I’m being torn apart by everyone involved in the settlement
Hey,
I was involved in an accident last December (other party’s fault)! The settlement for my car offered by Progressive was pretty low. I tried to fight back, but I was told that’s the best they can do, so I made the decision to keep my totaled car and use the repair money to fix it. I also suffered a back injury, which on some days was preventing me from walking properly and couldn’t sit up straight for long periods without sharp back pain and discomfort all around. The accident center that I was visiting told me to get a lawyer, so I did. The lawyer took my case and asked me to sue the other person, which I refused and told him to just settle with the insurance limit without going after the second party as he’s an old guy and I don’t want to ruin his life. Since then, the lawyer told me the medical bills are eating much of the $ 25K, and I might need to power through it (i started doing home PT watching YouTube videos for a couple months; still ongoing). I had a vacation scheduled after 3 months, and I had to leave! Today the lawyer called me and told me their initial offer was $8500! Mind you, my medical bills are$11,500, and I was surprised to know that the lawyer takes the 33% cut of the entire amount. He asked me to file a petition to get them to respond faster and do a better counteroffer but also told me if we go to court, it might not work. He also told me that the accident center (which refused to take my own insurance) knows the game they’re playing and that’s why they charge too much. The insurance as well tries to pay me the least for their own benefit, but it seems he’s also part of it! Filing a petition will increase his cut to 40%, and from what I’ve been reading, hiring an attorney seems not best for non-critical injuries, which I didn’t know, but seems he knew the outcome of it as he told me I had 10 other cases with the same issue. He told me he’ll be talking with the providers to cut down their bills, but god damn! It seems everyone made money in this, and I’ll be left in the negative. I’m a resident here, and I was under the impression that hiring lawyers, documenting everything, and making sure I follow with health care would protect me, but it seems I’m getting screwed!!
Is the only way out of this by suing the other guy ? Is this what America is about ? Betting the small guys against each other while corporates and bad advocates make the money ? I feel so frustrated and helpless.