My fiance and I were involved in an accident that was not our fault. This left us with a totaled car, my fiance with lower back problems and myself with neck injuries (I was also taken to the ER). The person who hit us left the scene for approximately 25 minutes to drop off people he had in his car. When he returned he returned alone and claimed no injuries, his passengers were brought back later. My fiance stayed at the scene and told me at the hospital that one of the girls in the AF car had a small cut on her forehead but no other injuries had been reported from them.
In court for this accident the AF driver brought a witness that was not at the scene during the accident. For an hour the men told lie after lie to try and get out of being legally termed "at fault". He even told the judge our travel direction was heading West when we were heading North! our car sat in the intersection still facing North when the police and ambulance arrived! Thankfully the police officer who first responded was there to shoot down his claims. The Judge also didn't buy the AF drivers story and was very upset he and his "witness" (a friend from church) tried to weasel their way out of the blame for such a near fatal accident.
After months of physical therapy, lost wages and public transportation we've ended up in May (this happened in August of last year) with a nice settlement for vehicle damages that paid for our new car, but still no settlement for us. This is understandable as it takes a while for this process to end.
Today I received a call from my fiance stating that our lawyers contacted him and informed him that they sent in their request for our settlement, however, the AF drivers passengers now claim they WHERE injured in the accident. She said that this may effect our settlement amount!!
Why would an AF parties obvious fake or non severe injuries that were NOT mentioned until settlement deliberations were under way have any effect on our settlements outcome? It doesn't seem fair that the other parties injuries that went unreported by the PD and both insurance parties until now are even being accepted! Has this happened to anyone else? What was your outcome?
*I spoke to my attorney today and was told this:
-The other drivers 4 passengers that were dropped off blocks away minutes after the accident, now all have injury claims. On top of that, one passenger has a hospital bill in the upper $20,000 mark. Pretty high for someone who was not taken to the hospital like I was. Also pretty high for someone who didn't stay at the scene of the accident and twice was reported as NOT INJURED (both on the police report and in court months later).
-The at fault driver has a limit on his insurance for 30,000 which could leave us being awarded nothing by his insurance. Thankfully we had basic coverage through our insurance at the time so we will at least get that...but its about 1,500 for both of us. Not what we were expecting given our grievances and that certainly wont cover our attorney fees should they charge us anything. They do say they wont collect if we don't get a settlement but that could be in all, not from the party we are currently negoti
In court for this accident the AF driver brought a witness that was not at the scene during the accident. For an hour the men told lie after lie to try and get out of being legally termed "at fault". He even told the judge our travel direction was heading West when we were heading North! our car sat in the intersection still facing North when the police and ambulance arrived! Thankfully the police officer who first responded was there to shoot down his claims. The Judge also didn't buy the AF drivers story and was very upset he and his "witness" (a friend from church) tried to weasel their way out of the blame for such a near fatal accident.
After months of physical therapy, lost wages and public transportation we've ended up in May (this happened in August of last year) with a nice settlement for vehicle damages that paid for our new car, but still no settlement for us. This is understandable as it takes a while for this process to end.
Today I received a call from my fiance stating that our lawyers contacted him and informed him that they sent in their request for our settlement, however, the AF drivers passengers now claim they WHERE injured in the accident. She said that this may effect our settlement amount!!
Why would an AF parties obvious fake or non severe injuries that were NOT mentioned until settlement deliberations were under way have any effect on our settlements outcome? It doesn't seem fair that the other parties injuries that went unreported by the PD and both insurance parties until now are even being accepted! Has this happened to anyone else? What was your outcome?
*I spoke to my attorney today and was told this:
-The other drivers 4 passengers that were dropped off blocks away minutes after the accident, now all have injury claims. On top of that, one passenger has a hospital bill in the upper $20,000 mark. Pretty high for someone who was not taken to the hospital like I was. Also pretty high for someone who didn't stay at the scene of the accident and twice was reported as NOT INJURED (both on the police report and in court months later).
-The at fault driver has a limit on his insurance for 30,000 which could leave us being awarded nothing by his insurance. Thankfully we had basic coverage through our insurance at the time so we will at least get that...but its about 1,500 for both of us. Not what we were expecting given our grievances and that certainly wont cover our attorney fees should they charge us anything. They do say they wont collect if we don't get a settlement but that could be in all, not from the party we are currently negoti