Thread: Freak Accident - advice needed

Oooh, you could file a claim on Judge Judy so she can berate the other driver.

You will have to sue to get the other person/insurance to pay your bills. The ambulance ride will be costly, couldn't beleive how much a 3 mile ride in Vegas cost me. Seek out a lawyer and cover your expenses at min.

wow kirk, that's scary. i hope your wife is feeling ok now and good thing it wasn't worse. i would totally echo others' statements here in getting the other party's insurance to cover all costs, including deductible. out of curiosity, was the car parked uphill? how does something like this happen? you are right, it does sound like a freak accident, but i would think that person is still responsible for his/her vehicle. best of luck to you.

I'd let your car insurance company know ASAP and they will guide you the right way.

Like Head Injury said, make sure everything relating to your wife's injuries is accounted for before accepting any kind of settlement. If there's any kind of aftercare such as therapy or continuing doctor's visits involved, there's no reason you should have to pay for those down the road.

The biggest thing here is not to turn down any medical advice whatsoever. Seriously if its a potential problem get it checked out. The idea is not to get a payday but to get healthy. **** happens but a sense of community goes a long way.
Being on the other end of this, I hit a person in a parking lot (not a proud moment, even more careful now). I was making a left turn immediately following a car going straight through a T. Someone stepped off the curb and walked out the same direction as I behind the car I turned following. They were in the post of my car and I didnt see them, hit them about 5 mph stopped immediately. They threatened me with physical violence even though I was offering medical care. I called my insurance and reported the accident (as I should have). I proceeded to get calls from the person I hit threatening more violence because now this guy was pissed that my insurance was calling him asking him for his medical records. Eventually my insurance had to threaten to sue him to stop contacting me. Point is that while that person walking nervously may be an asshat, it may be some person that watched the whole thing happen and can't deal with it. The owner of the car may never have been there and likely will have a horrible surprise with a lot of guilt coming about leaving a handbrake off or just a mechanical failure in their car. As I stated before if that ambulance ride is going to hurt there are avenues. As much as I can I suggest you look towards your wife's wellbeing and not towards anything else. There are potential pitfalls down the road, your legal rights to them will not disappear overnight so don't fret entirely about it but be honest if it will help the healing process.

I went through a similar situation last year, so I hope this will help....

First off, your car insurance has nothing to do with this. Contacting them is a waste of time. However, do contact your medical insurance, they have a special department that deals with collecting on these types of accidents. Word to the wise, this department tends to be very busy, so make sure to keep track of of any and all medical expenses. You will be reimbursed by the other person's auto insurance, which will include all your copays and expenses relating to the accident. For example, that ambulance ride is at least a $1000 expense that your insurance will pay most of, and you will get reimbursed for that. Please note, any expenses that your medical insurance covers, like the ambulance ride, you will get paid back for but you will need to pay that back to your medical insurance. So don't spend that settlement money until you make your insurance whole.

With that said, their insurance is likely to make a settlement offer, to cover the medical expenses and pain and suffering, plus you didn't mention if she missed work. If so, she will be compensated for that. You could take this case to a lawyer if you don't feel confident that you can negotiate the settlement with the other person's insurance, but of course they will take a cut. That may OK if they end up getting more than you might get on your own, but that's hard to quantify.

Don't be surprised if the whole deal takes 4-5 months to settle. That's typical in these types of things.

First off, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for posting here, even if you just had a few words of encouragement. The LGK community is awesome, which is why I've been on these boards for almost 16 years.

Originally Posted by Butch 19

Insurance companies love to go after other insurance companies. Do you have the police report? I would say this definitely IS a "car accident." Just because your car didn't get damaged, the (medical) damage was caused by another car.

Get the police report and contact your insurance co, they will track down the other (parked/rolling) driver's insurance company, and definitely ask them for all medical expenses or more. You should not have to pay any deductible either - other insurance should reimburse you for that. **

** all legal advice based on many years of watching Law & Order (the original L&O only, not their later crap)

The police gave my wife a postcard sized police report with details about the other car, the police report number, etc... Not the full police report. They said it would be ready in 4 to 6 weeks for the Insurance Company to access.

Originally Posted by Royal_Roader

So you mean the other person left their car running unattended?
It wouldn't hurt to call both your auto and health insurance companies to find out what could be done. After all, they don't want to pay out anything they don't have to, especially if another party caused the injuries. Seems like 4 weeks is a long time to wait on a police report too.

The other car was not running. My only guess is they had a stick shift, parked it "in gear" without a parking brake, but it was actually in neutral. Agreed about the police report. On CHiPs, they were always typing up the reports on the same day as the incident. Now with computers, it takes 4 weeks?!? Hahahaha! Gotta love the red tape of bureaucracy (sp?).

Originally Posted by Dana

I'd say your wife is entitled to something for pain and suffering too. Being pinned between the cars must have been quite scary and I'm glad it sounds like she wasn't injured as seriously as she could have been.

I agree with the advice that one insurance company loves to go after another insurance company. If I were your health insurance, I'd want the other person's info because the other person should be paying for it. They caused the medical bills. It's not like needing to go to the ER for like a kidney stone or something that can't be blamed on someone.

My wife is definitely in a lot of pain, and was probably in shock for awhile during the whole experience. Scary stuff. After reading all of these replies, I'm definitely going to start with my Medical/Health Insurance.

Originally Posted by HeadInjury

Correction: you have an excellent case. The other car owner has no defense. Cars don't move like that without negligence being involved.

Contact your insurance company. They will tell you if they will assist you. If not, make a claim with the other driver's insurance company. You will get a settlement offer at some point. Whatever it is, ask for more. (They will be lowballing you.) If you're not satsified, hire an attorney and threaten to sue.

And make sure to have the injury fully treated. Don't worry about the co-pays, etc. That will all end up being reimbursed to you. Any legitimate treatment should be done for your wife's sake and it will increase the value of her claim.

Completely agree about getting her fully treated. I'd hate for her to have a persistent, nagging 'thing' that makes her life miserable every day of her life. Ugh!!!

Originally Posted by Blueline

You will have to sue to get the other person/insurance to pay your bills. The ambulance ride will be costly, couldn't beleive how much a 3 mile ride in Vegas cost me. Seek out a lawyer and cover your expenses at min.

I really don't want to sue if I don't have to. Hopefully that's not what it comes to.

Originally Posted by lunchbox

wow kirk, that's scary. i hope your wife is feeling ok now and good thing it wasn't worse. i would totally echo others' statements here in getting the other party's insurance to cover all costs, including deductible. out of curiosity, was the car parked uphill? how does something like this happen? you are right, it does sound like a freak accident, but i would think that person is still responsible for his/her vehicle. best of luck to you.

Thanks, Elizabeth. This happened at the corner of La Brea and Jefferson - my wife's an LCSW, Clinical Psychotherapist (or something), and has to drive all over LA to see clients. Standard strip mall parking lot. It looks like it's flat, but there's actually a slight grade downhill to where my wife was parked. Not noticeable unless you're looking for a type of slope, like I was last night...

Originally Posted by jammer06

The biggest thing here is not to turn down any medical advice whatsoever. Seriously if its a potential problem get it checked out. The idea is not to get a payday but to get healthy. **** happens but a sense of community goes a long way.
Being on the other end of this, I hit a person in a parking lot (not a proud moment, even more careful now). I was making a left turn immediately following a car going straight through a T. Someone stepped off the curb and walked out the same direction as I behind the car I turned following. They were in the post of my car and I didnt see them, hit them about 5 mph stopped immediately. They threatened me with physical violence even though I was offering medical care. I called my insurance and reported the accident (as I should have). I proceeded to get calls from the person I hit threatening more violence because now this guy was pissed that my insurance was calling him asking him for his medical records. Eventually my insurance had to threaten to sue him to stop contacting me. Point is that while that person walking nervously may be an asshat, it may be some person that watched the whole thing happen and can't deal with it. The owner of the car may never have been there and likely will have a horrible surprise with a lot of guilt coming about leaving a handbrake off or just a mechanical failure in their car. As I stated before if that ambulance ride is going to hurt there are avenues. As much as I can I suggest you look towards your wife's wellbeing and not towards anything else. There are potential pitfalls down the road, your legal rights to them will not disappear overnight so don't fret entirely about it but be honest if it will help the healing process.

Thank you for the advice. I've had near misses in parking lots and crosswalks before, for similar reasons of a blind spot. Not a good feeling just barely missing someone. I'm sure you felt awful to go through that.

I agree, for me this is about making sure my wife is OK and not trying to go after the other person for all they're worth. I do agree that their Insurance should cover the costs, though. We weren't at fault, and there are costs that have to be taken care of. I was too busy at work today, but will try to call my Medical Insurance Provider tomorrow to see what the next steps are.

Originally Posted by KHenry14

I went through a similar situation last year, so I hope this will help....

First off, your car insurance has nothing to do with this. Contacting them is a waste of time. However, do contact your medical insurance, they have a special department that deals with collecting on these types of accidents. Word to the wise, this department tends to be very busy, so make sure to keep track of of any and all medical expenses. You will be reimbursed by the other person's auto insurance, which will include all your copays and expenses relating to the accident. For example, that ambulance ride is at least a $1000 expense that your insurance will pay most of, and you will get reimbursed for that. Please note, any expenses that your medical insurance covers, like the ambulance ride, you will get paid back for but you will need to pay that back to your medical insurance. So don't spend that settlement money until you make your insurance whole.

With that said, their insurance is likely to make a settlement offer, to cover the medical expenses and pain and suffering, plus you didn't mention if she missed work. If so, she will be compensated for that. You could take this case to a lawyer if you don't feel confident that you can negotiate the settlement with the other person's insurance, but of course they will take a cut. That may OK if they end up getting more than you might get on your own, but that's hard to quantify.

Don't be surprised if the whole deal takes 4-5 months to settle. That's typical in these types of things.

Many thanks for sharing your wisdom learned from your own experience. This seems like very sound advice.

Regarding her work, this was a tough decision for us to make last night. After being discharged from Cedars, we went to Jerry's Deli across the street. It was about 5:00pm and she still hadn't had lunch yet. Her flight was at 3:00, to fly to Alabama where she was supposed to give a Workshop today and tomorrow with one other person. People from all over the country were going to be there. Not a conference, just a workshop that she was giving. If she didn't go, these other people wouldn't have the full workshop they paid for and travelled for. So I spent an hour on the phone with American Airlines, almost canceling completely and taking the credit to use on a future flight. My wife had been wrestling with this decision all day, and finally told me that she needed to go. I was able to get her on a red eye flight, with wheelchair treatment at the terminals (layover in Dallas). Her co-presenter started the workshop at 10am this morning, my wife landed at 11:15, was picked up at the airport and went straight to the workshop to finish the presentation. She gives another one tomorrow.

Total cost to change her flight, after missing it due to the ER visit, was an additional $75. The American Airlines customer service was actually amazing to work with, kudos to them for helping us out.

Still kind of in a whirlwind about it all. Apologies for rambling on and making this reply extremely long. First time I've actually used the 'multi quote' feature on the boards. Very cool!

Peace out. And still welcoming any other advice.

Hope the other driver isnt an illegal