$349.5k Car Accident Settlement | Elizabethtown, KY

Our team of dedicated Elizabethtown car accident lawyers was recently able to obtain a $349,580.60 settlement for an Elizabethtown, KY, client who was the victim of a head-on collision while driving in Radcliff, KY.

When our clients are involved in a wreck, we fight to get them every bit of compensation they deserve, no matter how long it takes – or how difficult the insurance company is choosing to be. This client chose us to represent her after a head-on collision that completely changed her life, and we were able to secure her a settlement that was over eight times the original offer from the insurance company. This is her story.

Background

Prior to the collision, our client was a highly skilled Software Engineer who worked as a coder. She loved her work – the complex tasks and challenges made every day different. She had to strategize, use critical thinking, and determine resolutions for problems, and she was good at it. She also enjoyed riding motorcycles with her husband and spending quality time together on the roadways. They would ride together to go perform charity work for local organizations and participate in missionary work. It was something they did together and enjoyed together.

Our client was calm, cool, and collected. She was also level-headed and optimistic. Now, if you ask her, she’d tell you all of that has changed.

The Wreck

One morning in January 2020, our client was driving home after finishing a full day at work. As she went around a curve, she saw another vehicle rapidly approaching hers – on her side of the road. With no time to react, she was inevitably struck head-on by the approaching vehicle that had crossed the yellow line into her lane.

When law enforcement responded to the scene, our client was found outside of her vehicle. It was quickly discovered that after the collision, she had forced her way out of the passenger door due to the driver’s side door being crushed and jammed shut. Even though she was able to crawl through to the other side of the vehicle, our client’s injuries were severe, and she felt them all. When emergency personnel arrived, she was immediately transported to Hardin Memorial Hospital to be treated for her injuries.

While being transported to and arriving at the emergency room, our client explained she was experiencing pain in her left shoulder, left arm, left hand, and across the entirety of her left breast, as well as pain in her right knee and lower leg. Upon arrival at the emergency room, she underwent diagnostic tests that revealed a closed nondisplaced fracture of the neck, a fracture at the fifth metacarpal of the left hand, and a contusion to the left chest and shoulder.

She felt the pain all over her body, just more intense pain in certain areas. Regardless of what the diagnoses were, our client knew she was about to have to endure a long path to recovery.

The Treatment Process

After being diagnosed, our client was prescribed pain medicine and told to take a few days off of work to rest and recover. The emergency room doctors also advised her to follow up with her health care provider and an orthopedic surgeon as soon as she was able to make her way over there safely.

Two days after the incident, she went for an appointment at an orthopedic center in Elizabethtown, KY. While there, she complained of continuous hand, leg, and chest pain. Another week went by before her next appointment, in which she returned to the same facility and reported the same symptoms plus headaches and dizziness, all as a result of the wreck.

Between orthopedic appointments, our client also visited an eye doctor due to a constant headache in her left eyebrow area, as well as intense pressure in and behind her eyes. She was diagnosed with a post-traumatic headache and sent on her way.

As time went on, her headaches became a daily thing, usually originating on the right side of her face and then quickly radiating all across her head. She was getting dizzy while standing up and sitting, and was experiencing a sense of ‘information overload’ when doing simple, daily tasks, such as driving or watching TV. When visiting another eye doctor, she was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome and referred to a rehabilitation facility for continued treatment.

Life Changes

The injuries sustained from the wreck continued to affect our client’s life after the incident. Aside from the constant pain, she was also unable to work in her previous job position. Her job as a software engineer proved to be very difficult after the incident due to the continuous cognitive pain she was enduring daily. She had problems with attention, vision, and word-finding, as well as constant dizziness, anxiety, and short-term memory loss. When visiting the rehabilitation facility, she exhibited mild-high cognitive-linguistic and executive functioning impairments, which were characterized by deficits in information processing, attention to detail, working memory, self-monitoring, and strategy use – all skills needed to work efficiently as a software engineer. Our client quickly learned that she was not going to be able to perform to the extent she used to and was forced to quit her job and search for another.

Now, she works an administrative job, maintaining security for the military. Although the tasks of the position give her some sense of security, as they are more standard procedures, she does not get the same fulfillment from her new position as she did when she was a coder prior to the accident.

She also experienced personality changes due to the incident. She is now much more emotional than she used to be and finds herself bursting into tears at random times. She describes herself as negative when she used to be positive. She gets easily overwhelmed and has to have things planned out for her and those around her to give her some sense of control.

The charity work and motorcycle riding she and her husband used to do together, he now has to do without her.

The shift in her mental health, as well as her physical health, has left her feeling like she is stuck in a box and can’t get out.

Her life has forever changed.

The Case Process

Within two days of the incident, the client called us to discuss the details of the wreck and see if we could help her. Our team reviewed the information and decided to take her on as a client to ensure she got the compensation she so much deserved.

While the client was being treated for her injuries, our team immediately got to work. We were requesting documents, researching the case, and having continued discussions with the insurance companies right from the get-go. Our medical treatment coordinators ensured she had the medical appointments she needed to treat her injuries, and our records team ensured they received all medical records, bills, and other documentation from the providers and insurance companies that were necessary and relevant to the case.

Upon reviewing the insurance documentation, we determined that we could potentially secure compensation from two separate policies. One of the policies was the defendant’s liability coverage and the other was our client’s underinsured motorist coverage.

First, we went after the defendant’s liability coverage for policy limits. Her limits were set at $50k for bodily injury, and that’s exactly what we demanded our client receive. The defendant and her insurance company agreed pretty quickly, and our client was set to receive the full amount to partially cover some of her medical expenses (current and future), only getting reduced ever so slightly to $49,580.60.

After those negotiations concluded, it was time to reach out to our client’s own insurance company – which ended up being the same company as the defendant’s insurer. This time, though, the insurance company did not abide so easily.

When beginning negotiations, our client was offered only $40,000 in compensation for all of her damages. Upon receipt, our team immediately knew this was unacceptable and advised the client to reject the offer. Her medical bills alone (including the projected future medical expenses) were already approaching that amount, and she wasn’t even finished with treatment. She rejected the offer, and we kept fighting.

The insurance company continued to attempt to lessen our client’s claim, even requesting a dismissal of the claim in its entirety. This didn’t scare our team – we kept fighting and negotiating and ended up filing a lawsuit after they consistently failed to offer our client a reasonable settlement.

Finally (and rightfully), our client received a settlement offer of $300,000. This would be enough to cover her lost wages, medical bills, and other expenses she incurred due to the incident, plus some for future medical expenses and pain and suffering. Although there is never a dollar amount that can fix everything, our client was more than satisfied with the offer and therefore accepted.

Get it Done.

Our team of dedicated personal injury attorneys stands up to the insurance companies and fights for every dollar our clients deserve. Whether it be the defendant’s insurance company, or the client’s, we will do everything in our power to ensure they provide the proper compensation for all damages.

At Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers, we pride ourselves on doing exactly what needs to be done to ensure our clients can heal and focus on recovery. We won’t stop until the insurance company offers a reasonable settlement. If they don’t, we won’t hesitate to take them to court.

If you’ve been injured in a car wreck, call 800-800-4600. We will manage all communications with the insurance company so that you can focus on what really matters, getting better.

Get Hughes & Coleman, and Get it Done.