[ryanackley]

I'm confused by this comment because there is an entire industry (personal injury attorneys) dedicated to extracting every dollar possible from the insurance company when an accident happens.

I've personally known at least five people who have been in a car accident and then received a windfall of cash after paying off their medical bills and having their car repaired/replaced.

I don't know if this is still the case but years ago my friend, who was in a collision with a drunk driver, was told by his attorney that the insurance will just settle for 3x your total expenses (medical, car repairs, etc). He was being encouraged by his attorney to see chiropractors and specialists because of this.

[tehwebguy]

Are you talking about $30k or $10M though?

I think GP was talking about permanent, life altering injuries that require medical care until the (early) end.

The highest minimum injury coverage states in the US are still like $50k per person meaning complying with insurance law still leaves the most seriously injured victims (or their medical insurer) in the hole unless the at fault driver (if applicable) can pay.

[botacode]

Yes, this. I got 50k and will never be made whole for my acute or lifelong pain.

I had an ace attorney who told me there were no assets to recover beyond the insurance settlement at the minimum limit provided.

My health insurer at the time later tried to take the settlement from me via predatory collections tactics, and I was only able to keep it due to California state laws that protected me if I wasn't made whole (I wasn't hit there but am a citizen of the state).

Most accidents are caused by folks on the lower end of the SES spectrum so a very large number of victims end up like me.

You also don't hear that much of our stories because the dead and the maimed often tell no tales / it's unpleasant to hear. Many settlements also require silence.