Settling A Personal Injury Claim Without Attorney
Q: An 82 year old woman was a "passenger" in a car accident in Los Angeles and broke her wrist and knee cap. Her Kaiser insurance plan is covering all her medical expenses but it's apparent the woman will never recover her ability to live completely independently and will probably need to move to a retirement home. Kaiser does not cover retirement home expenses which average $3000 + monthly. The responsible party has 100/300,000 coverage (Farmers Insurance). Is it within reason to think an insurance carrier will agree to settle for $200,000 without litigation and the lady having to engage an attorney. This amount would cover a calculated 5 years without anything left for pain and suffering. This is a broad question but I thought it would not hurt to put it out there for comments. The insurance adjustor already advised her she has two years to make any claims. I would also be interested to know how long the insurance company could drag out an indisputable claim by an 82 year older.
A: Why? Those are the responsibility of the at-fault driver (or his insurance company), in most states. Maybe your state is one where non-drivers have to pay there own medical expenses, but that's a question she should ask her (see below) attorney. No. It is not within reason to think that a person who is partially disabled by an accident will get anything like a fair settlement without the help of an attorney. It's insane even to _think_ of not being represented by counsel I would not believe that. It might be true; but if the adjuster is lying, or simply mistaken, she will be out of luck. There's no such thing as an indisputable claim, but even if there were a person