I reached a settlement with the insurance company of the driver who hit me for all but 5% of the full liability limit on the policy--which is $100,000. The lawyer gets a third and there is an additional few hundred dollars taken out for fees related to filing against the driver and their insurance company for liability in court.
That may seem like a lot of money, and in fact some of my able bodied friends even commented, "Sounds like it's worth it!" Trust me, it's not. If someone proposed paying me far more than that to get hit by a car, lose my job, go through multiple surgeries, do all the paperwork I've had to do, not do the thing I love to do best for a year, go through at least a year of physical therapy, and have to build my strength back up from zero, I would spit in their face.
This is not a reality show. I was really injured, and I have had a hell of a lot of pain and suffering.
So then you might wonder why I settled for the limit of the insurance rather than take the driver and Utica to court considering the fact that my case is worth $300,000 at the minimum. The main reason is that I don't have job security. I had only started in my new job one week before getting hit, and as predicted going out on Disability immediately afterwards means there really is no way I will be able to return to it. Let's just say the environment at work was not kind to the freshly disabled, even with a number of board certified surgeons swearing I was unable to perform my job (or even get to it) due to my injuries. Bottom line: If I took them to court, I would be looking at winning the case probably two or three years later, and even after I won it would be a fat chance that I would ever see money from the driver who hit me. If I had been in my job for several years, and knew I could return to it at the end of all this, no doubt I would have taken the case to court. Likewise, if they offered me even $20,000 less I would have taken them to court.
Here's how it went. The driver was served about two months earlier, and given a deadline to respond. If she or her insurance carrier did not respond by the deadline then that would mean a decision in my favor automatically.
Like I wrote in an earlier post, Utica had blocked out all the surgical facilities in advance of my second knee surgery. The strategy there was to not only avoid paying for the surgery, but to not pay the liability. If I didn't fight the whole way, I could have ended up with only the left knee having been reconstructed, having my right knee and back disabled for life, and getting paid a small fraction of the liability money for pain and suffering that I had coming to me. Since I did have the surgery, they then had to face the fact that they were in for a large amount, and it would cost them more to fight it than to simply pay up.
First they wanted to try offering me $70,000 but they knew I was a professional who was going to fight so they offered $90,000 which is just $10,000 short of the policy limit. How do I say no to $90k? I did knowing that my case is worth at least $300k. They were literally nickel and diming me. But I also understand the pressure someone in insurance is in to get even a small reduction. Giving them 10% would be like me paying them a service fee, and I wasn't willing to do that, so I instructed my lawyer, Robert S. Fader (link below), to tell them we needed the whole $100,000.
Utica's response was ridiculous. Their representative said they were only authorized to offer $90,000 and that simply wasn't true. If the policy limit is $100,000 then that's what they are authorized to offer you in a settlement. They talked to their supervisor and came back in less than an hour with $95,000 and I agreed immediately.
Honestly, later on I regretted not going back one more time and telling them we need the entire $100k or we're going to court. It's only 5% but on the other hand it's $5,000. I finished off one of my student loans for about $4,300 and paid off about $700 in credit card balances--so there's an example of where I could have used another $5,000 right there. And it wasn't like I didn't deserve it for my injuries. Ultimately, if I pushed more, I may have ultimately accepted $95k without regret, but I do regret that I didn't give it that one last little shove.
OK, so like I said, I only saw about $63,000 of that money after paying the lawyer and court fees, and that still seems like quite a lot of money, but it isn't. Consider what you would do if you won that much money--after taxes--in a lottery. Sure, you might dream of world travel and a fancy car, but if you were smart like I am, you might catch up on buying some items that you really needed anyway, treating yourself just a little bit, paying off the car you already have, killing off some if not all debt that has been hanging over your head and never seems to go away. And that's exactly what I did--with money left over of course.
Day 1, I immediately paid off my car loan. Had I chosen instead to just make the regular payments through the end of the finance term, I would have paid $7,000 more for the car. I also paid off a couple of student loans, as well as all credit cards. By doing this--no exaggeration--I just reduced the amount of money I pay out in bills by over $700 per month. That's $8,400 a year that will stay in my pocket without the interest on it going to various financial institutions! I don't know about you, but to me that's quite a chunk of money.
Basically, anything that has an interest rate on it needs to be paid off right away before you can even think about having any fun. Just do it. But also consider this before you settle your case against the driver and their insurance. After you do whatever you need to do with the money, including paying the lawyer and killing off debts, is the amount that is left worth it to you given what you have had to go through with your injuries and all you have had to do to get it?
In my case, I have to say the answer is no, but I balanced it against waiting another two or three years to settle this case for the amount of money it would receive in court, and then fighting to collect it. The benefit is, I'm done and I have the resources to get me through to the next stage of my life, which may include a whole new career (or returning to the old one I liked so much) and relocation for all I know.
