Atlanta Injury Attorney Blog
Over the last six months I have noticed a continued trend towards offers coming in from front line insurance carriers like Geico and Progressive that are barely over the medical specials. For example:
The above car crash resulted in $7,400 in emergency room, orthopedic and physical therapy bills along with a small scar on the victims eyebrow from the glass in the crash. The carrier’s offer? $8,382. Totally ridiculous. The justification. “That is just a soft tissue injury.” Seriously people, by definition anything that is not a bone is a soft tissue, that tautology carries no weight with juries.
Victim has $22,000 in medical bills and a disc herniation at age 24. The offer is $35,000.
Airline pilot in a motorcycle crash with a puncture wound to the leg that takes him off the flying line until the knee is healed. $8,000 in medical bills and another $6,000 in lost income. The offer? $11,000.
The final issue? Even after suit is filed in many of these cases, we are getting legal Answers filed by the defendants denying liability for no reason. I take the defendant’s deposition and it turns out there is no defense. We had one two weeks ago and the defendant had admitted to the cops that she fell asleep at the wheel because she was exhausted from no sleep. Head on crash with both parties hospitalized. We filed suit because of a low ball offer and they denied responsibility. I deposed the driver and asked her why she denied responsibility, she said she did not, her lawyer did. The lawyers response to me when I asked why they denied responsibility? The insurer wants us to do it. This is a sign of a further loss of control by officers of the Court. You do not file pleadings with no merit. Period.
This is the unfortunate new reality even with high impact, clearly dangerous collisions. If have said it before that I do not begrudge insurers from refusing to pay on low impact chiropractic cases because many of them are total bullshit, but when that philosophy bleeds over into legitimate cases, there is a systemic problem.
I realize that I should complain because the reality is that this environment forces clients to need my services. Between you and me though, I would be happier in a world where this were not necessary.