Pendevu
Los Angeles,#2Consumer Comment
Mon, November 09, 2015
I currently have Mercury Insurance on my vehicle but had a different company at the time I was rear-ended. I thought Mercury was great until I was rear-ended by one of its insureds. My car was sitting still at a stop light when it was hit. Yet, Mercury refuses to pay unless my attorney sues them. My doctor bills have come in at over $10,000 just for the one visit to emergency and my primary care doctor would not let me use my Medicare Advantage HMO plan to pay for any medical treatment related to this accident. Mercury has not stepped forward to help.
Consequently, I have not had the luxury of physical therapy or any other treatment for my back since the accident occurred over a year ago. My attorney warned me when I hired him that Mercury will not settle until the night before court. So, rather than pay me for my lost wages and allow me the cash to pay for medical treatment, they want to go to court for an accident that was clearly not my fault. My initial medical bills total probaby about $13,000. So what do I learn from my attorney after my deposition? The policy is worth only $15,000.
That means there is no money to pay the attorney and no money to reimburse me the $30,000 of lost earnings. Seems, in good faith, Mercury would have told my attorney out front the value of the policy. I am dropping Mercury as soon as I get back to work, which will have to be soon. I can't even afford to drop their policy and go with a reputable company. No Mercury in my life. Had I checked Ripoff Report before buying their policy, I never would have done so. Thank you for your report.
smileysue74
LA,#3Author of original report
Wed, January 23, 2013
i don't know what I'm going to do. But, I'm not holding my breath.
I was totally and completely honest. That's it. If i caused detriment to my case because I was honest then there's nothing I can do about it. I think I was consistent enough with my therapy considering that during that time I had been forced to move residences three times. Fyi, Mercury was the insurance carrier of the driver who ran a red light and crashed into me in 2001. $15000 split equally between me, the lawyer and the doctors.
Before this last car accident, It wouldn't be odd to see me do cartwheels on a day when I was feeling good. Now, I'm scared to even twist my body so I don't. I don't do anything anymore.
I've got a handful of pain meds
There's nothing more I can do at this point
I appreciate that you took the time to post a reply, I had forgotten that I posted at this site.
Thank you for everything you said, it makes perfect sense. I just hate that I made myself even more miserable by jumping through their hoops. I could have been doing so many other things, this accident screwed me up on so many levels, a million dollar settlement wouldn't compensate for all that I've suffered as a result of this unavoidable car accident. Even if I only suffered mild pain and discomfort, I should have been awarded the full amount of the policy. ..
i have no idea how long its taken me to type this but I'm numb from the waist down I HUrt really really bad, even where I feel numb. wah!! seems I gotta go...
cheesenugget
United States of America#4Consumer Suggestion
Wed, January 23, 2013
As someone who is familiar with how personal injury cases work in my state, I am assuming that Cali or whichever state your accident happened, may be similar as the issues of your case sounds similar. Yes, you can harm your case if you do not treat consistently, because the insurance company will find every loophole to downplay your injuries. By not treating consistently, no matter how difficulty it is for you to get out of bed, they will see it as "well if you are that injury, why did you cancel your appointments? Why did you only treat once every other week?" And to say that the reason you did not go was due to the pain, that may appear as a contradiction of how injured you are (i.e. "if you are that hurt, why not have someone take you to treatment as some facilities offer help and free transportation?"). Your injuries from your previous MVA appears to be haunting you even to this day. Although you have to disclose that information to the other party, I hope you did not express the impact that injury had on you (i.e. "I was so hurt from that other accident, I still feel pain today"). You should have made it very brief, very short, and only bring it up if the other side had asked while you are in a recorded interview. Either way, it sounds like your injuries are so bad from the previous accident, how did that case go? Did you get the full policy limits on your 1st accident? Did you get surgery? Again, Mercury will look through your entire medical history and treatment timeline and what kinds of treatment that you have received. And yes, Mercury will not pay out the full claim (I work for them, in-house counsel in the PIP department, however) because that's what insurance companies do. Most don't. It's not just Mercury, liability companies for Walmart and other insurance companies operate the same way. If they see there is a loophole in your story, they will stubbornly stand by it even if seems unjust.
Secondly, you stated how Mercury did not help your mom get her new car. In my state, for property damage, that is how it works--the adverse driver's insurance is not responsible to get you the new car. What they will do is to issue a check with the amount they feel is the correct estimate of what the vehicle is worth at the date of loss. I do not know for certain if the deductible applies from the adverse party to your mom's car. But either way, when it comes to property damage, most insurance companies do not need or will not shop a car for you. Here is the money, go find one yourself.
Again, from what you have written on the article, it sounds about right how a typical BI case would be handled. If you do not treat consistently, you hurt your case. If you had a previous car accident, it affects your case. How you provided the information under what context, could have hurt your case. Property damage is not the same BI claim, so you cannot expect the same amount of attention involved as to your mom's new car.
Hope that cleared a few things and give you a better peace of mind.
smileysue74
LA,#5Author of original report
Mon, August 06, 2012
It's been a month since I submitted my report, I have been in bed mostly. I have such great pain that tires me that I don't have energy to do much of anything. My only link to the outside world is via social network sites like facebook but lately, I've been offline for several days to weeks at a time. I just don't have it in me to keep fighting this but it occurred to me that if I don't find a lawyer and get some kind of compensation for the doctors who treated me then I may end up getting sued by those doctors. After all, they only treated me because they were expecting that the bills would eventually get paid following the settlement of my insurance claim.
The total of my bills is $16,000 but I can probably get it reduced to $10,000 bc some procedures listed were never performed, some procedures were unnecessary, etc.
So, I'm tired, depressed, feeling hopeless and suffering from constant discomfort and pain. I can't even think straight at times and other times, my mind just goes blank. I don't even know what day it is without asking and I have lost all concept of time, it seems.
This was suppose to be an easy case according to my former lawyer, there's no doubt that the other driver was responsible and there's no question that I have injuries to my spine but Mercury refuses to accept that my injuries were caused (or even exacerbated) by the car accident involving their insured.
It's a $25,000 policy yet Mercury refuses to pay even a 1/4 of that, are they trying to completely destroy me? I was hoping to get some money from this settlement so that I could visit with a doctor who may be able to help me or at least continue writing me prescriptions so that my pain may be reduced to an almost tolerable level.
Tell me what to do because I feel myself going to that dark place./.. just wanna curl up in a ball and wait to die...