Questions about Car Accident Cases

(1) Why won't the insurance company pay me what I say my car is worth? ANSWER: In the State of Tennessee, the law entitles a motor vehicle owner to recover the fair market value of his vehicle, if it is totaled, less the salvage value if you decide to keep the totaled automobile. If your car is repairable, the law allows you to recover the cost of repairs and reasonable depreciation, if you can establish that there is some depreciation. We usually establish this by having our clients determine the difference in the value of their vehicle in its undamaged condition immediately before the wreck, and its damaged condition immediately after the wreck. Many insurance companies will not pay reasonable depreciation, for they feel like the body shops that do the repairs usually place the automobile back in the condition it was in before the wreck. As we advise all our clients, we will assist you in the negotiations for the payment for the damage to your car, and we do not charge an attorney's fee for that service.

(2) Why have you told my insurance carrier about this wreck, when the responsible driver has insurance? ANSWER: In your insurance policy, there is usually coverage known as uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. This coverage provides protection to you, the insured, when the other driver either has a small insurance policy, has no insurance, or makes assertions that an unknown party may have contributed to the collision. For instance, if the other driver only has $25,000.00 worth of insurance ("a minimum limits" insurance policy), and you have insurance up to $50,000.00, you could make a claim against your own insurance carrier for the difference between $25,000.00 and $50,000.00. Therefore, we have placed your carrier on notice of this wreck in an effort to protect you in the event the other driver has no insurance or the other driver has little insurance.

(3) It's been a number of months since my accident and I don't understand why the insurance company hasn't offered me any money. ANSWER: Insurance companies are businesses that are in the business of making money. They make their money through investments and by paying fewer dollars in claims than they took in for premiums. Many insurance companies like to hold on to their money as long as possible. Unfortunately, at McMahan Law Firm, we cannot control the insurance company's time frame for making you any settlement offers. In Tennessee, we have one year from the date of the accident within which to file a lawsuit in an automobile accident case, and one year from the date of the last workers' compensation payment in a workers' compensation case. Therefore, we attempt to accumulate your medical records and medical bills and process all cases within that 12 month period. However, many times insurance companies for a variety of reasons will not offer any money settlement before the statute of limitations runs, therefore necessitating that we file suit. Once a lawsuit is filed, we experience delays in preparing your case for trial. Defense attorneys become involved and judges become involved. In most instances, it is now taking us 12 months to get a case to trial if it involves workers' compensation issues, and probably 18 months to 24 months to get a case to trial in an automobile accident situation. We are committed to quality representation of you both before a lawsuit is filed, and after the case is filed. Unfortunately, we cannot speed up this time frame, and you must be patient with us during this process. Remember that insurance companies are not designed to be fair. We must force them to take a realistic and pragmatic look at your case, since most of the time they know our firm will proceed to trial if they do not make some reasonable settlement offer.

Feel free to contact us if you have any other questions about these issues.