Should I take the insurance offer after a car accident?

Answered by ProctorLaw

This is general legal information, not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created. Talk with a licensed attorney about your situation.

Short answer: not yet. An offer that arrives within days of a rear-end crash, while you are still being treated for neck and back pain, is almost never based on what your claim is worth, because nobody knows yet what your injury is. Once you sign a release, the claim is over for good, even if an MRI next month shows a herniated disc. You have time; use it.

Your deadlines. Ohio gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit for your injuries, and two years for damage to your car (R.C. 2305.10). If the other driver turns out to be uninsured or underinsured and you make a claim on your own policy, your policy can require that claim to be brought within three years (R.C. 3937.18(H)), so read it. An insurer dealing with an unrepresented claimant is required to warn you in writing at least 60 days before a limitation period runs out (Ohio Adm.Code 3901-1-54), but do not rely on that; calendar the two-year date yourself.

Fault. Ohio drivers must keep an "assured clear distance" from what is ahead of them (R.C. 4511.21(A)), and Ohio courts treat hitting a stopped car from behind as negligence in itself unless something unusual happened. That is why the other driver's insurer called quickly. Ohio uses modified comparative negligence: you recover as long as you are not more than 50 percent at fault, reduced by your share (R.C. 2315.33). In a stopped-at-a-light rear-end case, your share is normally zero.

How to tell whether an offer is fair. A reasonable settlement covers: all medical bills, past and reasonably expected (including what your health insurer paid, which it will want back); lost wages and lost earning capacity; out-of-pocket costs; and compensation for pain, limitation, and disruption. You cannot evaluate the medical part until a doctor says you have recovered or reached maximum improvement. Three other things shape the number: (1) the other driver's policy limits, which in Ohio can be as low as $25,000 per person (R.C. 4509.51); an early "generous" offer sometimes signals a small policy; (2) Ohio's cap on noneconomic damages in a lawsuit, generally the greater of $250,000 or three times your economic losses, up to $350,000, with no cap for permanent and substantial injuries (R.C. 2315.18); and (3) liens: your health plan, Medicaid, or Medicare is entitled to repayment from the settlement, though Ohio law cuts a health plan's lien proportionally when your recovery is limited (R.C. 2323.44).

What to do this week.

Keep treating and keep every record. Gaps in treatment are the first thing an adjuster uses to discount a claim.

Open a claim with your own insurer too. Your medical-payments coverage, if you have it, pays bills now regardless of fault, and your collision coverage can get the car fixed faster.

Do not give the other driver's insurer a recorded statement, do not sign a blanket medical authorization, and do not accept a check marked as full settlement. Ohio rules forbid an insurer from pressuring a claimant into a lowball settlement to avoid litigation and from treating a partial payment as a full release (Ohio Adm.Code 3901-1- 54), but the practical protection is simply not signing.

It is fine to settle the property damage (the car) separately and early; that does not release the injury claim if the paperwork is limited to the vehicle. Read it before signing.

If the adjuster stalls or plays games, you can complain to the Ohio Department of Insurance at 800-686-1526. Ohio does not let you sue the other driver's insurer for bad faith, but if the case goes to court and the insurer never made a good-faith effort to settle, the judge can add prejudgment interest to the verdict (R.C. 1343.03(C)).

Most injury attorneys will evaluate a rear-end claim for free and work on a contingency fee, and claims involving ongoing treatment are where that usually pays for itself. Because Dublin spans Franklin, Delaware, and Union counties, where a suit would be filed depends on where the crash happened and where the other driver lives. This is general information, not legal advice; talk to a personal injury attorney before you respond to the offer.

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