Someone hit us and she did not have no auto insurance at the time of the accident but she told the officer that she did. It was proven that she was 100% at fault. I was medflighted with major injures to my face, shoulder, and hand. I was hospitalized over night. My two children was took to the ER and released that day but still having phicyal and menial problems and my wife just has bruises on her leg she did not go the ER but still has them a month after the accident. Our insurance is paying all of our loss that we incountered but what kind of settlement should we get from our insurance with the injures that I received to my face with scars and shattered bones. And now more problems are acquiring with my neck, back, and still my shoulder. And what kind of settlement that my children should get in the state of virginia. Should we get a lawyer?

Thank you
Please help us we have never had this to happen to us before.

If you had uninsured motorist insurance you should retain an attorney to handle this for you so your insurance company gives you the proper payments. Can't give you a dollar figure as each case is different.

[QUOTE=daddys]Someone hit us and she did not have no auto insurance at the time of the accident but she told the officer that she did. It was proven that she was 100% at fault. I was medflighted with major injures to my face, shoulder, and hand. I was hospitalized over night. My two children was took to the ER and released that day but still having phicyal and menial problems and my wife just has bruises on her leg she did not go the ER but still has them a month after the accident. Our insurance is paying all of our loss that we incountered but what kind of settlement should we get from our insurance with the injures that I received to my face with scars and shattered bones. And now more problems are acquiring with my neck, back, and still my shoulder. And what kind of settlement that my children should get in the state of virginia. Should we get a lawyer?



Twinkie is right - an Attorney should negotiate this for you. You can't get a cash settlement on behalf of your children (assuming they are minors) because the money has to be placed in trust for them.

There is no formula for what injuries are worth. I trust you had uninsured motorist coverage - ?

Who determined that the other driver was 100% at fault? Virginia law is somewhat tricky.

[QUOTE=daddys]Someone hit us and she did not have no auto insurance at the time of the accident but she told the officer that she did. It was proven that she was 100% at fault. I was medflighted with major injures to my face, shoulder, and hand. I was hospitalized over night. My two children was took to the ER and released that day but still having phicyal and menial problems and my wife just has bruises on her leg she did not go the the ER but still has them a month after the accident. Our insurance is paying all of our loss that we incountered but what kind of settlement should we get from our insurance with the injures that I received to my face with scars and shattered bones. And now more problems are acquiring with my neck, back, and still my shoulder. And what kind of settlement that my children should get in the state of virginia. Should we get a lawyer?



Twinkie is right - an Attorney should negotiate this for you. You can't get a cash settlement on behalf of your children (assuming they are minors) because the money has to be placed in trust for them.

There is no formula for what injuries are worth. I trust you had uninsured motorist coverage - ?

Who determined that the other driver was 100% at fault? Virginia law is somewhat tricky.



Our insurance did because she called my insurance company and filed a clam that it was our fault. I sent the insurance co. the crash report and they said they denied the clam because it was her fault. A couple of days later our insurance co.called us back and told us that we were going to get the uninsured motorist that was on our policy.

[QUOTE=JudyKayTee]



Our insurance did because she called my insurance company and filed a clam that it was our fault. I sent the insurance co. the crash report and they said they denied the clam because it was her fault. A couple of days later our insurance co.called us back and told us that we were going to get the uninsured motorist that was on our policy.


Depending on your policy limits, hoping they are high, you are probably better off than dealing with her company. If she was driving uninsured when she did have insurance she probably had very low limits - at leat that's what I see all the time.

If you get a Judgment against her she will lose her Drivers License and this won't happen to someone else she hits.

Run to an Attorney! Run fast! This is one of those few cases where you are golden!

[QUOTE=daddys]


Depending on your policy limits, hoping they are high, you are probably better off than dealing with her company. If she was driving uninsured when she did have insurance she probably had very low limits - at leat that's what I see all the time.

If you get a Judgment against her she will lose her Drivers License and this won't happen to someone else she hits.

Run to an Attorney! Run fast! This is one of those few cases where you are golden!


In virginia you have to have insurance or file with the DMV for uninsured motorist insurance which is very high and you are liable for everything if it is your fault. When I called her insurance and reported it they were looking it to it then I called them back to check into it and they said that it looked like she didn't have any coverage at the time of the accident. Then they called back and said she did not have any. Then they sent me a letter stating that she did not. We have called a lawyer and was talking to them but we don't to sue our insurance we want to sue her. Say can you tell me something if she don't have no assets, job, or anything what would happen if we would get a lawyer and win how would we pay for it? And we defiantly don't this to happen to no one else.

[QUOTE=JudyKayTee]


In virginia you have to have insurance or file with the DMV for uninsured motorist insurance which is very high and you are liable for everything if it is your fault. When I called her insurance and reported it they were looking it to it then I called them back to check into it and they said that it looked like she didn't have any coverage at the time of the accident. then they called back and said she did not have any. then they sent me a letter stating that she did not. we have called a lawyer and was talking to them but we don't to sue our insurance we want to sue her. say can you tell me something if she don't have no assets, job, or anything what would happen if we would get a lawyer and win how would we pay for it? and we defiantly don't this to happen to no one else.


Okay - let's see. I understand uninsured and underinsured. You know this but maybe not everyone else does. If the other vehicle is at fault but uninsured your own insurance pays your claim (to the extent of your insurance, of course); if the other vehicle is underinsured (has less insurance than you have), your insurance pays the difference between that lower insurance and your policy. It's mandatory in some States but not in others. Some States also have an insurance pool for uninsured claims.

You don't sue your insurance company; you don't sue her insurance company. You file a claim against her and she (in a perfect World) turns it over to her insurance company which pays it. Yes, ultimately it could end up in a lawsuit but those are expensive and time consuming and in my area I only see lawsuits with terribly serious, permanent injuries.

If you do sue her (and I have no way of knowing if you would ever collect from her) the first question will be why didn't you collect from your insurance company, that's why you have insurance. I presume you are not at Attorney so you are pretty much limited to Small Claims Court and I don't know if that is the amount you want to settle. I thought you had some perhaps permanent injuries here.

I see very, very few settlements above the amount of the insurance (the Court just doesn't do that any more and a lot of jury verdicts are reduced to the amount of insurance carried) so I don't see a situation where her ability or inability to pay makes a difference one way or the other.

You carry insurance for just this type of situation.

Yes I do have permanent injures like scars to my face, hand, arm, and shoulder and my shoulder looks funny it is slanted down and won't work right. My face is shattered like a boiled egg when you smash it and it has dropped a little I can't smile because it had cut all the way through from the bottom of my nose to the bottom lip wich has about a half" cut on it and I have no idea what hit me because I was knocked out.

I just want to see her off the road s that this won't happen again.

Do you have any pointers that we can use it would be greatly apresheated.

Thank you for all the info so far

[QUOTE=JudyKayTee]say can you tell me something if she don't have no assets, job, or anything what would happen if we would get a lawyer and win how would we pay for it?

If she has no assets, job, or money, you will never get any of the award that you win. The jury may grant you 5 million, but if she has $5 in her bank account, that 5 dollars is all that you will see. So, if it takes a lot of money to fight the lawsuit, you may wind up worse off than you started. And if she really doesn't have anything to pay with, you will have a hard time finding a lawyer to take it on a contingency basis, since they only get paid if you do. That's the unfortunate reality of our legal system.

Yes I do have permanent injures like scars to my face, hand, arm, and shoulder and my shoulder looks funny it is slanted down and won't work right. My face is shattered like a boiled egg when you smash it and it has dropped a little I can't smile because it had cut all the way through from the bottom of my nose to the bottom lip wich has about a half" cut on it and I have no idea what hit me because I was knocked out.

I just want to see her off the road s that this wont happen again.

Do you have any pointers that we can use it would be greatly apresheated.

Thank you for all the info so far



Quite bluntly - with permanent scarring and injuries of this nature I am absolutely startled that you have not retained an Attorney. I'm taking you at face value here but again, quite honestly, with these injuries... no Attorney?

If you are looking to a lawsuit as a method of teaching "her" a lesson I've seen it time and time again and there is no lesson learned - you can't do anything to keep her off the road. If there is a Judgment against her resulting from an uninsured accidents the State is "supposed" to pull her driver's license. Obviously if she drove uninsured she will then drive uninsured and unlicensed. I've seen that time and time again.

So go to an Attorney and collect from your own uninsured motorist coverage or, if you are Attorney shy, settle yourself but you are going to lose money because every penny the insurance company doesn't pay you they get to keep.

[QUOTE=daddys]

If she has no assets, job, or money, you will never get any of the award that you win. The jury may grant you 5 million, but if she has $5 in her bank account, that 5 dollars is all that you will see. So, if it takes a lot of money to fight the lawsuit, you may wind up worse off than you started. And if she really doesn't have anything to pay with, you will have a hard time finding a lawyer to take it on a contingency basis, since they only get paid if you do. That's the unfortunate reality of our legal system.


He's covered by his own uninsured motorist coverage, up to that limit. The Attorney would get a percentage of that settlement paid out of OP's coverage. (Did that make sense? I just confused myself.)

I personally don't think it will go trial and reach the Judgment stage - no Attorney (as you said) is going to take this to trial when he/she knows there's nothing to collect. It's a waste of time and energy for everyone. I predict it will settle on the insurance level.

And now the lecture on uninsured/underinsured coverage and why it's important -

[QUOTE=froggy7]


He's covered by his own uninsured motorist coverage, up to that limit. The Attorney would get a percentage of that settlement paid out of OP's coverage. (Did that make sense? I just confused myself.)

Just to see if it did.. say the OP has 50K uninsured motorist coverage. He can get paid up to 50K from the insurance company for his damages. If he hires an attorney, the attorney gets paid out of that 50K. So, it would make sense to hire an attorney if the insurance company is offering you 10K for damages that you feel are worth 50K, because you are better off even after the attorney gets paid. But if they are offering you 45K for 50K damages, you probably are better off just taking the 45K, since the attorney fees will eat up most of the difference. And, if your damages are worth 100K, you are just out of luck for anything over 50K.

Would that be an accurate summing up?