I’m glad your wife was unharmed and unfazed. It sounds like your car was the victim, and for that , I’m sure you are forever thankful. With no complaints of pain mentioned, no medical connection between the bedrest and the accident, and no need for therapy or counseling, I think she made the right choice and, btw, under the circumstances you describe, there would have been no pot of gold, no “large sum of cash”. It would have never happened. Y’all didn’t forego much. To have conjured up a claim for lost wages due to the bedrest would have been a “fraudulent” claim…to use your (IMO) ill-chosen word. </p>
<p>The OP , OTOH, states that they sustained a painful and long-lasting injury. If the OP’s story is believed, and your story was told accurately, I don’t think the two stories are in any way comparable. </p>
<p>Your wife choose not to commit a fraud alleging damages that you say weren’t there. Good for her.</p>
<p>The OP wants what they consider fair compensation for what they have told us are real injuries and is asking for advice on how to get it. If you don’t believe them, fine. But I see stories like the OP’s a couple of times a week. Usually they don’t end well and I don’t think this one will either.</p>
<p>Where did you see this? The only thing I could see was a “bit of a neck injury” and nothing more. She saw a doctor once, and self treated with exercise and hot/cold packs. She makes no reference to ongoing neck injury.</p>
<p>The money she wants is for “pain and suffering” as well as the amount she would have made if she worked full time in summer. But the reason she worked part time was not due to medical limitations of her neck injury. Her doctor didn’t tell her not to work or put her on work restrictions. Her reason for working part time was due to taking a class that she dropped. While she claims she dropped due to her neck injury, she does not say whether she requested accomodations through the disabled student services or the professor. We really have no idea if she dropped the class due to the injury or due to other reasons (such as not passing the class, too much work, or other reasons.)</p>
<p>She also wants all of her bus money refunded because it costs double to take the bus than to drive. But this makes no sense because it’s almost always cheaper to ride the bus than it is to drive (gasoline, insurance, parking, car maintenance, etc, etc), and she doesn’t have a doctors order prohibiting her from driving.
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<p>Can you summarize what her real injuries were and what the fair compensation she requested for these injuries? Perhaps I missed something.</p>
<p>I personally think a few months (or 6 weeks) is “long-lasting”. (Heck, if it was me, a few weeks would be “long-lasting”. lol) And I remember a discussion of neck pain and loss of ROM. That’s good enough for my definitions. </p>
<p>I don’t recall the OP giving a damage number. Just an outline of what she attributes to the accident. I assume she thinks it’s fair. ;)</p>
<p>BTW botw, in my state your time would never be compensated under the circumstances you listed. (No loss of consortium alleged, no nursing services provided, etc.) Nor your stress if you weren’t there. </p>
<p>(In my state) After a vehicle is totaled, there is no “rent car” allowance. They owe RCMV (reasonable cash market value) of the vehicle immediately prior to the accident. That’s it.</p>
<p>The OP likely won’t get any more than the doctor’s visit paid for. Why should they? They refused the proper medical attention and instead chose to take the advice of a friend. According to the OP, the injury was apparently not significant. Now they the OP is saying it is, but it’s too late for that now. They already denied getting treated by a medical professional.</p>
<p>If a doctor told a patient they couldn’t drive for medical reasons related to the MVA, and that patient incurred reasonable alternative transportation expenses those expenses could be a recoverable element of damages for personal injury. As to those being covered for the OP since it was the suggestion of an “almost graduated” PT? Uhhhh…I wouldn’t even have the ■■■■■■■ to ask a finder of fact (judge or jury) for that at trial. </p>
<p>A rental car is an element of property damage usually recoverable for a reasonable period of time to get your car repaired.</p>
<p>I never said that she didn’t incur any injuries. Just what she wanted (cash in her pocket for expenses not related to medical treatment) were not reasonable. </p>
<p>What would have been reasonable is that if her neck continued to bother her after the initial doctor visit, her continued physical therapy should have been paid for. If her neck is continuing to bother her, continued physical therapy today may be justified at a doctors descretion. </p>
<p>It would also be reasonable for the university to provide reasonable accomodation for the class that she ended up dropping to ensure that she could complete it. Medical devices necessary to allow her to complete the class would also be reasonable costs to reimburse.</p>
<p>Bus far, in my opinion, would be a stretch because it would be less expensive to commute by bus than commute by car. If she could show that it was both medically necessary and more expensive to commute by bus, then a bus pass or bus fare might also be reasonable.</p>
<p>A few disposable hot/cold packs or one or two reusable ones would be reasonable. 84 packs at $14 dollars each ($1176) is unreasonable.</p>
<p>Compensation for imaginary lost hours at a job not held due to complications leading from a neck injury is not reasonable.</p>
<p>Amen to that…I don’t even pay that much for ice packs! My PT told me to take paper coffee cups and fill them 3/4 with water and freeze. They make dandy holders for ice massages, which are wonderful for neck pain, and it’s easy to just peel down the sides as the ice melts.</p>
<p>I truly hope the OP does NOT mention her almost graduated PT friend. This could REALLY jeopardize this PT from becoming licensed. It is a violation of their ethics to provide services for which they are NOT licensed. This could really cause an issue for the friend (who should have advised the OP to see a LICENSED PT).</p>
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