BI/UIM Auto Accident and Personal Injury

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BI/UIM Auto Accident and Personal Injury

First, I apologize for the lengthy question. My son was hit by a car while riding his bike. The motorist did the right thing by stopping and assisting my son. While filing the auto claim I have found out that both the motorist and I have USAA for auto policy holders. We have never been in this type of situation before. USAA is filing a BI and UIM claim against the driver of the vehicle. I got concerned when my agent stated that they wanted to handle this ‘quickly’. should I be concerned about USAA trying to just settle at the lowest payout or should I seek legal councel?

Asked on May 8, 2019 under Accident Law, Florida

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 4 years ago | Contributor

If there is no significant long-term injury to your son (e.g. no long term life impairment or disability), there is no need to seek a lawyer yet--they may offer you a fair amount, in which case why spend the attorneys fees? In this case, most of what you would be entitled to is your medical costs, the damage to the bike, and any other out-of-cost directly caused by the accident (e.g. if your son has to stay home from school for a few days or weeks, and because you work, you have to hire someone to stay with him). These are all easily determined by you. Figure out the sum of these costs, and if offered anything at least 2/3 of them, it's worth taking the settlement rather than going through the cost, effort, and time of suing. If offered less than 2/3, it may be worthing an attorney, if the difference between what you want and they offer is at least $2,500 or so. (If the difference is less than that, you'd spend most of the difference, if not all, on the lawyer bills, making a lawsuit impractical.)
If you son has suffered long-term injury, impairment, or disability, that changes things: he may be entitled to very signficant compensation, which amount is difficult for a layperson (nonlawyer) to calculate. In this case, retain an attorney to help you and make sure you and your son are gettign a fair amount.
 


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