Low first offer on settlement doesn't even cover rental car

[Lia Crane]

Jurisdiction

Washington

My daughter's car was hit and disabled (nearly totaled with $14K in damages) while she was exiting parking lot at Home Depot by employee who was driving fast entering parking lot and not seeing her in which he confessed. It happened on October 2021 around 8 pm and it was already dark. She had a full coverage and we opened a claim with our insurance company AllState thinking it will be easier to deal with them plus we have PIP to pay for medical. Butwe didn't had rental coverage so she called USAA and they opened a claim and told her they will reimburse her for rental. Getting an estimate on her car was a nightmare with our insurance company who just started using virtual assist and we live in rural area and couldn't get a good connection. After so many days and tries we got a tractor and moved a car to a better spot and finally got $3K offer which was ridiculous. They wanted car towed to their certified shop for more detailed estimate even when on a 3rd day we already had $11K estimate from a mobile mechanic. There was no way around it so we towed it there. It took the shop 4 months and after I finally snapped and wrote them a nasty letter, they gave $14,200 estimate next day but it took our insurance company 2 more month to pay us (something with adjuster being in training, etc). We didn't know how long she can have a rental so we returned it but USAA haven't paid a penny even when they promised and she was sending them her receipts. It was total $7900 for 8 months. Accident happened in October and we got $$ for the car in July: 9 months or so.

She is done with her medical treatments and they offered her $15K to settle only they are paying our insurance for her medical out of that and she's only getting $6300 which won't even cover her rental expenses that she used her savings and credit card for. How do we reply to remind them they are liable for the rental? It's 100% fault of their insured. I tried to find RCW but couldn't. She has around $10K in medical bills that she paid for some. We are thinking to request a reimbursement $7900 for rental, $1300 for medical, and $10K for pain and suffering. There's also a diminished value of her car that has sustained significant damages. It's 2017 Mazda 3 sedan and it's not fixed yet because we can't find a shop that's reasonable since July 2022 and their certified shop is way too busy with a long wait time. I don't know if $4-5K diminished value would be reasonable. Prices on similar cars vary from $17-24K.

 

[adjusterjack]

I assume you are talking about your claim against the other driver's insurance (USAA).

If you are not happy with what USAA is offering, I suggest that your daughter consult a personal injury attorney. There seems to be enough money involved to make that worthwhile.

The reality is that neither you nor your daughter have the experience or knowledge to pursue this yourselves.

 

[Redemptionman]

Agree with what the adjuster said, they will take you more seriously with a personal injury attorney.

 

[Lia Crane]

I prefer to deal with it myself first. I have done it before on 2 passenger hit-and-run accident but I had to involve our state insurance commissioner when our insurance refused to honor my and my husband's wage loss part even when we had a separate added insurance for it with PIP. My preference is based on a previous accident experience "pedestrian (my husband) VS vehicle in a parking lot": the car knocked him on the ground and drove over his leg. Lawyers took third and left us with unpaid medical bills because the left over amount was not sufficient to cover all of them. It was an easy and straight forward case since a driver had insurance with maximum coverage and we had uninsured/under insured + $35K PIP addition in ours. We wish we didn't involve them because all they did was take their fee about $67K and suggested we sue the driver, a young mother with a baby. We didn't and with a help from a friend we lowered the hospital bill and were able to pay off other rehabilitation bills.

 

[Redemptionman]

I prefer to deal with it myself first. I have done it before on 2 passenger hit-and-run accident but I had to involve our state insurance commissioner when our insurance refused to honor my and my husband's wage loss part even when we had a separate added insurance for it with PIP. My preference is based on a previous accident experience "pedestrian (my husband) VS vehicle in a parking lot": the car knocked him on the ground and drove over his leg. Lawyers took third and left us with unpaid medical bills because the left over amount was not sufficient to cover all of them. It was an easy and straight forward case since a driver had insurance with maximum coverage and we had uninsured/under insured + $35K PIP addition in ours. We wish we didn't involve them because all they did was take their fee about $67K and suggested we sue the driver, a young mother with a baby. We didn't and with a help from a friend we lowered the hospital bill and were able to pay off other rehabilitation bills.

You do have the power to negotiate it down with the medical providers. If you are not aware. You are going to get more money with an attorney than you are without regardless of fees. Granted some take more than most but you should be able to find one willing to do a 1/3rd which is around standard. Depends on the company but I am sure they want you to settle for what ever the state mins are. Usually they will offer that first and if you are desperate at the time and take it then you most of time relinquish your ability to get other monies. You can do what you want but it is never worth it going it alone. Just find the right attorney with the right fee structure. Depends on the case but you will find that the headache dealing with them is not worth it especially when you have an attorney willing to fight for you in court. You just going to get more than you could on your own.

 

[Zigner]

I think the problem the OP had in the last matter was that he didn't want to sue the other party. When you take that off the table, it changes things.

 

[Redemptionman]

I think the problem the OP had in the last matter was that he didn't want to sue the other party. When you take that off the table, it changes things.

Right, well from my experience that is garbage anyway as the companies who settle insurance or whomever rarely ever go after the at fault party in 99 percent of the cases and if they do then it usually is for property only. If they ever do go after the at fault party a little bankruptcy filing gets it off their books.