This is going to be long, but I hoping there is someone in the know here.

My hubby was in a car wreck on Oct 3. It did about 4500 worth of damage to his car. The EMT's came and said he wasn't critical but they did reccomend him to go to the ER. They did not want to take him, said the ER's were busy and he would be stuck strapped to the board for a couple of hours. So they advised them to have me drive him in. (He is a large man, 300 pounds, he would have been uncomfy and hard to carry!). Anyway, so we did. He sprained his back and his wrist, they did xrays and gave him pain meds. He was late to work the next day (and should of taken the day off, but had stuff that needed done). Fast forward, he is fine, and we got the car back Nov 18.

My question is how do they calculated the "pain and suffering" part of the settlement. They made us what seems to be a low ball offer and we want to counter, but we want to have some facts behind why. We were without his car for 7 weeks. The only rental car available (thanks rita..lol) for most of that time was a dodge neon. Literally my hubby didn't fit in it, his head hit the roof. With the three kids this was a huge pain. Also the toll tag is on our cars, so he took my van. Which means it costs us nearly double in gas (he drives an accord). Also to get the rental car we had to put a deposit down, because they were too backed up to get to it within the week (and we NEEDED a car). So still nearly 2 months later, they haven't closed out the rental car account and my 250 dollars is sitting at enterprise. Well I need this money and not having it has caused a few issues, but that is our own fault. I just feel like this wreck has cost us finacially and has been a major pain in the butt for us and we are due something for our inconvience. So is there a formula? Her offer included covering all of our out of pocket expenses, not bills plus some. So we have spent 50 on er copay, 30 on meds copay, another 30 to the doc at the er, 50 for the ambulance, and another 20 for the xray tech. So our out of pocket has been 430 dollars at this point. 2 months of them holding our money basically, not to mention having to deal with a man with a sore back for 2 weeks.

Thanks for reading this far, and tia for any advice.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - 10:18 am:

Pain and suffering is physical and emotional pain and suffering, but has absolutely nothing to do with inconveniences. Email me at klipvm at rcn dot com, and let's talk about this. They are trying to get you to take a "go away" offer because your hubby didn't miss any work and his only injuries were "soft tissue" "strain and sprain". I don't understand why you are paying the co-pays. Doesn't your auto insurance provide medical coverage?

By Amecmom on Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 02:27 pm:

Just seeing this. Don't you have an attorney? If not, get one. Ginny is right, they are trying to get you to settle without an attorney to protect your rights. Bad ... (finger wagging).

Oh, and what about the other driver(s) insurance? Shouldn't thatbe covering you?
Ame

By Kaye on Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 04:28 pm:

I am LOL because I have spent about 2 hours dealing with this today. UGH!!! Nationwide is that other person's insurance company. They have been less than nice and helpful, they are not on MY side. They are rude and condescending on the phone. Overall it has been a bad experience. It was completely the other guys fault (he turned out in front a truck and my hubby was on the other side of that truck, hubby was traveling about 40. In general it is small stuff and small money, so I can't really get a lawyer, although I will be copying a lawyer with my certified letter (my inlaws..lol) There are two issues here. One being our "pain and suffering and med bills" this is handled by adjuster A, who is out of the office till next week. But the car repairs and rental are being handled by adjuster Nick. Well Nick has done a poor communication job with me and the rental company and basically I am being denied rental coverage for some of the time my car was being repaired. Ugh. I have two more phone calls to make still. I have letters written and I am trying to collect all the facts, exact amounts etc. It is always best to stated EXACTLY what you want done. My repair place is covering part of the rental because they do feel like they should have been able to have it done faster. They aren't quite taking blame, they think the insurance company should pony up, but know they are not going to. However even with what they think is fair and reasonable amount of time, the insurance company disagrees. Ahh...and here I am. I feel much better typing it out though.

But let the record state. I personally would never purchase a policy from nationwide given any options. I do not feel they have treated me fairly.

By Vicki on Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 05:52 pm:

Well, I understand what you are saying and I HATE having to deal with any insurance companies...but, to be fair, they really are doing their jobs. They are not trying to be fair to you, they are trying to be fair to their clients and pay out as little as possible. If the accident would have been your fault, I can assure you that your insurance company would be doing the same thing to the other guy!! No insurance company ever wants to pay out more than they have to. They will try to low ball you on everything. But, to be fair, there are MANY people out there that think they are entitled to way more than they should be too. They will claim all kinds of pain and suffering when there really wasn't much wrong at all.

I always thought that your insurance company should do the fighting for you when your involved in a accident. Is that not the case?? I do hate insurance, you pay and pay and pay and then when you need it, you have to fight like the dickens to get anything!!

By Kaye on Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 06:12 pm:

My insurance company can do the fighting for me, but I have to pay upfront my deductable and then when they win I get reimbursed, but it normally takes 6 months. Since my deductable was 500 dollars I opted to just take care of it myself. Quite honestly it was just very cut and dry, but the hurricane delayed things (issues getting a car, timely repairs, etc). And I think this particular insurance company is a pain in the butt.

I was hit a year ago, the person had state farm, it was an amazing experience, they initated all phone calls and went out of their way to make sure I was satisfied.

A friend of mine was hit by someone who used my insurance (USAA rocks!) and they were amazed at how nice they were treated and how much money they were offered. Their car was totalled and they were given a rental car for 6 weeks past the settlement so they could hunt for a new car.

So when I complain about nationwide, I feel like I am doing so with experience. It is their job to save their company money, but it is also their job to communicate and be nice. Neither of these has happened as of yet (well I take that back, my last phone call was good). If i had any idea that I would have spent HOURS on the phone and two weeks after the car is ready and returned, they still had not contacted me or my rental company and i was out that money anyway. I would have let my insurance company handle it. I have actually called them for advice 3 or 4 different times. I will be filing a written complaint to the insurance commisioner of texas. Ironically when I posted yesterday it was complaints on the medical coverage (we are dealing with two adjusters) I had no idea they were not planning on covering the rental car (although the policy clearly states they will, that is a texas law). So I still have an issue to take up with the other lady. What I initially wanted was this not to COST me anything. A little extra for the pain in the butt this has been is nice. But I have to say after all this time, there is a small part of me that would like them to pay for my christmas Ultimately we just want is fair for our troubles. Once you have wrecked a car it is devalued, they won't pay for factory parts, they are all aftermarket if they car is more than 2 years old (ours is 2 1/2 years old).