Hi everyone, (long-time lurker here using a quick-made account for this post). I’m in a difficult financial and legal situation and could really use some guidance. On November 15, 2024, I was involved in a DUI accident while working as a delivery driver (not alcohol-related). I fully acknowledge that driving under the influence was a serious mistake. The reason I ended up in that situation was that I took drugs to cope after a traumatic work incident, where someone flashed a knife behind my back the previous week. On the night of the accident, I was working with the same person again, and I made the wrong choice in handling my stress. I deeply regret my actions. Since then, I have complied with all legal and rehabilitation requirements—attending therapy, DUI courses, and adjusting my medications—and I’ve made a complete turnaround in my life. During my delivery shift, I hit another car (a 2024 Toyota Highlander), but thankfully, no one was injured. My insurance initially handled the claim, but now Wilber Group has purchased the debt from the insurance company and is demanding $25,000 from me. My Financial Situation: • I am a student and will not have a steady income for the foreseeable future. • I am on disability due to hearing impairment and mental health conditions. • I currently make $17/hour, working 24 hours per week. My Questions: 1. Can I negotiate this debt down to 10-30% of the amount owed? Since debt collectors often buy debts for less than their full value, is it realistic to settle for significantly less? 2. Can they take any of my assets or garnish my wages? Location: Minnesota, and I’ve heard there are exemption laws, but I’m unsure how they apply to my situation. 3. What is my best strategy for dealing with this debt? Would negotiating a lump sum settlement be my best option, or should I try for a payment plan? 4. Could bankruptcy help me discharge this debt? Would a DUI-related accident debt like this be wiped out under Chapter 7 bankruptcy since I have no significant assets and low income? 5. Could recent tariff increases on cars affect the amount I owe? Since the Toyota Highlander I hit was a 2024 model, and the incident happened before April 2, 2025, could the recent tariff increases on imported vehicles have inflated the amount Wilber Group is demanding? If so, how can I challenge that?

My car was hit from the side by an SUV. After getting advice from this subReddit, I opted to allow USAA to use a Toyota collision shop in their STAR network to do an inspection vs. going with a non-STAR collision center/appraiser (I still can pay for this out of pocket if needed). The consensus of this subreddit was that USAA collision centers are decent and wouldn't try to skip out on repairs just to keep estimate under the 70% threshold for totaling a vehicle (that was my concern as the car was hit near the hybrid traction battery and I believe it should be replaced) The STAR-network shop contacted me individually and is demanding me to sign full work authorization forms and power of attorney before doing an inspection/estimate. In my state, I am legally entitled to an itemized estimate before authorizing any repair work. I'm okay authorizing an initial inspection but I do not want to give full repair authorization AND assign them power of attorney before reviewing and approving

After paying $60 bucks a months for almost a year, SPOT has denied every single attempt at being reimbursed and rejected every appeal. The rejection to the appeal contained information that was absolutely not true like that the symptoms started in the 14 day waiting period, even though it was for an emergency surgery many months after we started the policy. When I asked what next steps were, since there was clearly incorrect information in the rejection, I was told there was nothing they could do. It's thousands of dollars, it's exactly what we pay insurance premiums for. It's the holidays and we are completely broke. We were counting on having this money reimbursed so that we could make rent this month. It's just pure cruelty and I don't understand how people like this sleep at night. AVOID THIS COMPANY LIKE THE PLAGUE.

My gfather took out a whole policy on my kid when she was born, then died about 10 years later and never mentioned it to me. I would get something sometimes in the mail from mass mutal but didn't know what it pertained to. Stupidly I ignored it thinking it would just cancel with non payment. Now I finally logged in and it says I have a loan going on $1700 because I guess it was paying the premium! What do I do??! Cancel it and then am I responsible for paying back???? I am the mother of the insured but had no idea he did something like this without my consent?!!

I unenrolled from snapshot because it was tracking a majority of instances where I wasn’t the driver. Do you think they will increase my insurance based on the data they have already? It’s only 14 days worth.

Hi. I have to decide whether to accept or reject a lump sum offer from long-term disability insurance. I ran some numbers and after taxes, I think the lump sum offered is equivalent to almost 9 years of monthly benefits. In this math, I reduced the monthly benefit by 35% because I think that if I turn down the lump sum, I will have to get a lawyer to help me through whatever else the insurance company will try to do to reduce or deny benefits going forward. I had to appeal a denial a few years ago and back then, disability lawyers were taking about 33-40% of benefits. (I had decided to pay a flat fee for help with the appeal only.) I became disabled at age 30 so I have quite a long ways to go and don’t know if I have the mental, emotional, and financial resources to get through another denial. I still have PTSD from that period, which was also during COVID. Even though I don’t see how I could suddenly start making money, I feel like at least the lump sum is a sure thing. If I reject it, what kinds of things will the insurance company do for the rest of my benefit period in order to balance their books? I am especially worried about extra uncertainty with SSDI. If my SSDI payments get cut, my long-term disability insurance payments are supposed to go back to the pre-SSDI amount, which is more than double what they’ve been paying since offsetting for SSDI. If this happens to a lot of people at once, what kinds of things will the insurance company do? Right now, rejecting the lump sum feels like I would be subjecting myself to a scary black box of strategies to reduce or deny my benefits. I appreciate any information that could help me make a more informed decision. Thank you!!

Hello all, I was involved in a crash Saturday night around 11PM. I was in the backseat of an uber with two friends when the uber driver allegedly ran a red light (according to the other people involved in the crash) and we got in a pretty violent accident. Luckily everyone in the uber walked away unharmed expect for me. I dislocated my finger (it was sideways after the crash) , and I walked into the hospital ER (we crashed a 5 minute walk from a big hospital in our city). I was treated and had it put back into place, and now have a follow up tomorrow. I am expecting this will continue to affect me for months. I am a student, starting grad school to become a physician assistant in August. This is going to affect me in school as I will struggle to type and struggle to be able to learn the hands on clinical skills for at least first first part of the semester. This has so far been extremely painful and I am only beginning to know the extent of medical treatment I will need and recovery timeline. This was also an extremely traumatizing and upsetting experience for me. After the accident, police were called and they spoke to me and the other riders at the hospital. I also believe the other people in the crash filed a report too. When I got home from the ER I spoke with uber and reported everything and their insurance is supposed to reach out to me. I already provided my ER discharge papers and pictures of the injury. What are the next steps here? Do I just wait to hear from uber? Also, what are my chances of receiving real compensation for my pain and suffering (like a couple thousand? Or should I expect less than that?) Thank you

What am I missing here? It looks like Anthem BCBS is acknowledging my provider is in-network and then processing it as out-of-network. * Provider has been processed as in-network for visits both before and after the visit in question, always with a $30 copay and no balance. This was another routine, non-emergency visit with the exact same provider. * EOB clearly says in big bold print that "Going to this doctor uses in-network benefits" and elsewhere has the words "(in your plan)" after the provider's name. * EOB shows no copay, a portion applied to my deductible, and a balance in the "Your total cost" column. * EOB gives a reason code: "015: The amount shown here is more than your plan allows for this care. If this was not an emergency, the doctor/facility might bill you for the difference between what your plan allowed and what the doctor/facility charged." How is this possible for an in-network provider? It seems this EOB is just contradictory on its face. I've been trying to get them to fix it, but haven't had any success yet. Any advice?

I’m going to lose my mind. I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack. I have Aetna, yet I still owe $6000 on an er visit after I had complications with my gallbladder surgery. I haven’t even gotten the bill for my surgery yet. I literally cannot afford this. Insurance is through my work and I didn’t have a choice. My deductible is 6000 and yeah I’ve MET that now, but I still can’t afford $6000!!! Why is health insurance in the us so bad. I’m literally going to cry Is there ANYTHING I can do to lower my bill? I called the hospital and they couldn’t do anything to help

I have received a debit card from OnePay by mail. I didn’t register for their service. It looked fishy to me, but I called their customer service, they requested my last 4 SSN and date of birth to investigate. I insisted them to check if there exist such an account without that info but no luck. I was hesitant to provide my sensitive info. The card is issued by Coastal Community Bank. Should I call the bank instead? Does anyone have similar experience? Planning to report it to FTC and local police. Have already security freeze on file for all credit bureaus for years. Have also checked ChexSystems report, but shows no activity. But this has happened. Thanks