My wife was in an accident - the other person was ticketed and admitted fault. The insurance company said to fix our car was not worth it and totaled the vehicle - they gave us roughly $3500. As for the injury side - my wife has been going to her primary Doc - for pain meds and direction on vairous forms of help - from Chirporactor to Massage Therapy to Accupuncture to Orthopedic Specialist (with MRI) to Physical Therapy. This has been going on for 8 months now and I think we are close to being able to be released from the doctors. She was fortunate enough to have had an MRI just before the accident and about 7 months after - it showed that there was significant disk degeneration between the two. As for the medical bills - including all the Doctor visits - has gone through our insurance and I assume that they are billing the other insurance company. My question is that do we still calculate all the bills incurred into our settlement costs? Here are the rough numbers - medical costs are around 10K - the truck loss was $3500 (already paid out) - time off work is about 3-5 days - plus the pain and suffering along the way. Can anyone give me a way to determine what kind of settlement we should be looking at? We have been keeping records of the days where the pain is worse - this includes missing Pilates and Karate classes that have already been paid. Any assistance with some kind of formula for determining a settlement figure(s) would be greatly appreciated.

Ummm, what settlement? A settlement is when the two parties in a (potential) lawsuit agree on a monetary award in lieu of going to court or to complete the claim process.

You have gotten your car paid for, your medical bills have been covered so where is there a settlement? If you want to be reimbursed for pay lost or expenses lost (the missed classes), then add them all up and put in a claim for them. If they refuse, that's when the issue of a settlement comes into play because you will have to file suit for the claimed losses.

Why haven't you consulted with a personal injury attorney about this case? You haven't a clue what kind of settlement is possible. Are you a doctor able to properly read MRI's and determine what damage has been done? Just how many exercise classes and karate classes have been missed? Is your wife currently taking these classes? If she is back taking these classes I don't forsee much of a settlement as she is not permanently injured. Again, only a personal injury attorney would be the one to properly advise you on your wife's case for any possible settlement award. She may or may not get much for pain and suffering.

You definitely need to consult a personal injury lawyer asap...thats the only way you are going to get any compensation.

Excuse me, but did you miss the fact that all his bills have been paid? So what compensation is he missing?