In jan. of 09 I was driving over to my parents house for a visit when a 16 year old unlicensed driver, driving her boyfriends parents car, turned left in front of me without yielding. I t-boned their Suv at about 45 mph. this was right in front of some condos and housing developments so people started coming to the street to help- I was pulled off the road due to witnesses saying I was almost delusional, walking in circles in the middle of the road hysterically. I was sent to the hospital in an ambulance originally for possible head injuries due to the nature of the impact- after a cat scan and multiple x-rays I didn't have any major issues, internal bleeding, broken bones, etc and was released later that night. The next morning I felt as if I was hit head on by a truck, cronic migraines, extensive back and neck pain, intolerable aces, dizziness, fatigue, memory loss, it goes on. About a week later I went to the Doctor for a post accident check up, I started chirpratci and massage immediately. I did this for a solid 8 months (while also seeing a regular physician for help with sleep ect) and in August I was released and turned over to a physical therapist I did PT from August to end of December with a 3 week break in between to see how I would do.Its now January 2010 and on the 18th it was 1 year since the accident- I started post traumatic stress counseling end of December to help me drive and relax. I am also seeing a natural path for acupuncture ect- to this day I still feel very uncomfortable- and aside from the pain which seems bad enough my entire life has taken a 180, I'm angry all the time, stressed all the time, and I can't seem to be in a stable place. After my PIP ran out there was a gap in between that and when my health insurance kicked in so a lot of medical bills come in my name, I pay them as I can but that has made other things suffer, my credit is shot, and all the money I work for, gets spend on doctor bill payment arrangements and never ending co pays- Right now my medical bills are an estimated 25,000 on top of 8400 in wage loss. This past year my life has been not even close to the same, I was a very active athlete before this, I had goals and aspirations I am no longer at this time able to fulfill , I had to put school off for an entire year and at the time of the accident I was driving a newer lexus- and afterwords I wasn't in the same financial position to put myself into another nice car so I had to buy a older honda which I have put almost 30,000 miles on it in about a year due to constant appointments- this had caused the car to have mulpital issues that have obviously costs me money- as you can see, everything has been affected Ect. How are these accident settlements calculated? Given where the bills are I would like to see at least 35k or pain and suffering. Is that just crazy? Or reasonable?

Get an attorney to help you sort through what you are entitled to versus "inconveniences". If the other driver's policy has paid out it's maximum, the attorney can aid you in suing the other party to recoup your losses in addition to pain and suffering.

You should have consulted with an attorney as soon as possible after the accident. A lot of the medical bills could have been sent to your insurance company. Now you'll just have to compile all the bills, give them to the attorney and hope for the best.

Do you know what the SUV had as far as bodily injury coverage? If it was high, say 100/300 you do stand a chance of receiving some money for your pain and suffering. But more likely the other insurance company will balk at having to part with a dime. You may have to have your attorney file a lawsuit against them in court and go through a trial in order to see any money above and beyond the medical bills.