Need Some Input On A Decision
 

About 8 months ago, I was riding in the car with 3 other friends. My best friend was driving, and there were two other people in the back. Long story short he took a corner too fast and we rolled his car. I had the worst of the injuries have to get like 24 stitches in my back. I was cut up pretty bad. I had a small chip out of my tooth, nothing major or that I notice anymore, and now I have back pain whenever I lift something on the heavy side. So his insurance company asked me if I wanted to file for pain and suffering...and his agent threw a number out there and said they could give me $10,000. Of course I was like SWEET! The thing is I don't want this to affect my best friend in any way. Obviously if it came down to it, I'd skip the monay and keep the friend. Anyway, I had my mom talk to a different insurance agent, and they said that they don't think it would affect him and that his side of the case is probably closed. They would be able to find out about it, all my friend would have to do is ask his insurance.

Well now he's thinking about getting new insurance becuase his sky rocketed with the accident and his speeding tickets. Its like $1800 a year for an old pos minivan he has now.

So I was just wonderinf what you guys would do, or if you have any knowledge on this type of situation.

thx

Well, the $10,000 is covered under his liability coverage. There is a certain number of coverage, from 1,000 to 500,000 or more in coverage.. If his Agent 'offered' you 10,000. the he (most likely) has atleast 50,000 in liability coverage. Now, this will affect his rate, but not much since he already has tickets / accidents. Bascially the decision you have to make is, accept the 10,000 or ask for more. Just remember that Tickets and Claims only last 3 years in the insurance world, so in 3 years it will mean nothing..

In short, if you think $10,000 is enough for your pain and suffering take the money and run! :boink:

BTW: I work for an insurance company... :flamed:

PS. This also depends on the number of people that were in the accident and whether or not they are filing for anything. Beware, if they are filing for damages as well then the insurance will ONLY cover what his liability rates are.. Ie: If he has 50,000 in coverage and there were 3 people in the car.. If they all ask for 20,000ea then that leaves 10,000 for HIM to cover if their claims are accpeted, this means that either the Insurance agency will sue him for 10k, or one of the other ppl in the accident will (usually the later of the 2.)

hmm, well one of the other people was his girlfriend, and i know she isnt doing anything. The other two people maybe had a scratch, there wasnt anything with them.

and like i said she just threw $10,000 out there, not sure how much it would be.

I don't think you would lose a friendship over it. If I was the one to wreck and one of my friends got hurt, I wouldn't be pissed that they took the money. Hell, It was my fault they got hurt, especially if they are still hurting like you are.

I would take the money, but not make a big scene about it around him. Saying stuff like "haha, this 10k I got from you bought me a supercharger." Just get the money and be very casual about it.

To be honest.. I would go to the doctor, tell them of your problems and if they determin that you have permanently damaged vertabrae or soemthing like that... I would go for more money... But it you're not worried about it.. just file for 10k...

File for the 10k... put it in the bank or stocks or something... yeah, you could do something to your car, or make a VERY nice downpayment on a new one... (V6+10k)

Dude, if you are having medical problems, dont worry whether your friend will be pissed or not. If he cares about you, he wont care if you get the money to fix your problems.

+1

wow... if only I knew who ran me off the road... I want some money... My back has been hurtin like a bitch ever since :(