Q: I was rear-ended w/minimal damage, went 2 ER. Other parties ins has denied paymt 4 medical bills $3000 offered $1000.

A: You have left out many details of the accident and your injuries:

Is the minimal damage to the car or to you, or both? If medical care was $3,000, you are entitled for those to be paid by the other party's insurance, assuming he or she was at fault in the accident. Your "damages" are calculated by the extent of your injuries. Often insurance companies downplay injuries in a "minimal" accident, even though some small accidents can create bad injuries like neck and back sprains and strains, and worse.

You should try to counter the $1,000 and come back with a demand for $3,000. The insurance company will probably fight you on this, but you have two choices:

You could go to small claims court and request $5,000 in damages; or

You could hire an attorney to represent you, but the attorney would get 30 or 40% of your recovery.

Since I don't have many details, this advice is based only on what I could glean from your short statement of facts. And, remember, in California, there is a two-year statute of limitations on these cases, so you must either settle or file suit before two years are up.

Good Luck.

A: Sue in Small Claims or get a PI attorney. If meds are $3k, you could request up to the jurisdictional limit of $10k, although I doubt you would get that much.

A: You should consult with a personal injury lawyer to at least make sure what they are doing is fair. They DON'T want to give you anything if they can help it and don't have to be fair to you. Please just remember that you have to pay back your medical provider even if it's Kaiser or Medi-Cal. They don't tell you that and somtimes people get into trouble without knowing that.. good luck to you.