Legal Question in Personal Injury in Indiana

Fair settlement for lost teeth, dental work & pain.

While eating a prepared meal @ a large mexican

chain, my girlfriend cracked 2 molars on a bone

left in the food. The chain's insurance has offered

a sum of $2,000 which does not cover all

expenses incured so far. What is a fair request

considering all dental work, the loss (root canal)

of 2 teeth, pain for at least 3 months, lost work,

and other tangible and intangible costs? What is

too much to ask? The crowns that she has been

given are said to last 8-10 years. She is only 34,

what about those replacements?


Asked on 6/05/01, 1:18 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Brian Halloran Brooking and Halloran, PLLC

Re: Fair settlement for lost teeth, dental work & pain.

Concurrning with Mr. Dumond's assessment, the offer seems absurdly low, and Insurance Companies are best known for saving their companies money by settling for the lowest possible amount. Get an attorney. Do not try and handle this yourself. Would you try to remove your own kidney with a butterknife instead of going to a surgeon? Of course not. Don't try and do this on your own. You are being low-balled by the Ins. Co. Fight back. From the facts presented, you seem to have a decent case with damages in excess of a $2000.00 settlement. Good Luck.

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Answered on 6/15/01, 5:21 pm
C. David DuMond Law Offices of David DuMond

Re: Fair settlement for lost teeth, dental work & pain.

Insurance company math tends to employ a formula which adds up all the special damages - medical expenses and lost wages, for example - and multiplies that number by a whole integer, a low single-digit integer like 2 or 3. The trend has been downward because the insurance industry spends billions to convince the public that people who go to court for their injury claims are mere whiners hoping to leech off society. But I never knew them to descend into fractions, so they must be stalling. Your girl friend should immediately retain an attorney, because the insurance company has already been busy gathering, massaging - and perhaps losing - evidence of what happened.

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Answered on 6/12/01, 7:29 pm


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