Was in a car accident. How much can I reasonably expect for pain and suffering?

First, your insurance company is not going to be involved in a settlement for any pain and suffering. If you want to be paid for your pain and suffering you will need to hire an attorney and sue the other driver.

As to what you should expect for a little inconvience in your life? I would need more details on the accident and yourself (age, type of job, are you truely injured or will this all pass in a few months, etc)? I would tell you not to pursue this further if you will be fine in a few months but if truely injured you might get $5-10k

You were hit at 50 mph and your car is not totaled? BS.

You can get 7k in damages in a 10 mph collision.

Get an attorney. Quit seeing a chiropractor. They are not medical doctors.

Judd wrote:

You were hit at 50 mph and your car is not totaled? BS.

You can get 7k in damages in a 10 mph collision.

Get an attorney. Quit seeing a chiropractor. They are not medical doctors.

Yea that’s a big collision. If you accepted their insurance company’s first offer you got ripped off.

Get everything documented by a physician. And get an attorney. These types of settlements should be quick and easy - fairly formulaic actually. State laws and customs will dictate final settlements.

Only $7000 damage from a 50 mph collision? Doesn’t add up.

I sat on a jury in an accident like this. FYI you need to see a real doctor and go to PT through licensed medical care. When I was on the jury people questioned why if the plantif was so hurt he went to a chiropractor instead of a “real doctor.” It killed his settlement. He got medical bills but no lost wages or pain & suffering.

Go to a doctor.

Need to do this wrote:

Only $7000 damage from a 50 mph collision? Doesn’t add up.

I sat on a jury in an accident like this. FYI you need to see a real doctor and go to PT through licensed medical care. When I was on the jury people questioned why if the plantif was so hurt he went to a chiropractor instead of a “real doctor.” It killed his settlement. He got medical bills but no lost wages or pain & suffering.

Go to a doctor.

He was hit from behind. Likely her car received bulk of damage.

OP, why did she hit you? What are the facts in the incident report? Was she field tested? Was she texting or surfing the internet? You real skimpy on actual details of the accident.

Didn't you ask her "why did you hit me?"

harry wales wrote:

Need to do this wrote:

Only $7000 damage from a 50 mph collision? Doesn’t add up.

I sat on a jury in an accident like this. FYI you need to see a real doctor and go to PT through licensed medical care. When I was on the jury people questioned why if the plantif was so hurt he went to a chiropractor instead of a “real doctor.” It killed his settlement. He got medical bills but no lost wages or pain & suffering.

Go to a doctor.

He was hit from behind. Likely her car received bulk of damage.

OP, why did she hit you? What are the facts in the incident report? Was she field tested? Was she texting or surfing the internet? You real skimpy on actual details of the accident.

Didn't you ask her "why did you hit me?"

The OP might not be intentionally exaggerating, but at 50 mph someone would be dead.

Crooked Hillary wrote:

harry wales wrote:

He was hit from behind. Likely her car received bulk of damage.

OP, why did she hit you? What are the facts in the incident report? Was she field tested? Was she texting or surfing the internet? You real skimpy on actual details of the accident.

Didn't you ask her "why did you hit me?"

The OP might not be intentionally exaggerating, but at 50 mph someone would be dead.

Way to post the most ignorant comment yet in this thread. shocking by someone with that username

Sorry to hear about your accident...and I can relate:

I was hit a few months ago on my way home from a race by an idiot who blew a red light while texting and T-boned me in the intersection. I sustained a rotator cuff tear, fractured fingers, concussion & a hip injury. The other driver admitted guilt, was ticketed, and his insurance company is admitting fault and all that. So, a cut & dry case on negligence. However, when I tried to negotiate a settlement with his insurance company for pain, suffering & PTSD, they basically gave me the finger and told me to pound sand. Their position was they would only pay medical costs and a cash payout for my totalled car, but that was it and I could go screw myself for anything else. ?

So, I consulted with a few personal injury attorneys who said this is a common tactic used by insurance companies for people who try to negotiate injury cases without an attorney (imagine that - insurance companies screwing over accident victims who don't have legal representation ?). The only problem I didn't like with hiring an attorny is that they usually take a 33% cut, plus admin fees (upwards to $,1,000), from any settlement negotiated. That's a huge cut and doesn't leave much if it's not a big settlement.

So, you may want to talk with an attorney anyway about your case. Check for experienced MV personal injury attorneys in your area - many have live chats on their sites.

harry wales wrote:

Need to do this wrote:

Only $7000 damage from a 50 mph collision? Doesn’t add up.

I sat on a jury in an accident like this. FYI you need to see a real doctor and go to PT through licensed medical care. When I was on the jury people questioned why if the plantif was so hurt he went to a chiropractor instead of a “real doctor.” It killed his settlement. He got medical bills but no lost wages or pain & suffering.

Go to a doctor.

He was hit from behind. Likely her car received bulk of damage.

OP, why did she hit you? What are the facts in the incident report? Was she field tested? Was she texting or surfing the internet? You real skimpy on actual details of the accident.

Didn't you ask her "why did you hit me?"

Yea her car probably got it worse. Doesn’t mean his just needed a new bumper. Unless it was like a Fiat hitting a F250 it’s prettt likely at 50+ the frame was bent. That totals the car. I’d be really surprised if the damage was only $7k, I’d be less surprised if the insurance company ripped off a naive guy.

Beaverton has terrible traffic. I feel your pain.

PortlandXCgirl wrote:

Beaverton has terrible traffic. I feel your pain.

Quit picking on AlSal all the time.

I work for a Special Investigations Unit for a major carrier. Chiropractors are the worst when it comes to accident claims. From a carrier perspective, why was "real" medical treatment delayed (i.e. doctor, ER following accident). To negotiate the claim, medical records, more than likely, will be requested. If all you have is 20-30 chiro visits - good luck. I agree with the other poster - running to a chiro is a bad move. I see so many low impact accidents with little to no damage to vehicles and then you have someone treating 5x a week at a chiro in an attempt to pad their damage claim. In the end, it isn't factored into the injury claim as chiropractors are frowned upon within the industry and aren't considered medical professionals (they would disagree).

Attorneys won't do much but take a large chunk of your money and waste a bunch of time. You can negotiate on your own and do well. If you want way too much in the form of settlement, they typically forward to investigations for follow up, which may include surveillance to determine the extent of your injuries. Other background information can be obtained with regard to all of your other prior claims, injuries, etc. By the way, I'd watch your social media posts, etc with regard to this claim. We have ways of getting the information, if needed. In the end, remember, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered! Don't be too greedy.

Good luck. There are companies that specialize in diminished value claims and appraisals. Even then be prepared to play hardball. Ins companies do not like to pay these. You may have to sue and that cost will eat up any award, and no award is guaranteed, so...If it's a small claim, you can diy.

It's among the many good reasons why expensive cars are usually leased not bought. Imagine your months old car was a $75k Benz. The depreciation would be astronomical after a serious crash. With a lease, it's the lease companies problem. With a purchase, its your problem, esp if you're at fault, which is not your situation but still.

As for the suffering, if you think you have a case, get an attorney. Perhaps just hire one hourly at first? If all it takes is a sternly worded letter, why have your lawyer on contingency? Great for the lawyer I guess.

....,..... wrote:

harry wales wrote:

He was hit from behind. Likely her car received bulk of damage.

OP, why did she hit you? What are the facts in the incident report? Was she field tested? Was she texting or surfing the internet? You real skimpy on actual details of the accident.

Didn't you ask her "why did you hit me?"

Yea her car probably got it worse. Doesn’t mean his just needed a new bumper. Unless it was like a Fiat hitting a F250 it’s prettt likely at 50+ the frame was bent. That totals the car. I’d be really surprised if the damage was only $7k, I’d be less surprised if the insurance company ripped off a naive guy.

OP didn't say anything about what type of car it is, so we have to speculate. A 4 month old car is essentially brand new, and insurance companies will total a car if the damages exceed 75% of the value of the car. I imagine this car is worth at least $10k at a minimum, so the insurance company would rather pay for the damages than pay for the whole cost of this brand new car. I agree though, sounds like this guy got a bad deal. That's par for the course with auto insurance, unfortunately.

I don't think the OP is exaggerating, I was hit from behind at 50 MPH as well several years ago. I think about 10K worth of damage was done to my car, which was just short of totaling it (yes they play those games).

My back and neck were sore for a week or two but luckily I sustained no serious damage. My mistake was "touching it out" and not seeing a physical therapist, all I had were some X-Rays done at the hospital the night of the accident and I got examined by a doctor in the ER. FWIW laws vary state by state but I was provided $3,300 from the other drivers insurance company for pain and suffering and loss value on my car (not sure every state has that).

For those of you say that the OP is exaggerating how hard they were hit I guarantee the car that hit him was in much worse shape than his unless he/she has a real old car. In fact OP, I doubt your airbag even deployed, am I correct?

Crooked Hillary wrote:

harry wales wrote:

He was hit from behind. Likely her car received bulk of damage.

OP, why did she hit you? What are the facts in the incident report? Was she field tested? Was she texting or surfing the internet? You real skimpy on actual details of the accident.

Didn't you ask her "why did you hit me?"

The OP might not be intentionally exaggerating, but at 50 mph someone would be dead.

No, the OP is not intentionally exaggerating, he's completely lying and a shill for this site to create hits.

-infinity/infinity

If the chiropractor was recommended by your regular doctor, then keep seeing the chiro. You'll get reimbursed for that in spades. You'll also get an amount for time lost from work. Pain and suffering per se will be negligible, but in suing for roughly double the actual costs you'll still get a little back after the lawyer takes a cut.

To all you "experts" questioning the OP's story about $7k worth of damage at 50mph:

How do you know what kind of cars were involved? Were you there?

If the OP was in an larger SUV or truck and was hit by a small car this could easily create this scenario. Still a fair amount of momentum and force brought to his stationary object/body inside, but the car/hood would end up sliding underneath the rear of the vehicle. I've had this happen in accidents before and there is little to no damage to the front vehicle at slower speeds.d