Auto and Car Insurance

Has anyone ever sued an insurance company in auto accident wthout using an attorney?

I was hit pretty bad by a guy who has Allstate auto full coverage insurance. My medical bills are about $4000. Should I sue for $12,000 total? And I am not going to hire an attorney, so how successful will that be. I wonder if others have tried to do it alone as well.

Public Comments

1. If you're going to sue, PLEASE get an attorney. You can bet they'll have one in court, and several others availible if needed. They'll eat you for lunch.
2. Wait.. you really think with only 4k in medical bills you are going to get an extra 8k for nothing? Let me guess.. your using that "3 times your bills" formula that someone pulled out of their butt who knows nothing about insurance? ANYONE can have 4k in medical bills.. insurance knows this. You never never never get 3 times your bills unless you are severely injured ( i mean come on.. you didnt lose a leg did you?) Please... are your permenantly injured? is this going to affect you your whole life? If the answer is no.... you will MAYBE get 5k all together.. you didnt win the lottery. And this is whether you have an attorney or not.
3. Depending on what state you are in and if that state is a No-Fault insurance state that will make a difference. Basically I live in Michigan and that is a no-fault state and every person has unlimited medical coverage on their auto policies. Therefore if you are in an accident you basically just turn your medical bills into the company they pay 100%. The question is going to be do you have auto insurance? If the answer is yes then you will probably need to turn your bills into your insurance company. Then your insurance company will subrogate against the other persons company to get back their loss since it was their fault. Now if you don't have auto insurance then I guess you will have to try and submit the claim to that persons auto insurance. But, I can tell you right now if you don't have permenant bodily injury you are not going to get more then your medical bills. I would start by asking your insurance agent first, if you don't have one call the person that hit you and ask for his insurance information. Most of the time you don't need a lawyer if you are just submitting for the medical bills to get paid. But if you are trying to get more then medical bills paid then you will need a lawyer to even be taken seriously in a court situation. Hope this helps.
4. $12,000 may or may not be reasonable. What were the extent of your injuries? Have you been released from care and treatment, or is it ongoing? What is the diagnosis and prognosis? All those factors would come into the mix. If someone has told you "You should get 3 times your medical expenses" don't listen. There is no formula. You may not even get all your medical expenses, only those that are reasonable and proper based on your injury would be compensated. Bumping your knee on the dash doesn't give you a free operation for your hernia while you are at it. Actually, YOUR insurance agent would be the best source of information to you, so go ask him what is reasonable and what you should be asking for. And why are you doing this rather than your insurance agent in the first place?
5. And what, pray tell, makes you think you deserve 12K? Go ahead and sue, pal. Sue your dumb-a** off. Be warned: Allstate will show up at court with an army of lawyers and litigate this nonsense into the next decade. Damn.
6. $12k with $4k in meds??? I hope you had a broken bone or some scarring. Probably not with that amount of meds. If it is soft tissue, you might expect $5k. If you actually spend the money to file suit in court, you might get $6k. If you get an attorney, you can probably expect the same settlement, but less for you b/c of attorney fees.
7. Well, the first thing you need to figure out is exactly WHO to sue....and you can't sue Allstate, you have to sue the guy who hit you. Allstate didn't injure you, the guy driving did and THAT is who your cause of action is against. Gee...maybe you should get a lawyer since you don't even know who it is you need to sue--at least they'll get it right. But as for your $12K demand....get over it.