Location: Florida
28 y/o male
Hey need legal advice. This is my first ever legal issue I’ve ever encountered so I don’t know anything. Need advice a child could understand lmao
Back in sept of last year shortly after I clocked out I got into an accident on my way home which left me with 2 crushed disks in my lower back.
(sorry if theirs too much detail I just feel it’s important context)
Shortly after my accident I was told my my insurance agent that I had enough to make a case against the opposite sides insurance company, I needed a new car and didn’t have the means to get one out right so I decided to go ahead and do so.
So after acquiring the help of these attorneys I get the long list of things I need to do in order to build my case, (constant physical therapy, spine exams, etc.) leading up to 4 ablasion procedures and 6 rounds of injections. But all the while I was doing those appointments, I received little to no contact from my attorneys (maybe I just think I should have been contacted more frequently I don’t know how attorneys work, I just felt very in the dark on my side of things)
Then comes the “demands package” where they pool all of the things necessary from the case that they send out to the other insurance company. My time lost from work, (after the accident I was out of work for about 2 months so they wanted my pay stubs before compared to after the accident to show the financial loss I expecianced) medical bills, etc. (I’ve never seen the demands package as of yet.)
So now all of a sudden this week I get a call from the financial adjustor assigned to my case and he tells me things that sounded a lot like the demands package doesn’t really mean anything.
The max the other insurance company is going to pay out is 25k. The agent working with me now all of a sudden wants to give me discounts for the attorney fees and wants me to sign the paperwork saying I’ll accept the 25k. It seems like they’re trying to just push me to get this over with and be quiet. I was also informed that the medical bills along with the attorneys fees will be taken out of the 25k.
Just for context the guys insurance policy wasn’t the greatest but everyone in my life is saying that they’re pulling the wool over my eyes. Do I just take this small chunk of change and walk? Or is there something I could do before signing this form?
I need clarity or some kind of plan because all of this legal talk is making me feel so stupid. Genuinely feeling lost at the end of this all. Is it normal for cases to end like this? After all the fees taken out I can’t even afford to fully pay off the car I bought after the accident.
Any advice or info is greatly appreciated.
Comments
>The max the other insurance company is going to pay out is 25k.
That could be the policy maximum. If so, then that’s what there is to work with. You’d either have to leverage other coverages, or sue the other party directly for anything extra.
>I was also informed that the medical bills along with the attorneys fees will be taken out of the 25k.
Yes, that’s the point of this whole affair. Your medical bills, attorneys bills, and anything else you owe get paid first. You get what’s left.
>After all the fees taken out I can’t even afford to fully pay off the car I bought after the accident.
You should have been paid fair market value for your totaled car. If you haven’t been paid for the value of your vehicle, then you need to talk to whichever insurer is handling that claim, as its often separate from your medical bills.
The cost of the new car is moot. While I know it doesn’t seem fair, any new car payment you chose to take on is not relevant to the accident.
>everyone in my life is saying that they’re pulling the wool over my eyes.
You need to have a frank discussion with your attorney, but be aware that a lot of people believe that any sort of accident results in a brand-new car and a boatload of money. That’s… not how it works 99% of the time.