Quote:
Originally Posted by arcticathlon
what do i do if they do send me the paperwork. can i tell them that i want to have the money and not sign it. not sure how i could get around that.?
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Look over the paperwork when it comes. Very likely it will have some language similar to that mentioned in the post previous to this one.
State Farm is not trying to trick you. This is a relatively small claim and a simple one, for them and you. It does not seem you will suffer future pain in the future.
You can tell them you want the money and not sign the paperwork.
They will politely tell you in return you need not sign it. But you will not get any money until you do - it releases them from liability.
To put it bluntly: "No tickee, no laundary"
It can not be gotten around. The system is not without faults and unfairnesses, but this is how it operates.
The insurance companies should honor their obligation to pay claims fairly and promptly, (and many times they don't), but they should have the right not to be held hostage for endless supplemental claims either, is the thinking behind this set up.
If there is truly no future damage to your health contemplated by this incident, and you are being compensated fairly for lost and future wages lost, pain ans suffering, and the compensation for damage to your vehicle is reasonable, you could sign off, accept the payment, and move on.
I think they have a right to that, the insurance company and their policy holder, as the insrance company is not allowed to come back and say we paid you too high a settlement, we want some of it back.
Everyone is supposed to be treated fairly, it seems. Sometimes claimants are greedy and unreasonable, and sometimes insurers are too stingy, weasel out on abstruse technicalities, or are dishonest. The remedies of the Insurance Commissioner and Court trials and attornies are available for that.
From what you said, I think State Farm's settlement is reasonable overall.
But if you don't sign off on the whole thing and release them from liability you will never see one dime of the settlement. There is no question about that.
(Though in some cases - you could possibly split the settlement - ie, accept the settlement on the car and sign off on it and get the money for that - while you think on the injury part for awhile before signing off- that might be reasonable. It seems like you did, and you acted wisely and reasonally in so doing, in this case......
Though in a way the two claims are inter twined, as sometimes the Insurance may over pay the damages a bit on a damaged car to make the claimant happey, and then not pay so much on the bodily injury side of the claim.)