Auto Accident Case Resolves for $100,000.00

Author: Attorney Daniel Villalobos

Client Gets Into An Automobile Accident At A High Rate of Speed

Our client, a 51 year old father of two, was driving by himself on U.S. 1 in Fort Pierce, Florida. When he stopped at a traffic light, suddenly and without warning another driver lost control of his vehicle and struck our client’s car from behind. The accident caused our client’s neck to swing back and then swing forward again causing his head to strike the steering wheel. His car was also pushed into the middle of the intersection and he was almost struck again from oncoming perpendicular traffic. Immediately after the accident, our client felt a sharp shooting pain in his upper back and his neck. Not knowing where to turn to, our client called the Fort Pierce Accident and Injuries Attorneys Dell and Schaefer right from the accident scene. Our firm quickly sent a lawyer to sign up the case at the client’s own home.

Our Client Begins Physical Therapy

Upon his return home, our client thought the pain would subside after a few days time. Unfortunately after the weekend passed, our client did not feel relief from pain. He sought the care and medical attention of a local chiropractor. The chiropractor diagnosed our client with severe whiplash and sprain/strain to his cervical spine. The doctor recommended an intense physical therapy regimen. After 2 weeks without any relief from pain, the doctor recommended an MRI of the cervical spine. Just as the doctor suspected, our client suffered a posterior disc herniation to the cervical spine at C2-C3. The chiropractor referred our client to an orthopedic surgeon. The orthopedic surgeon recommended a spinal fusion to repair the damage to the neck. Our client was deathly afraid of surgery and was scared he would lose his job if he took too much time off. As a result our client decided not to undergo the surgery.

Dell and Schaefer Negotiate A Settlement

Even though our client refused surgery, it was our firm’s belief that the insurance company should settle the case for an amount that would pay for the surgery, should our client need to do it in the future. As a result our firm filed a bodily injury demand against the insurance company demanding the policy limits of $100,000. The insurance company offered only $15,000 to settle the claim reasoning that since our client never underwent surgery, then they did not have to pay for it. Our firm disagreed. We countered that if they did not pay the policy limits within 7 days from the date of our conversation, we would immediately file a lawsuit and a bad faith claim against the insurance company. We also stated that we would seek damages in excess of the policy limits. To demonstrate the seriousness of our position, we filed a lawsuit for over $100,000 in the circuit court, but we did not serve the lawsuit on the defendant nor his insurance company. Rather we sent proof that we had officially filed a lawsuit. This obviously scared up the adjuster at the insurance company, because his next communication with our firm he stated his intent to tender out the policy limits to our client. Our client was absolutely thrilled that a non-surgical case could resolve for $100,000. He was impressed that our firm went the extra mile and did not stop until justice was done.

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