Each personal injury case is different and requires its’ own evaluation and skills to maximize the value of the claim. However, when you find yourself against Allstate, you can typically assume that you will need to hire an experienced and aggressive personal injury trial attorney to assist you. This belief is based upon dozens of cases against Allstate’s in-house lawyers and adjustors.
A recent auto vs. pedestrian accident case result serves as a good example. Our office represented a young woman who was struck and injured while she was exiting her car in a parking lot and was pinned in the open rear door of her car after the other driver, an Allstate insured driver, accelerated unexpectedly and struck three cars so hard that the third car was pushed three feet until it slammed into the open rear door of our client’s vehicle.
After about seven months of active treatment, our client’s doctors said there was nothing more that could be done and our client would just have to live with the ongoing pain and discomfort in her neck. Allstate offered only $4,500 for her claim, which was less than half of her medical bills. With no choice, our office filed suit against the other driver.
During the next year, our client sought additional medical counseling from specialists to determine if surgery was necessary. She underwent MRIs and consulted with orthopedic surgeons and neurologists all of whom agreed that she was not faking her injuries but could not recommend surgery. Finally, nearly two years after the original injury, a pain management doctor diagnosed her with a chronic facet joint injury and recommended that she undergo a denervation of her medial nerve in her cervical spine which eliminated her pain.
By that time, we were just three months from trial and our client’s medical bills had increased to nearly $30,000. In an effort to try to resolve the case without going to trial, we attended a mediation and made a demand of $100,000 which was the other driver’s insurance policy limit. Allstate increased their offer to $6,500.
Allstate was not disputing that their driver was negligent. They would admit that their driver screwed up and that they should pay for the damages their driver caused. They disputed what those damages were and their value. However, their position was unreasonable and would not be supported by anyone at trial except their independent medical examiner.
We deposed the independent medical examiner shortly before trial. Unlike Allstate, his position was reasonable and largely supported our client. He testified that our client suffered from a chronic neck injury and that almost all of her medical care was reasonable and necessary for her care. His position–which did not meet the facts–was that she should not undergo the denervation procedure. She should just manage her pain the rest of her life.
The fact of the matter was that, before trial, our client did undergo the denervation and it was successful.
Shortly before trial, Allstate finally agreed to pay the $100,000 settlement demand. They had fought tremendously to delay and deny our client for nearly three years since the date of injury. But now, after we had done our best to take away any excuse and defense–no matter how ridiculous–so that they had no choice but pay the reasonable settlement demand.
While each case is different, this type of delay and deny strategy is simply par for the course when dealing with Allstate. Because of this, we strongly recommend that you contact an experienced California personal injury attorney like the attorneys at the Jurewitz Law Group at 888-233-5020 when you have a claim against an Allstate insured.
