How long to settle and how much to expect from a lower back vertebrae injury auto accident in California?
Does anyone know how long or how much you can get from a lower back injury from an auto accident? My C5 Vertebrae was pushed 5mm out of whack and it’s already been 18 months since I hired a lawyer. Thanks.
P.S. I know it’s long but I have the full details below.
About 18 months ago my car was hit by a 17 year old and his girlfriend while I was driving on the 60 freeway in Diamond Bar CA. The kid was driving his Mom’s minivan which was insured by Progressive, and I have AAA with only basic PL/PD coverage and a $25k Under Insured Rider (I don’t know the kid’s Mom’s limits with Progressive).
What happened is that I was in the #1 fast lane, the kid and his GF were next to me in the #2 lane and a Big Rig was in the #3 lane, (we were all side by side). The Big Rig honked his air horn and may or may not of moved into the kid’s lane. The kid ended up overreacting and and drove into my lane. He hit me in the RF fender which caused me to hit the center K rail at 70 MPH, after that I bounced off the rail and T-boned his van. Afterwards we pulled off to the side of the road and a Police report was taken. The Big Rig never stopped and was never identified, I was found 0% at fault and the kid was found 100% at fault. When I inspected the Kid’s van there was no damage to it that indicated that the Big Rig hit him, although now he is claiming that it did and Progressive says that there are signs of damage/contact (I think they’re just trying to be shifty). To be honest I don’t know if the Kid got distracted and swerved into the Big Rig’s lane or if the Big Rig came into his lane but either way the Kid is solely responsible for hitting me.
After wards I was a little shaken up and a little sore but I seemed fine so two days after the accident I went on a fishing trip that I had previously planned. I had to leave early on the second day because my lower back started killing me and because I couldn’t sit on the boat without getting a shooting pain down my left leg. I ended up seeing my Family doctor about 5-6 days after the accident and he said that I was still young so just give it time and that nothing was wrong (I have a HMO and no tests were done). About a week went by and Progressive wasn’t doing anything they promised, no rental car, no repairs, no medical, no nothing (they did offer me $50 for my trouble though). I decided to talk to some friends and got a lawyer, started Physical therapy/Chiropractic treatment (which lasted for 24 sessions but never gave me any real relief), had X-Rays done, and finally had an MRI done which finally uncovered that my C5 (I think) vertebrae is 5mm out of whack causing my spinal cord to get pinched off which is giving me my lower back pain and a 30% loss of movement in my left leg.
What I’d like to know is what should I expect from this? I’m not out to screw anybody but Progressive hasn’t done anything but stall, they didn’t fix my car and they only want to give me about 15% of market value on it even when I’ve shown then 9 equal comparables. I was 29 years old at the time of the accident with no medical history and no pain before the accident. Now if I do any heavy lifting or any thing that irritates my back I end up hunched over for 2-3 days. I’ve had to completely modify my work habits (I’m self-employed and restore old cars), I take OTC pain pills so I can work without hurting much, and I can’t do many of the things I used to before the accident without either hurting or stressing out about possibly doing major permanent damage to my spinal cord. My medical bills are already at $7k and my attorney says that the future surgery to correct my vertebra will cost $49k but they won’t do it because the operation is only performed when the vertebra has moved 6mm or more so I’m right under the limit. Also the surgery outcome sucks since a 1/3 of people will get better, 1/3 will get worse, and 1/3 will stay the same.
After 18 months of waiting Progressive has finally come up offering $3k for the car and $3k for the Medical. What the heck is going on? Is my case not worth anything? What should I expect the cash outcome to be? How much longer will I probably have to wait to settle? Am I going to end up having to pay for a $49k future surgery or pay higher premiums for the rest of my life since I now have a pre-existing condition? I know the lawyer will get anywhere between 33-50% of the medical award and right now they’re asking for I believe around $130k. Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is the 1st and hopefully the last auto accident that I’ve ever been in. Thanks!
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You have a lawyer. He should be able to answer all of your questions. By now, he should have a copy of the other driver’s Progressive insurance policy. Ask him to show it to you. Progressive put aside a certain sum of money for both your vehicle and your medicals. In fact, they did that right after they were aware of your condition. The money is sitting somewhere in an annuity or other interest bearing account.
Of course, they are going to low ball you.
You didn’t say what the damage to your vehicle was, what year, make or model. Maybe it is only worth about 3,000 or thereabouts. Your lawyer should have advised you what it is worth.
Your medicals are a different story. However, after an accident a lot of people do not ‘feel’ anything in the way of pain until days later. So that sounds right. and the insurance company knows it.
If you do not want any surgery, now or in the future, do not undergo, given the risks.
I’d like to see where the vertebra has to ‘move’ only a certain degree. Ask your lawyer where he got that information from.
Your lawyer can also accept a settlement of sorts, but with the agreement that you can re-open the matter, if necessary. I’m not from California and I am not a lawyer, but I’ve worked with lawyers on the east coast who took care of personal injury matters.
Sounds like your matter is worth a heck of a lot more than $130,000.00.
Of course you have to know where the ‘deep pockets ”
are. What about your own insurance? Taken a good look at what type of coverage you have. Again, your lawyer has seen and has a copy of the other drivers Progressive policy. Ask him.
In fact, ask him all the questions you want. Make an appointment, go in his office with a pen and pad, have all of your questions ready, and fire away.
Fact is, he’ll probably be surprised as hell that you want to write thngs down.
But when you finally do settle, he’ll get his share. Ask questions. That’s what he’s there for.
(By the way, has he sued yet? And if not, its been 18 months. What is statute of limitations in CA?
You need to ask him. Soon.)
There are so many details there… IE? I admit, I did not and won’t
read the entire post. Edit that stuff, post the facts…what
difference does it make how many PT’s visits you had? And… C-5 is
your NECK, not lower back. LISTEN to your attorney. There is no
statutory time frame for settleing the case out. None. This can go
on for years. Get your atty to set a trial on calendar and let a
judge/jury decide the case. And stop saying you are’t afer the
money… everyone is after all the cash they can get.