Clea

Clea’s daughter couldn’t see that the drive thru was really a ledge about two feet above the parking lot. There was no curb or warning sign. She drove right off. Clea flew up and hit her head on the roof and window of the car. When she slammed back into the seat, pain shot up through her hips.

And the agony persisted, for weeks and months. Clea’s job was active. She couldn’t take much time off. The pain came to dominate her life.

Ultimately, x-rays showed that the muscles in her hips were torn. Her hips would rotate out, leaving her off balance. She fell a lot.

Once she broke her wrist. But she wasn’t interested in suing the insurance company.

“I thought the insurance company would be fair with me. Right at the beginning I told them that we could settle things and I wouldn’t sue,” she says. But after two years of excruciating pain, the insurance company told her that they were through paying for medical bills and offered her $600 for pain and suffering and future medical expenses.

“That was their top offer and they wouldn’t budge off it. I was in such pain that I couldn’t even wear pants–I couldn’t bear the pressure on my hips. I wore dresses every day. I couldn’t sleep at night. But they insisted on giving me $600 and closing the case.”

They pressured me. They called me, they sent me letters, they sent me papers to sign to close the case. I felt so frustrated. It had been a couple of years for them, they were tired of paying medical bills, but I wasn’t healed.

“I have a son who’s an attorney in Oregon, and he said, ‘Mom, you really need to get an attorney, because they’ll work with an attorney.'”

“After I got an attorney, they didn’t call me anymore. Everything went through Tom. That was a relief.”

“And it’s funny. If they had worked with me, I would have settled for a lot less money. I had no idea what amount I needed to ask for. That’s a really hard thing. Tom helped me show my expenses beyond my medical bills, lost wages, money I’ll need for medical care in the future.”

Many people worry about how much a lawyer costs. Clea says, “The lawyer’s fees and the cost of the things he does do come out of your settlement, but I did a lot better with an attorney than I ever would have done on my own, even if the insurance company would have worked with me.”

“Even after the costs were deducted, I was surprised at my settlement. The insurance company agreed to pay everything we asked for. I was able to pay the chiropractor back. I’m retired now and I’m not doing the kind of work that aggravates the problem, but once in a while still my hip will go out, and I can pay for my visits. And I bought a chair that massages my back and hip so I’m able to keep up.”