Insurance Claim

[77horn 216]

About a week ago, my wife was traveling to work on an interstate feeder road.  Rush hour, and traffic was backed up at the stop light.  She comes to a full stop.  Suddenly she is plowed into from behind by Vehicle A, which accordioned her into the truck in front of her and then the truck hit the car in front of it. (4 car crash)  She's stunned and sore, but no obvious injuries.  Take her to the ER to get checked out.  no x-rays or other tests, just triage and quick exam by Dr (PA?) who gives a script for muscle relaxants and says to take OTC pain meds (Tylenol and ibuprofen)

Driver of Vehicle A admits fault and her insurance (Geico) accepts liability.  We're offered a quick settlement for the ER visit of "up to $15,000".  I know nothing of ER costs, other than they are high, so I am leery of this "up to" settlement.  Call the hospital, who says they can't produce a bill for 30 days (really?!), but so far all the have is an ER charge for <$2k, but that doesn't  include Dr fees.  I call the Dr billing service, who says they've gotten nothing from the hospital (really?!), although they are aware of my wife going to a hospital.  They can give no guidance.

Geico is pushing to know if we will accept the settlement.  (Note: other than this "up to" clause, I am ok with the rest of Geico's offer.) 

Anyone have any experience with this kind of thing? Offer any advice?

 

Edited August 22, 2019 by 77horn

[pearlandhorn 3270]

Same thing happened to me when I was in college.  Don't take it....yet...if they call you, just tell them what you'd done so far and you're waiting to see how she feels over the next few weeks.  They're trying to make it go away and "close" the door on potential lawsuit.

Now if you get the bill in and it's less than $15k, go ahead and take the deal.  But if it's more than $15k, show/tell them the total and make them pay for the entire bill.

[ROFL BOX 6649]

1.  Where are you located?
2.  Paging @Bob Lives!

[Bob Lives! 914]

GEICO is notorious for that crap. It's called "swoop and settle".   Google it.  You are doing your wife a great disservice by even entertaining this.  If you want to protect her interests, lawyer up ASAP.  I'm happy to help and  I'm board certified in Personal Injury Trial Law. 

[Texaus 377]

This hits close to home, I plowed into her from behind week before last. Hope she’s okay

[UTPhil2006 3807]

Same thing happened to my business partner.  I definitely would not take this, but I am not an insurance advisor or lawyer, and you should talk to one of them (Bob Lives above)

[77horn 216]

I'm in Montgomery County. 

I thought the "up to" had the potential to be a dirty trick.   Based upon what you guys say, I will tell Geico what I know, and tell not rejecting, but not accepting until I know more.

But also part of it is surprise on how long it takes to hospital to bill.  With ERP systems, they'd be able to tell very quickly.

Thanks

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

She will begin feeling neck pain in 3-6 months for the neck  disc issue that a rear end cash usually causes. Have her begin getting treatment right now.  Have money set aside for the inevitable Dr. visits, and resulting therapy treatments she'll need.

[zork 629]

Also, seatbelt injury, across the shoulder and chest region, is a real thing that can show itself a week or so later.  Wait till you know what is going on with her health.  I believe you have two years to get it right but I'm not sure about that.  We dealt with State Farm on a similar type wreck where the person hitting our car from behind, his girlfriend who owned the car had State Farm.  While not perfect,  they took care of the car, gave us a rental, paid for chiro and other doctors, ultimately gave about 5k over all of that for future health issues due to the aforementioned seatbelt injury. Good Luck.

[ROFL BOX 6649]

Get a lawyer consultation.

& Not from someone you  see on TeeVee.  Does the Shag Brain Trust have a connection in Houston?

[NeverMarryAStripper 21907]

The Texas Hammer

[Quagmire 2147]

15k to plow your wife from behind sounds expensive

[CooterBrown 18014]

15k to plow your wife from behind sounds expensive

She only charged me a half empty White Claw.

[midtown 3346]

On 8/22/2019 at 1:40 PM, 77horn said:

Driver of Vehicle A admits fault and her insurance (Geico) accepts liability. 

You have them by the balls.  Wait and if they even hint at strong arming you get an attorney.  I would agree with many that you probably should lawyer up now.

Edited August 26, 2019 by midtown