Specific details and identifying information has been changed in order to protect the confidentiality of the settlement agreement.
What seemed to be minor injuries resulting from a motorcycle accident turned into much more for our 45-year-old client Mr. G, who suffered from delayed onset injury.
A month after his accident, Mr. G noticed his right shoulder was not getting better. With mounting medical bills and no help from insurance, unfortunately Mr. G’s case is all too typical for motorcycle accident injury cases.
The Motorcycle Accident
Mr. G was riding his bike down the road, enjoying the weather when a woman in a brand new silver SUV, two lanes over, realized she had missed her left turn. She pulled hard on her steering wheel to get over, swerving her vehicle from the far right lane to try to make her turn. Instead of making a left turn, she crashed her vehicle into our client, and into the center turning lane.
Mr. G was thrown from his motorcycle, thankfully protected by his helmet and padding, able to walk away from the accident with what appeared to be minor injuries. His bike was not so fortunate it was completely totaled.
Still, Mr. G was grateful to be alive – he’d seen accidents like this with other riders and knew how bad it could have been.
The only thing that bothered him, besides the wrecked bike, was the pain in his right shoulder where he’d hit the ground. With time and rest, Mr. G thought it would get better but it didn’t – the pain continued and got worse.
When his right shoulder seemed to not be healing, he knew he had a problem.
Mr. G went to his doctor to find out what was going on and scans revealed several right rotator cuff tears and a bicep tendon tear. Mr. G was told that it can only get worse over time and that he needed surgery. And as much as he wanted to get it done, he knew that he couldn’t afford the lost time from his business.
There was just no way he could be out of work for 6-8 weeks while recovering from shoulder surgery. He didn’t have employees who could help him and he owned his own home so he tried every non-operative option available. Many were considered experimental by his insurance company and they wouldn’t cover his claims.
To make matters worse, the hospital bills started to arrive in the mail.
The cost of his emergency care was so high that the bills ate up almost half of the money he could get through the at-fault insurance within the $50,000 policy limit. This meant that after the hospital was paid for his care, there wouldn’t be enough money left over to cover the surgery, let alone compensate him for lost wages, pain and suffering resulting from his motorcycle accident.
Out of options, out of patience, and running out of money, Mr. G knew he had to do something before his life spiraled out of control.
That’s when Silkman Law Firm Injury & Accident Lawyer got involved.
On the advice of a close friend, Mr. G contacted us to help him deal with his case. He was anxious about the process and wanted to make sure that we were going to be able to take care of him.
Starting with his free case review, we were able to help Mr. G understand exactly how we would pursue his case and the kind of results we thought we could help him achieve.
We began gathering all of Mr. G’s insurance information and discovered he had an underinsured policy on his work truck. Working with his orthopedist, we put together a demand package to the at-fault insurance carrier that was based solely on future medical bills and lost wages.
The Settlement
At the time we submitted a demand package, Mr. G had not had the surgery and was unsure if he would be able to based on the financial complications of the situation.
Through our experience in cases like this and our persistence in dealing with insurance companies, we were able help Mr. G secure the entire $50,000 policy limits from the at-fault insurance company.
Ultimately we secured the entire amount available within the underinsured policy limits the client had on the policy covering his work truck.
After that we went to work on reducing the outstanding medical bills, securing arrangements with medical providers to bring the outstanding expense amounts down so that Mr. G can get on with his life.
When all was said and done, Mr. G had the money he needed to pay his outstanding medical bills and his surgery. He had enough in reserve to cover his personal expenses, including his mortgage, while he recovered from surgery.
Today Mr. G is back on the road, enjoying his bike and his life.
Sometimes it takes a few days or weeks for the true extent of injury to be known.
If you’ve been involved in a motorcycle accident and are suffering delayed onset injury, it can cost you in lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering.
It’s time to get the help you deserve.
If you or a family member has experienced a motorcycle accident injury, you don’t have to handle it alone.
Contact us or call Silkman Law Firm Injury & Accident Lawyer at 602-535-5899 today for a free case consultation.
