[Question] Do I need to find a lawyer?

Gared

Gared

Ok, so almost 3 years ago I was the at-fault driver in a chain reaction car accident on I-5. The driver in front of me slammed on his brakes, I slammed on mine, the road was a little damp, and I rear-ended his car, pushing him into the car in front of him.

Everyone was ambulatory, everyone declined medical attention, the police were called, we traded insurance information, and away we went. I just got a letter in the mail from my former insurance company (I switched a while after the accident) explaining that they've received a settlement request from the attorney of the person whose car was immediately in front of mine at the time of the accident which is in excess of the amount covered by insurance. The insurance company doesn't think that the claim merits the damages requested, and the agent is attempting to talk the settlement amount down, but if they fail to do so, I will be on the hook for what I assume is the entire amount of the settlement above the coverage amount of my previous insurance policy.

Do I need to find a lawyer?
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

This kind of happened to me a while ago and my insurance company hired an attorney to handle it for me. The lawsuit went on without my knowledge because I had moved out of state for 11 months or so (!!!) It ultimately ended up in arbitration and I still don't know the outcome, other than I haven't been asked for any money. So you may want to see what your insurance company will cover in terms of an attorney on your behalf.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Some quick research dug up the following:
First of all, if you have insurance, the insurance company is required to provide a defense for you. They will hire an attorney, and make all decisions with regard to the defense, including whether or not to settle the case.

If you have liability, then you will pay a deductible amount according to your insurance contract. If they sue and get a judgment for more than your insurance contract amount (or the limit of liability) then you pay the deductible, insurance pays their limit of liability, and you pay whatever the judgment is beyond the limit of liability. Some people carry an umbrella policy or excess policy to cover any excess judgment.
Click to expand...
However, I also found others who said:
a claim with the insurance company of the driver who caused the accident [must be filed] within 30 days of when the accident occurred to proceed with a lawsuit. You should have obtained insurance information from that driver at the scene of the accident. Once the claim is open, you have 3 years to sue the insurance company.
Click to expand...
If you are suing for personal injury, pain and suffering and lost wages, you will have a hard time proving your case if you did not receive medical attention immediately after the accident.
Click to expand...
If this is going to be a case of that driver's insurance company filing suit against your insurance company in order to recover their costs, then I could see the lawyer you hire needing to sue your insurance company (on your behalf) for failing to sue the insurance company of the guy who hit you in order to recover damages on your behalf.

Bleah. Yes, go consult with a lawyer.

--Patrick
 
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Gared

Gared

Oh, and the letter that the other driver's insurance sent my former insurance company? If it weren't about a possible case against me, it would be hilarious. They're attempting to file a settlement claim for pain and suffering due to injuries sustained in the accident, which the attorney claims were never treated in any way - after which he provides copious amounts of information about all of the treatment his client sought and received, but never sought or received because he didn't have health insurance and couldn't get time off of work, but here are all of his medical bills, so pay now please or we'll sue.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

So what it sounds like (in my opinion?) is that they're throwing something together before the statute runs out, and they're not making a solid case because it'll be easier to settle than to take it to court (and they know that), and basically your former insurance company is saying your insurance coverage was not sufficient to meet their usual "settle and cave" threshold.
Of course, that also begs whether it will be worthwhile for them to sue you to recover any overage if the court costs would exceed it to do so, but yes, of course you should ask a lawyer.

--Patrick
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

...And this is why my car insurance covers me for €100.000.000 per damage, and unlimited for injuries/medical bills/wounded. Fuck off, if I'm paying you guys through the nose anyway, I sure as hell am not paying one cent no matter how much it's my fault.

Also, I have the impression that, indeed, they're just throwing stuff to see what sticks in the hopes of getting as big a settlement as possible out of your insurance company, so a lawyer might be able to avoid any higher costs on your end.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Heh, I read the title of this thread to the same tune as "Do you want to build a snowman?" It has the exact same syllables in all the right places.

Do I need to find a lawyer?
Do I need to sue his ass?
I haven't been libel anymore.
Here's a court order
And sue his life awaaaaaay.
 
Gared

Gared

And the answer is: Yes, yes I do. Or rather, my former insurance company is finding one for me. The guy that I hit settled with the insurance company, seems he just couldn't quite justify needing $50k for pain and suffering when he turned down medical treatment multiple times and had public social media accounts of how much time he was spending in the gym every day. But the guy in front of the guy I hit (chain reaction) did file a lawsuit. We're hoping it's easy to settle, since they never filed a claim, never contacted my insurance company, never provided them with any information and, in fact, never bothered to tell the insurance company that they were filing a lawsuit (we had to go out and look to discover that they filed it on the absolute last possible day to file before the statute of limitations ran out), so this could be a very interesting fall.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Yikes. I hate that people can just do that. Like the idiot who wanted to sue me because he got called a free ranged chicken.
 
Gared

Gared

At least I have plenty of time to wonder how this is going to go... apparently the case isn't scheduled to go before a judge until 9/14/2015.
 
Jay

Jay

Fellow Canadians, this is why you make sure you're 100% insured every time you step on US soil.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

I have to say, I'm very interested to see how this plays out. I can't think that filing on the last possible day the statute allows is some kind of fluke.

--Patrick
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

ThatNickGuy said:
Heh, I read the title of this thread to the same tune as "Do you want to build a snowman?" It has the exact same syllables in all the right places.

Do I need to find a lawyer?
Do I need to sue his ass?
I haven't been libel anymore.
Here's a court order
And sue his life awaaaaaay.
Click to expand...
I thought I had insurance
Apparently not
I wish someone would tell me whyyyyyyy

Do I need to find a lawyer?
(Does it have to be a lawyer?)
"We're suing you, dude!"
Okay byeeee....

*Instrumental*

Do I need to find a lawyer?
Or do I settle out of court?
I think the hearing date is overdue
I've started posting to
My forum for support!
(Hang in there, Gared!)

It gets a little boring
All these torts and claims
Just waiting for my court date
(Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock)

*Instrumental*

Hey lawyer?
I know you're in there
People are asking where you've been
They say go find him
And I'm trying to
Our court date is due
Just let me in

I didn't hit that guy's car
Just the car in front
What am I going to do?

Do I need to change my lawyer?
 
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Gared

Gared

Randomly got a call from the insurance claims department for the accident involved in this suit back in October telling me that the plaintiff was attempting to settle for an amount lower than my maximum, so hopefully this will go away.
 
Gared

Gared

Oh, and now I can't read the title to this thread without singing it to the tune of "Do you want to build a snowman?".
 
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