I need help finding a lawyer in Ohio that will help with vehicle accidents. As seen on my previous post, I was rearended by some incompetent woman at 55mph+, which, in my not-so-humble opinion, totalled my 2004 Mini Cooper S.

Here's the problem:
I've contacted my dad's lawyer, but he claims he can't do anything about the car or what I get out of it, that he can only do personal injury. Frankly, though my neck and back hurt a bit, I really doubt I'm that bad off. I am going to make an appointment with my family doctor, who also happens to be a chiropractor, but I'm not looking for masses of money through personal injury claims.

I payed about 25.5k for my Mini two years ago. According to Kelly Blue Book Value, I have lost 1000 dollars in value over two years and 38k miles. Yes, 1000 bucks. Now that's not covering the mods. Adding mods, I've added up over 32.5k on my Mini. It was quick, fun, and I loved it.

My insurance agency (Progressive) sent an adjustor over to my house today. She looked at the car (I had to show/explain everything, factory upgrades, mods, etc. In spite of structural damage, and heavy body damage, she said she could not find more than 5000 worth of repairs, which was much less than enough to consider it totalled.

For all purposes, the car is toast to me. I bought it with the intention of driving it for 5-10 years, and I was going to be bringing it onto the track this year. I had everything lined up, I was about to buy the last item I needed--a helmet--and I was going to sign up for several classes at Mid-Ohio Racing.
Then the girl hit me, and now I have no use for a stretched car. They can make it look nice, but it's still worthless for what I have it for. I don't trust a car that's been through structural damage, and when I went to the dealer that I bought it from, they told me (and signed a letter saying) that they would not buy or sell a car that had structural damage in the past.

I need a lawyer that can help me get what I need out of this mess. I don't feel like having some half-assed mom-n-pop shop putting used parts and aftermarket junk to "sort of" fix the Mini. It's never going to be the same. It won't drive the same, won't feel the same, won't act the same.

What should I do? I would gladly avoid court, and would like to settle for 35,000 or maybe 36. That would include 2 days of work lost to the accident, cost for the car (what it would cost to start over and get to the exact point where I was Saturday before she hit me), inconvenience and being sore for a few days. I really don't think I'm asking for much. I don't see how it's perfectly fine for some cretin to plow into the back of my car, and then her insurance say "Oh, we can make it look nice and all will be better". If they get their way, I'm going to be out AT LEAST 15,000 bucks... and for someone that barely makes 40,000 a year, that's a lot.

I live in Ohio, near Cleveland, so I would need someone at least relatively close. Are there lawyers that help with this type of crap?

Any ideas?

Nate
SteyrTMP

*******************
Mini Cooper S - 25543.68
EBC Slotted & Cross Drilled Rotors Front and Back - 377.05
EBC Green Stuff Front Brake Pads - 75.45
Brake Installation - 213.29
16% Decrease M7 Supercharger Pulley- 129.00
Pulley Installation - 220.00
Alta Cold Air Intake - 239.00
BFP Cowl Scoops - 209.95
Alta 22mm Rear Swaybar - 169.00
Swaybar Installation - 100.00
Denso Iridium Spark Plugs - 65.00
Nology HotWires - 165.00
MSD Coil Pack - 90.00
Schroth Ralley 4 Harnesses - 460.00
Schroth Ralley 4 Harness Pads - 60.00
16" Winter Tires and Rims - 944.36
19" Summer Tires and Rims - 850.00
Factory Aero Bumper and Trim Painted - 1400.00 (Not exact price, waiting for receipt... probably more like 1450)
Factory Roof Rack - 539.09
Factory Driving Lights - 786.75
Total - 32,636.62
*********************

 

Do not be so quick to write off the pain in your neck and head. I know of many people who signed off on personal injury claims, only to develop serious physical problems later. If you are injured, a personal injury claim is a good idea. You may need long-term physical therapy and are entitled to get enough money for it.

 

Agree. The statute of limitations in many states is two years. DO NOT SETTLE until you are feeling 100%.

As mentioned in a lot of other posts, you won't get much for your mods. That's the nature of the game.

DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!

Good luck with the process and feel better.

P. S. I was involved in a pretty nasty wreck and learned I have a hairline fracture in a vertebrae that will probably never heal...the settlement reflects that.

 

Does your father's lawyer have a recommendation for someone who could take your case? hopefully someone here has a recommendation too.

And why is your insurance giving you a quote when it wasn't your fault? Did the other person not have insurance?

Good luck

 

Very good advice! Network off of your father's lawyer. you may have to talk to 10 additional attorneys, but at some point, you will find one that knows how to get the most value for you.

Exactly. Did the other person not have insurance? Or, worse yet, are you and the other driver covered by the same company? If that is the circumstance, you definitely need an attorney in front of you.

 

There is no way that car only has 5 grand in damage on it. I hope you're able to find a good lawyer.

You can't pick the repair shop either? That sucks.......

 

If it were me, I would check with your father's attorney who does personal injury work and get a referral to a MD who can do a full diagnosis. You could have disc and vertebrae problems that may not show on an X-ray but are plain as day on a MRI. These injuries can be debilitating if not caught and treated correctly. I am speaking from personal experience. In my case I am fortunate to have some of the best care available in the U.S. Unfortunately, I also know of people in a similar circumstance who just went to see a chiropractor and couldn't get a fair settlement and now they are hooked on painkillers. I don't have anything against chiropractors (in fact, I was treated by a chiroprator as part of my recovery from my serious accident), it is just that if push comes to shove, a MD's testimony carries more weight in litigation.

 

I am in complete agreement with you, caminifan. He needs an MRI, for sure, if his neck and head already hurt...to rule out a serious injury.

 

Why shouldn't he get full coverage for the mods? They were on the car when it was hit. If the car gets totalled, he should get paid for everything (including the mods less depreciation for the miles driven) that was totalled. If the insurance company doesn't want to pay for the mods in the totalling, then the insurance company should pay for the removal and reinstall of the mod parts on a replacement car.

And especially document verbal conversations. If it isn't in writing, it didn't happen. If you send a letter setting forth your understanding of what was said, and the other side doesn't dispute it, then your version of events is what happened.

Especially the feel better part.

This is exactly the reason you need to get a full diagnosis completed that includes an MRI.

 

She has insurance, for some reason my insurance has been pushing for me to let them take care of the car angle. I do not understand why.

I have Progressive, and she has Grange Mutual.

My family doctor is also a chiropractor. I will try to talk to him tomorrow morning.

It looks like the only way to get to where I left off is through personal injury. I really wish it didn't have to come to this. As before, every next day is different. I have a small list of local lawyers to call in the morning, as well as talk to her insurance's adjustor.

 

What do they mean by "let them take care of the car angle"? At this stage, there is an unresolved issue regarding the car (totalling vs. repairing). You should do nothing on the car until the issue of totalling vs. repairing gets resolved to your satisfaction. After all, you are the victim (you got hit, right?).

Well, at least you have avoided the conflict of interest of having the same insurance company representing both parties.

But is the family doctor an MD (as in Medical Doctor)? In California, there are variations in doctors (even when it comes to being able to write a prescription). You need to proceed as if you are going into litigation. That means getting the professionals with the most gravitas when it comes to testimony about your condition.

Do NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE WHATSOEVER, TALK TO THE ADJUSTOR!!!! That is a job for an attorney. In a worst case, the adjustor will lie about what the conversation was about and you are having to dispute and prove them wrong. You really need to get an attorney in the picture. And soon. There is no need to rush (other than to get a qualified attorney representing you). If you need another set of wheels, get a rental car. The cost of the rental car is usually re-imbursed when everything gets settled.

 

That's just weird. Your insurance is supposed to advocate for you, not the other person. If they did that to me I would have cancelled their insurance right there on the spot and let them know why. I'm not paying them to help the other person.

Definitely need a lawyer if your insurance isn't on your side.

I hope this works out. If I was the one to hit you and be so obviously my fault I would feel so bad I would insist that the insurance replace your car even if it bumped my rates (though I know that they wouldn't do it).

 

This is my first post on this message board so I guess hello to everyone . I just wanted to put my two cents in since I had my Hyundai Accent totalled in a high school parking lot a few years ago and remember the mess it was dealing with the insurance company, and I ABSOLUTELY second caminifan's statement, "DO NOT TALK TO THEIR ADJUSTER."

My accident was completely the other kids fault, he drove a pickup truck between parked cars and across all the yellow lines, and then pretty much over my hood , and he said so in the police statement. Then his adjuster called me and completely lied about what the kid stated in the police report and told me that I had confessed to being the cause of the accident in the statement. I cut off the conversation and hung up the phone immediately. Thankfully, the kid's family seemed to have a problem totalling vehicles and was about to be dropped from the insurance company so we made a deal shortly thereafter without involving the insurance company.

Protect yourself, and the best of luck to you, hope you are feeling better .

 

get a bunch of estimates, not just from their adjuster. Go to shops that work on high end cars, and do very good work. They will know what to look at under the surface damamge. It is very common that more is discovered during the repair process. The insurance will cover it, but that does you no good at the time that you're looking for a total vs repair decision. You may even want to get estimates on repair and paint separatly, but this is stretching things a bit. Make sure that you choose places that do only the best of work, as they will do the most complete documentation of the damage, and won't do a crappy tape-off for painting your repairs, and this is where the time comes in, in good work on the detials.

Also, read your policy in detail. There may be subrogation clauses in your policy, which inlaymans terms are the insurance company becoming you legally until thier amount of exposure is covered. This can be nasty.

For the personal injury end, go for it all. I was on the other end (Seriously injured by another driver) and had no recourse based on their coverage and situation. With soft tissue, there is no telling how bad you are hurt, and when you will feel it. It may suck to do what seems to be hosing the system, but if you don't and you never get fully better, you will be left with no recourse. No dipping at the well a second time.

Get a good laywer that is experienced in this area. Protect your interests, and if you have to have your car repaired, try to get some diminished value compensation. A repaired car isn't worth as much as a virgin!

Good luck, and get well.

Matt

 

Even more reason to get an attorney in the picture.... And, don't say anything to anyone until you get an attorney... that (statements you make) can sometimes be used against you.

 

I'm a Private Investigator (Legal PI) and have worked in plaintiff Personal Injury industry in California for the past seven years. There has been some good and some misguided advice in this thread, but the best advice I've heard is DO NOT SPEAK TO THE OTHER PARTY'S INSURANCE COMPANY.

I hope you read this thread before they take your statement. Allowing the other party's insurance company is the worst thing you can do...and it has nothing to do with how obvious the facts are against the other party. Understand that any insurance company (including your's) is not there to help you. I'm sure there are people reading this right now that know what I'm talking about, and others who have not gone through this process that think I'm making stuff up.

As others have already said...be sure you take your injuries seriously. Get checked out...don't talk to the defendant's insurance company and tell them you are feeling "ok."

Find an attorney that specializes in Personal Injury...they should handle your property damage issues for you at no charge. Don't go to an attorney that is a jack of all trades, because he/she is a master of none.

REGARDING THE PROPERTY DAMAGE ISSUES

If you elect to use your collision coverage through Progressive, be aware that they probably won't cover the cost of repairs to those mods you mentioned. You typically need a rider on your policy covering those items; however the defendant's insurance company would have to pay the fair market value for any of those items that are damaged in the accident.

You don't get to determine if your car is a total or not. What you do have control over is which body shop to use, and you should find the best one in your area and have them come get your MINI ASAP. Don't use the insurance company's shop...while this seems like a good thing to do, there is usually a built-in conflict of interest between you as a customer, and the insurance company who has alot of leverage over the shop.

Going to the best shop you can find ensures that you are getting high quality parts, and workmanship.

If after the vehicle is repaired and you still don't want the car, you can sell the car, and if you take a loss because the vehicle was in an accident, you can make a dimunition of value claim against the other party's policy (if there is enough coverage after paying for the repairs).

Sorry to throw lots of stuff at you, but I am just barely scratching the surface. If anything, I hope you can see that you are probably in for more than you bargained for just by being smacked in the rear by an errant driver.

I hope things work out for the best for you.

 

I worked for a collision center for a short while, so my experience is very limited, but I would agree do NOT let your insurance company take over the car repair.


Progressive wants to fix the car because they will make more money that way. For example, where I worked we had a customer who was hit. We were a "preferred shop" for his insurance company, and for the at-fault insurance company. However, the victim's insurance company handled the claim, because our agreement with them said that they got a 15% discount. Therefore, they paid us the "estimate" minus 15%, then they went to the at-fault company and collected the full bill, making 15% on that accident. This is probably why they are so eager to handle it. As somebody else mentioned, the other company should get you back to pre-accident condition.

So yes Progressive is not looking out for you. And I agree that you easily have over 5,000 in damage. And remember you can choose any shop you want! You don't have to go where they tell you!

 

Steping up on the milk crate.

A D.C. (Doctor of Chirorpactic) is the equivalent of M.D. in all 50 states. Both are portal of entry healthcare providers. Both have simmilar educations. They have the same basic knowlege of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. They have simmilar hours and board structures for licensure and graduation status. The main difference in education occurs after the basic sciences.

The M.D. focus on drugs and spends less time with musculo skeletal problems and has minimal X-ray film diagnosis. They look for a big thick black line in a white bone to diagnose a fracture, while they completely ignore the joint aligment and structure. The D.C. has the opposite far more X-ray film diagnois far more musculo skeletal diagnosis and some focus on the body's reaction to pharmacuticals. A D.C. will note minor changes in joint space and bony structure.

The main difference is that a M.D. is a drug pusher and their prouct (drugs) only masks symptoms for the time that the drug lasts in the system. They do absolutely nothing to address the cause of the problem what so ever. The drug companies spend millions on giving samples of new product to their pushers. The other purpose for the M.D. is to push patients to the surgeon for removal of tissue.

A D.C. will get to the underlying cause of the injury (strethed ligaments and tendons, inflamed muscles, Oseous {AKA Bone} Misalignments) and correct the injury. Injured or dammaged tissues will be strenghened and allowed to heal naturally. The goal is to restore stability with out malformation and loss of function . Yes a D.C. will take longer, but in general gives longer, more permanent results. Surgery and pharmacutical intervention is the last setp that a D.C. would suggest to a patient.

I am not saying that there is not a time for radical intervention like pharmacuticals or even tissue removal by surgeons. There is a time for everything, Just maybe not the first step.

Turn off the microphone and stepping down from the milk crate.

 

As a point of reference, I was rear ended by a Lexus SUV about a year ago. I was sitting at a stoplight and they hit me going approximately 15 mph. Total repair bill was $6K. No way you can fix yours for $5K.

I also immediately had the car towed to my local dealership. When the insurance company for the person who hit me called, I told them where the car was and in no uncertain terms that is who would be fixing it. The adjustor visited the car there and the dealership actually handled alot of the insurance stuff.

 

I'm sorry, but I cannot sit here let the "DrDiff" comments go unchallenged.

To say that DC and MD are equivalent in every way is just ludicrous and certainly unscientific. Therapies should stand up to double-blinded studies and not just anectdotal "testimonies". Chiropractic does not have this scientific backing, except in one narrow circumstance. Don't let any of them tell you that they can "manipulate away" gall stones, diabetes, cancers, heart diseases or lung diseases (all claims I have heard from DCs). For sure don't let any "adjustments" be made on your children.

Chiropractors do not have the years of additional training necessary to manage all of the cardiac, renal, pulmonary, endocrine (etc) disease processes out there.

Just ask yourself if you want a chiropractor to manage your next heart attack or leukemia and you have your answer to the equivalency question.

Sorry, but I couldn't let people believe that there is no difference between a science backed by rigid studies and a pseudo-science founded by a bankrupt farmer from Iowa in the 1800s.

 

I think this thread took a little wrong turn here. let's get it back to discussion of legal issues. DrDiff, this is not a thread about who gives better medical care, a MD or DC. It would be helpful for SteyrTMP to know that testimony from an MD will play a more important role in a court case and at some point should consult an MD about the injuries. That does not mean that he has to go to surgery or do anything to doc says for that matter.

I'm not a lawyer so I dont know this for sure. But I am a MD and have seen people who were unable to get health expenses covered because they only consulted a chiropracter after an accident. Also, a lot of insurances do not cover CD services either.

So it is worth seeing an MD at some point to have the medical documentation supporting his injuries.

Let's keep the rest of the discussion to legal issues and move the rest to the off topic forum. Thanks

 

Any lawyers want to chime in here? We have the AMA side here.

If you are a lawyer I would love to hear your opinon over the testimony of one state licensed physician over another state licensed physician.

We all seem to have a common point.

GET your injuries doccumented and show that evidence to the lawyer and let them settle it out in their arenas.

The bickering seems to be over which person to doccument the injuries.

 

Amen brother..You beat me to the punch. Same schooling...I do not think so Try 4 years medical school, four years residence and a two year fellowship I have yeat to meet one chiropractor that has that type of education Not bashing chiros, it's just the truth..Now back to topic...LOL

 

Let's keep to the topic here, people. SteyrTMP needs legal and repair advice. Thanks.

 

Okay, that sounds goofy to me. Bear in mind I'm a law student, but when I took Torts [that's the area of law that deals with all injuries to the person - both physical injury and damage to personal property (= cars, pets, books, furniture, etc.), which is different from "real property" (= land)] last year, my professor emphasized that you can demand "damages" (compensation) for harm done to your items of personal property. In fact, our Fall exam's fact pattern involved a traffic accident in which the driver suffered physical injury and damage to the car. He had causes of action (legally cognizable claims) for both his injuries and the repairs on the car, plus pain & suffering, lost wages, etc.

Your dad's lawyer doesn't sound like he knows what he's talking about. The area of Torts is much broader than simple physical injury. Hmmph!