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$70,000 Lyft Car Accident Settlement (GEICO Paid $25,000) - YouTube
Channel: JZ helps (a Florida injury law firm)
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- I'm Florida personal injury
attorney, Justin Ziegler.
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Mike, that is not his real name,
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was a passenger in a Lyft vehicle.
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The Lyft vehicle was
rear-ended by another vehicle
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that claimed that they didn't
have enough time to stop
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because the roads were
wet, and they crashed.
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Now, the police officer
noted in the crash report
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that my client had very minor neck pain.
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That was the only injury
that was complained of
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to the police officer,
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or at least what the police officer noted.
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Mike did not take an
ambulance to the hospital.
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Insurance companies often pay less money
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for pain and suffering
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if you do not take an
ambulance to the hospital
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after a rear end crash.
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Mike went to the hospital
the same day of the crash.
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He had a CT scan of
his brain and his neck.
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Both the CT scan of his neck and brain
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showed that nothing was wrong,
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which was good for Mike's health,
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but that's not good for
the rear end crash case.
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So then, Mike searched out for a lawyer
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to represent him in this rear end crash.
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I spoke with Mike, and he hired me
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and he did not have health insurance,
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like many other people injured in crashes.
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I was able to refer him to a medical group
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who had MRIs taken of
his knee, of his ankle,
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of his neck and his lower back.
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Mike had an MRI of his wrist,
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and it showed that he had mild fraying
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or a partial tear of his
triangular fibrocartilage.
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That's located in the wrist.
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Mike also had an MRI of his ankle,
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which showed that he had some fraying
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of part of his ankle, the talar dome.
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Now, Mike did not have any
surgery from this crash,
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and all things equal,
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surgery significantly
increases the full value
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of a rear end crash case.
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Geico insured the driver
that hit the Lyft car,
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and that other driver had $25,000
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of bodily injury liability coverage.
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Geico paid me the $25,000
bodily injury liability coverage
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within one month of the crash.
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That is a very quick time
period to get a check in.
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Most of the time, the
driver who rear ends you,
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their car insurance company
does not pay you a check
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for $25,000 within one month of a crash.
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The reason why Geico paid so quickly
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is because Mike had significant injuries.
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He did go to the hospital.
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Although he did not take an ambulance,
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he did go to the hospital
the same day of the crash,
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and he also had no health
insurance and medical bills.
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Now Lyft's PIP coverage paid for a lot of
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Mike's medical bills,
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but the bottom line is,
when the injuries are large,
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and the insurance policy is low
in relation to the injuries,
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the other side's insurance
company typically pays quickly.
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I didn't stop there.
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Fortunately, this crash happened at a time
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when Lyft carried a very large
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uninsured motorist insurance policy.
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Unfortunately, now, Lyft does not have any
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uninsured motorist insurance
coverage in Florida
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car accident cases, which is terrible.
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I was able to get Lyft to pay
$45,000 to settle the case.
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Now, their opening offer
a lot less than that.
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I think it was somewhere
around $17,000 or so.
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So once again, insurance companies
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often give you a first, very low offer.
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The total settlement in
Mike's case was $70,000.
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My attorneys fees and costs combined were
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33 1/3% of the settlement.
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We were able to settle before a lawsuit.
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My client got $33,608 in his pocket.
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In other words, he got 48%
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of the entire $70,000
settlement in his pocket.
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It even makes more sense
to hire an attorney
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in a rear end car accident case
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if you don't have health insurance
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because how else are you
going to get to a doctor?
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An attorney can refer you to a doctor,
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and the doctor will wait on getting paid
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until the end of the claim.
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And then they'll get paid
from the entire settlement.
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Now, most often times
I encourage my clients,
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if they have health insurance,
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to use their health insurance coverage
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because they're going to
get a good contracted rate.
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They're going to owe less
money for medical bills.
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The medical bills likely
will not be inflated.
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And it's one less argument you have
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with the other side's insurance company
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when they argue that
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the medical bills were totally outrageous
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and they're not paying the full
value of the medical bills.
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Now, rear end accidents
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are just one type of car crash cases.
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There's tons of other cases
that you can get injured in.
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And there's many, many
other strategies to maximize
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the value of a personal injury case.
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If you're interested in learning
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how to maximize the value of
your personal injury case,
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watch this video here.
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