Re: Motorcycle Accident
Sorry to hear about your Father, I hope that he recovers quickly. I gave up riding after my third accident that was the fault of another motorist. Luckily, I was never seriously injured like it sounds like your father was.
It is very difficult to say how much a case is worth from the outset. The medical bills will serve as a guideline, but bills from surgury are more persuasive than chiropractic bills, etc. An insurance adjuster will look at many other factors as well: whether the injury was disfiguring or permenant in some way, the sympathy a jury may have for the injured party, etc. Ultimately, an insurance adjuster is trying to pay as little as possible to settle a claim.
Juries these days tend to be skeptical, and picking a jury on a motorcycle case can be very tricky. Many people have prejudices against motorcyclists, and believe that they are reckless, or criminals. Consequently, there is a risk inherent in motorcyle accidents that a jury will consider the cyclist to have been at fault or that the cyclist does not deserve an award for pain and suffering. It is wrong, but an adjuster will take this into account in settlement negotiations.
One thing that I must stress: IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA TO MAKE A RECORDED STATEMENT TO AN INSURANCE ADJUSTER. They may try to tell you that they cannot settle your claim unless you make a recorded statement, but this is simply not true.
You may also want to check your father's motorist policy to see if there is uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. If the other driver has no insurance, then your uninsured coverage can be utilized. If the other driver has minimal coverage, then you may be able to utilize the difference between his coverage and your UIM coverage, BUT ONLY if you settle for the entire policy limit of the other driver.
Gook Luck
(708) 268-4176
(312) 346-2522
