume your father had uninsured and underinsured coverage.  One of these will kick in.   What are those limits?  In some states you can stack your household uninsured and underinsured limits if there is more than one policy and/or vehicle on the policy.  

Answer 5

bad scene.  the other guy's insurance will probably get a pass since the guy was participating in an illegal act.  they may go for the car repair and some medical but i doubt he had much limits.

what is the minimal limits in your state?

itwould be best to talk to the lawyer, that what you are paying for.

do you have insurance on your car?  liability only?  if so too bad.  if you had full coverage with uninsured motorist, you can collect against it.

since both are going to be in jail for awhile, i would not think that collecting any money will be easy.

again talk to the suit.