What to expect after a car accident...

I've been all over the web trying to find something specific about what happens after a car accident and while it's a vast sea of knowledge, I was unable to find what I was looking for.

So I thought I would share my own knowledge and it may not be relevant to anyone today, tomorrow or even next month, but I hope that one day someone will go to google what to expect after a car accident and maybe my story will help.

In 2009 I was involved in a not at fault accident. The other party ran a red light which caused about 10k in damage to the front of my Scion XB. It took about 31 days for the repairs to be complete, and even though the accident was cut and dry and clearly the other parties fault (she was ticketed by an officer) it took their insurance nearly just as long to accept fault. Apparently it was due to the at fault parties insurance company switching some employees around after the one I was working with switched titles/companies.

I went through my own insurance company, Progressive, for the rental car and when my limits expired from my own policy I made sure to get Safeco, the at fault parties insurance company, to pick up the tab. I never paid anything out of pocket for the rental.

Once the repairs were complete I went to pick up the car, the body shop wanted my $500 deductible which I was not willing to pay because the accident was not my fault. I called my own insurance company as well as Safeco and within the hour the debt was paid for by Safeco and I was able to pick up my vehicle.

Unfortunately the repairs were not great and I noticed a grinding sound when turning. It went back into the shop for a day or so, the rental car was paid for by the body shop and the further repairs paid for by Safeco.

I then went to claim diminished value on my car. The Safeco rep was less than nice and acted utterly dumbfounded that I would even think that my car (worth 15k at the time) would even have diminished value. I tried explaining that if we put my XB next to another XB that had not had any damage the latter would be the preferred choice of a buyer, but if I offered it at a much lower price it might then be considered. Still she would not budge. It took me "hiring" an online company to work up some papers showing the cars value pre-accident and what they were selling for currently in the market. I made the mistake of using a company that did not even come look at the car, just used numbers and online photos to make their diminished value claim. Safeco didn't take it serious, or that is what the insurance rep said and then offered me roughtly 1.3k in diminished value.

Next was handling the personal injury portion of my claim. It being my first accident I was not sure what to do. After the accident I had my better half drive me to the hospital to get checked out. I was hit at 25-30mph from the side and once the adrenaline died down I was starting to feel the pain of the accident. Again I paid nothing out of pocket to go to the ER, they billed me later and I directed their bill to Safeco by providing the phone number, contact person and mailing address to the hospital. The only out of pocket expense I paid was prescriptions and that was maybe $30.

I sought chiropractic treatment that lasted about 3 months. I am unsure what my total bills were, but a guess would be 3-5k including the ER visit. I did miss days at work, which I kept track of. I however did not keep track of mileage to and from the chiropractor though I am told you are welcome to, so you may recoup $ for gas.

By the time my settlement offer came in I didn't think twice about the personal injury offer. I believe I settled the personal injury portion of my claim for 3-4k, which was a bit premature, but I was 23ish at the time.

Things I learned for future accidents: (which unfortunately I have been in and will have to type up the other 2 incidents at a later date as they panned out very differently than the first one.)

Once you settle you are then required to pay for your own future medical treatment, so be sure you are completely healed before settling. I believe most states are the same and you have roughly 2 to 3 years to settle a claim, but the at fault parties insurance company will not pay for your medical bills until after you have settled with them, so the hospital bills will keep coming to you as unpaid until you settle.

Mention from the start to the at fault parties insurance company that you will be filling for Diminished Value. That way they take it into account when figuring out if your car is a total loss. I did not wish to have my Scion XB back after the front end collision because of possible future problems. When I went to trade it in it had lost 5k in trade-in value. Had I mentioned diminished value from the start, which should have been more like 3k, mixed with the 10k to repair and the 1.2k in rental car, it may have been considered a total loss which is what I wanted. Keep in mind I had GAP insurance at the time so any loan amount left over after they paid the actual cash value of my car would have been covered. Basically I would have had no car, and no loan payment. I would have started from scratch.

If you need to hire someone for a diminished value claim, make sure you use someone who will physically come out and look at the car and who is reputable diminished value claims expert. In 2009 I paid maybe $250 for my DVC estimate, and right now in 2012 you can get a more hands on DVC estimate for about $400.

Do not sign a medical release form. I was smart enough not to sign mine and just provided the insurance company with my chiropractic bills after the fact. The release form allows them to look back at ALL your past history including anything from psychiatry visits you may have had, to the time you needed 2 stitches because you cut your finger while dicing a carrot.

If you are not at fault in an accident try and call the at fault parties insurance company first. You are allowed to report an accident on your behalf. It helps get the process rolling.

I hope this helps someone. I learned a lot after my first accident, things I wish someone would have shared with me.

 

This is a continuation to my previous post about what to expect after a car accident.

I was in a 2nd auto accident in 2009, I was traveling on the Highway at 55mph and about to go through my green traffic signal when an older gentlemen decided he was going to turn right on his red light directly into my lane. Thankfully I was able to slam on my brakes before the impact was too large, in fact it was so light that the guy kept on driving.

I phoned the police who tracked the man down and they confirmed that the damage on my vehicle matched the damage to at fault parties. The police felt bad for him and he was not given a hit and run ticket, though I felt they should have considering I laid on my horn through the whole incident of me tail sliding to a stop as to avoid causing a very severe collision.

It ended up causing about 2k of damage to my Scion TC. The impact was to my passenger side fender and wheel. It was in the shop for a little over a week and in the mean time my insurance company picked up the cost of my rental.

I never tried to claim a diminished value amount because the damage was not structural or too extensive.

Though I did not collide at a high speed into the at fault parties car, the force of the stop and the tensing of my body was enough to cause me to have aches, neck and back pain. For me headaches always follow an auto accident. I've also heard it's worse when you see the accident coming because your body automatically locks up. Again, just like after my first car accident once the adrenaline subsided I felt drained, tired and weak.

I ended up seeing the chiropractor for the following 3 to 4 months which ended up costing around 4-5k. If you find a well known chiropractor you will never have to pay any up front costs. You should only have to provide them with the at fault parties insurance information, including claim #. The chiropractor recoups their money after your treatment plan is finished.

I kept track of the days I missed at work, which turned out to be quite a few because my job consisted of heavy lifting which I was not permitted to do for the first 2 months. My schedule was switched around, and shortened. I believe 1.5k worth of work was missed and when I was ready to settle with the insurance company I provided a signed copy of all the dates, hours, and my pay rate for reimbursement.

I did NOT sign a release form for my medical history. Once my treatment was complete with the chiropractor I had them print me up all my files and submitted them to the at fault parties insurance company via snail mail.

What should you expect to receive for a settlement after an auto accident? It varies. My first accident caused 10k of damage and I settled for around 4k. This 2nd accident caused 2k of damage and I ended up settling the personal injury portion for 7-8k. Though each accident was different, my "pain and suffering" were relatively the same. The only difference with the 2nd auto accident is that I missed about $500-$800 more in work because of the accident.

Things I learned from the 2nd car accident:

Each insurance company is different. Though I found Safeco (at fault parties insurance company from the first accident) completely rude and uncaring, I don't remember ever having an issue with the at fault parties insurance company from the 2nd accident. (Side note, recently (2012) I found out Safeco could offer me a lower insurance rate than my current provider, Progressive, but due to the fact that they were so rude and difficult for me to deal with, I decided to pay more and keep Progressive who has not let me down.)

Insurance companies pay their employees to save the company money. Which is why they will pretend to not know what a diminished value claim is, or low ball you a settlement offer, either for property damage or personal injury. For me I did not dispute either of my accidents settlement amounts, I felt the offer from the 2nd accident was fair based on what I went through.

I did not have to hire a lawyer and I imagine most people don't for minor accidents such as the ones I've been in. I imagine if it was more severe, losing a limb, having major surgery, or something worse a lawyer would come in handy. I think most people can manage on their own when it comes to minor accidents. Just be sure to do things like keep track of time lost at work, mileage to and from any accident related appointments, and even time spent at the appointments.

I hope this snippet finds it's way to someone who needs it and becomes useful. If you have any questions or you feel I left something out I will do my best to remember and answer accordingly.

In the following 2-4 weeks I will be able to provide my experience from the 3rd and hopefully final car accident I was in this past October 2012 (which was in my 2012 Prius.)