State Farm – Make the Victim Pay Madness Follow Up

We spoke with several attorneys regarding the July 25, 2008 accident, all of whom would have taken the case right from the beginning and 3 who would have taken the case when my husband sought treatment from the chiropractor in January of 2009 or if he was still suffering from the injuries at this date.  Because it wouldn’t be a mega $$$$ case, he is now fine and it is close to the 2 year deadline to settle, no attorney would take our case unless we funded the expenses upfront – exactly what the State Farm insurance claim rep counted on when she said that we didn’t need to hire an attorney because they did not dispute fault nor did they dispute injury. 

They still do not dispute fault and they still do not dispute injury. 

The supervisor my husband spoke with today said that they don’t have to pay because there is no paper trail even though they have documentation of injury from the 1^st visit to the doctor in July 2008.  Then he kept claiming that January 2009 was the 1^st time he saw the doctor for the accident according to the doctor’s report (we have paperwork from the doctor’s office from the 7/29/08 visit that states injury from a car accident) and that (again supposedly according to her report) the injury was from a workman’s comp case from 2007.   Who is lying - the insurance company or our former doctor or both?   My husband had not been injured at work and had never filed for workman’s comp ever.   Had he been injured at work, his boss would have made sure that the proper company procedures were followed and a claim would have been filed. The party at fault's car insurance would still be liable for aggravating an existing injury.  This just doesn’t make any sense.  Someone is lying and it is not us. 

This is what happens when you do not hire an attorney right away. 

After our insurance (also State Farm) paid the $5,000 max for medical and the chiropractor’s office got tired of waiting for the rest of the payment and billed our health insurance for the balance owed, we still owe $570.74.  My husband lost time from work and we had to pay the co-pays for the 3 months of ibuprofen the doctor prescribed.   Not to mention the pain he was in and because he is diabetic, the fact that everything takes longer to heal. 

Finally, the State Farm supervisor conceded to settling the case by paying the lost time from work, the amount still owed the chiropractor, the prescriptions and $141.27 for pain and suffering.  What a joke!!!   We decided it was not worth the stress it was causing us, and as long as we would not owe any money due to this accident that was totally not my husband’s fault, we agreed to the settlement offer. 

Just to give you something to compare it to:

In July of 2010, my husband was rear ended by a car that had been rear ended.  Since he was in stop and go traffic on the expressway, it was a small jolt and the only damage to my car was a cracked bumper shell.  The party at fault was also insured by State Farm.  My husband was just being released by the chiropractor from care from the 2008 accident.  (FYI - my husband hadn’t been in an accident for about 30 years prior to these 2 accidents and was not at fault in any of the total of 3 accidents he had ever been in.)  Because this accident aggravated the injury from the accident in 2008, the State Farm claim rep offered a settlement equal to the 5 weeks of chiropractic care and physical therapy my husband had after the accident, his lost wages and $500 for pain and suffering (which we did not ask for but the claim rep said it was part of the settlement he was offering and we have to take it).  

Compare the severity of the 1^st accident where he was hit broadside into the driver’s side by a large SUV damaging the frame and totaling the car to a small jolt that only cracked a thin plastic bumper shell and you can see why the settlement for the 1^st accident is a total joke!

I will only say this to our 'covering her ass' former doctor, the State Farm claim rep and her supervisor – remember that what goes around, comes around. 

On a lighter note, I am never lending my husband my car to drive to work in the month of July again.