OC1515

Former adjuster here. Seen this one many times.

Here's how it works. Person gets involved in minor accident. You're at fault. Other person decides this is their opportunity to make some money. Then they contact PI attorney. The first thing the PI atty does (after getting them to sign contract that gives them between 30 and 40% of settlement) is to send their client to Chiro, or PT, or message therapist, etc. Many of these attorneys have relationships with Chiro's or physical therapists, etc. Then they get "treatment" like 3 times a week.
They will send medical reports claiming patient suffered "soft tissue injury".
The way it works is that the size of the pain and suffering settlement is generally a function of specials (medical expenses incurred). Then after attorney decides they have generated enough specials they make a settlement demand.

Of course the fact that there was never any injury in the first place doesn't really matter to a lot of these guys.

Based on your description of the collision I find it hard to believe there could possibly be any frame damage to his vehicle yet he chose to make a claim with his insurance company anyways which leads me to suspect that he will be making an injury claim here.

The sad fact of the matter is that a portion of our insurance premiums goes towards bogus claims. More than likely if this guy is pursuing an injury claim then your insurance company will probably end up buying him off with a small settlement. Of course the whole point of this post is to let you know that if he is in fact pursuing an injury claim then you really do need to let your insurance company take over. You are under no obligation to have any communication with his insurance company.

dolebludger

BUT, if you read your own liability policy, you'll see that you DO have an obligation to report this matter to them. If you don't and this a**hole accidently gets a big judgment against you, your insurance company can "skate out on you" for your failure to notify them. DO SO!

Thanks,
Richard

Notfullflip

The claim has been reported to my insurance carrier as well. Now its just a matter of waiting for the final damages. I'll post the final details so we all can have a good laugh.

Notfullflip

For anyone who has read this thread the investigation has been concluded and I have been found guilty of following another vehicle too closely. Anyways, the damages on his car are less than $200 but he has decided to hire an attorney. When I was speaking to his claim rep collecting info we both had a good laugh about that. My insurance company is handling the situation but I was just curious if any of you guys know how it works from here.

dolebludger

Not a surprise that you have been found liable for "rear-ending" another vehicle -- as it always turns out that way. It's either following too closely or driving to fast for conditions. Now, the Expedition owner has to prove his damages.

Keep us posted,
Richard

Saki GT

I still want to see pics of your front bumper.

Elistan

Yep, that's perfectly normal and to be expected in such situations.

That's laughable and the guy's a moron, it seems.

Assuming your insurance company is reputable, or the other guy gets really stupid with the lawyer thing, you shouldn't hear about it ever again, except perhaps a rate increase but possibly not considering the $200 figure.

OC1515

Sure I'll tell you exactly how this is going to play out.

First off there is no need to involve an attorney in a vehicle damage only collision where liability is not being contested and coverages are available. The fact that he hired an attorney tells me he is pursuing an injury claim. See my previous post. This guy thinks he is going to make money off this. In order to obtain an injury settlement he needs to generate medical expenses. Whether he was injured or not his attorney is more than likely telling him to start seeing a chiro, PT, message therapist etc. He'll probably treat for a few months (length of time dependant on how soon the attorney wants to get paid). Then the attorney will send all the medical bills and make a settlement demand. Generally the settlement demand will be for at least 4 to 5 times the amount of medical bills probably more.

Then your adjuster will make a settlement offer. The plaintiff attorney and the adjuster will come to an agreement over the settlement amount. Then your ins company will send the settlement check to the attorney with a release that his client must sign. Then the attorney will subtract 30 to 40% from the settlement check and give the remaining portion to his client. Keep in mind the attorney is taking 30-40% off the top. His client then must reimburse his insurance company for the medical expenses that were paid out on his behalf. This is subtracted from his 60%. Thus in many cases the attorney is getting more money in his pocket than his client. Not a bad deal for the PI attorney, huh? The attorney just collects copies of medical bills, sends a demand letter to your ins adjuster, maybe has a few phone conversations then pockets 30 to 40% of the settlement.

Oh ya, I forgot, it doesn't necessarily matter if the guy was actually injured or not.
This whole process will be pretty much transparent to you unless they decide to file suit in which case you may need to participate a bit more in the process. Of course filing suit is just another way to put pressure on the Ins company to settle. I doubt 99.9% of these PI attorneys have ever seen the inside of a courtroom.

Notfullflip

Mother of God! Are you serious? This idiot is going through all this trouble for a little bit of extra money. Some people make me sick. The damages were estimated at $200. $300 less than his deductible. I'm gonna bash his head through a car windshield. Than I'm gonna take his mom to a nice seafood dinner and never call her again.

OC1515

You haven't seen PI attorney TV commercials where they claim they will get you huge sums of money out of an auto accident? Down here in SoCal it seems like every bus I see has PI attorney ads on them with a picture of some guy with a bundle of cash in his hand thanking his PI attorney for making him rich off an auto accident.

Lots of people see this as a way to make money for very little effort. All they need to do is go see a chiro, message therapist, PT, etc once or twice a week and after a few months they get a settlement check. Sweet deal, no?

I suspect that the fact that this stealing is rationalized away by the belief that Ins companies are bad and that stealing money from them is ok. Of course the payment of fraudulant claims is passed off on to all of us in the form of higher insurance premiums. Oh well.