Lawsuit (insurance, vehicles, 2015, air bag)

[Liliya73]

I know that every situation is different,but maybe someone can tell me if this is possible.???
My daughter got in a car accident last August, Thanks you Lord! her and her sister were ok,it was her fault, she turned left and guy in a truck hit them.Anyway this guy suing us for 250,000.
I got a letter from my insurance company saying that our liability protection up to 100,000. So, if a verdict is rendered in excess of the policy's 100,000 we will be personally liable for the excess amount.
Maybe someone was in this kind of situation and knows what we should expect?
My daughter was 17 at that time.
Any thoughts???
Thanks!

[TheViking85]

What is he suing for exactly? Quick money or actual costs because of the crash?

[sailordave]

Let's see,...your daughter was in a car and he was in a truck. Sounds like he's trying to get a quick payday. Depending on the state, all he's entitled to is the blue book value of the truck at the time of the accident and any possible medical bills which shouldn't be hardly anything at all if he was buckled in. Did he even bother to try to work with your insurance prior to running to a ambulance chasing lawyer?

[Liliya73]

Originally Posted by TheViking85

What is he suing for exactly? Quick money or actual costs because of the crash?

He claims that he got a lot of injuries,his car was damaged and also his wife lost the love and consortium of him.

[Liliya73]

Originally Posted by sailordave

Let's see,...your daughter was in a car and he was in a truck. Sounds like he's trying to get a quick payday. Depending on the state, all he's entitled to is the blue book value of the truck at the time of the accident and any possible medical bills which shouldn't be hardly anything at all if he was buckled in. Did he even bother to try to work with your insurance prior to running to a ambulance chasing lawyer?

Yes,they were in Honda civic and he was in Ford truck.
I am not sure if he tried to work it out with insurance.
His injuries: his upper and lower back,wrist,right shoulder,burns from air bags,
Do you think my insurance should investigate and see if part of it was his fault? like maybe speed limit? was he buckled?
I just do not know what to think.
I feel like he is trying to get easy money.

[jackmccullough]

You need to be in touch with your carrier right away and make sure they're going to defend you.

[Liliya73]

Originally Posted by jackmccullough

You need to be in touch with your carrier right away and make sure they're going to defend you.

They are going to defend us,what bothers me that if it more then 100,000 then rest of it on us. Do you think they can get more then 100,000 in this case?
Sorry,I just really upset.

[SpeedyAZ]

Originally Posted by Liliya73

I know that every situation is different,but maybe someone can tell me if this is possible.???
My daughter got in a car accident last August, Thanks you Lord! her and her sister were ok,it was her fault, she turned left and guy in a truck hit them.Anyway this guy suing us for 250,000.
I got a letter from my insurance company saying that our liability protection up to 100,000. So, if a verdict is rendered in excess of the policy's 100,000 we will be personally liable for the excess amount.
Maybe someone was in this kind of situation and knows what we should expect?
My daughter was 17 at that time.
Any thoughts???
Thanks!

Ok first thing is to remain calm, give any and all papers to your insurance company. This is why you've been paying ridiculous premiums is because something like this can happen- and now it has. They will provide you with a lawyer that will fight on your behalf to win...the insurance company doesn't want to pay out any money more than you do.

Now because he is suing for OVER your policy limits, you would be liable for any amount over the judgement. Most judges aren't going to make a private individual pay an amount in excess of your policy limits UNLESS this person has medical bill that prove it is necessary. Will he get $250K? Very doubtful. Would you be responsible for $150K if he did? Unfortunately yes.

[texdav]

Most likely he is looking for your insurance to settle with him a amoun that they have not agreed to. its likely they have decided to not settle at this time because he wants more than offfered.Read your poicy it will tell you that they will defend the case.Many accidents are not 100% per cent one parties fault. When they settle between insurance they agree to a settlement most often one party take fault. In a suit it statrs 50/50 and is dediced on a per centage bases of fault. That is why a intersection with a flashing red and a flashing yellow alto both have fault( yellow mean enter with caution) ;the flashing reds insurance is going to pay the damages if reasonable.Most police accident forms have contributing factors and inlude falsh yellow as one, That is all the police actually do is list factors and issue tickets fo clear violation. Who pays is upto insurance or a suit. B9th insurance can accept the officers opinion if they want asfar as liabilty they cover.Your insurance is going to defend the case ;rad your policy on that.Its bery likely that it will drag on for years also as he is likely looking for a settlement especailly his attorney.Your insurance company has experts that will look at the case and that they didn't offer their maximum is a indication what they think.It can go to a jury on danages but a judge could correct the amount if excessive by the jury.(0+ per cent the case will be settled and at lower than insured amount from statistic. It wouldn't like go to couret for yearas and then if a high amountthe isurance sees as unreasonable will be apppealed.That si why most are settled because it can takes years .

[jtur88]

Don't worry about it. If his opening suit is for 250K, there is no way in hell a court is going to award him even half of that. You insurance company doesn't want to pay anywhere near 100K to this guy, and they will be in there busting their butt to keep the settlement down to a lot less than that.

One possible strategy (but get better advice than mine before you do this) would be to contact the guy's lawyer and say "If you will settle for 99K, we won't even testify in our own defense". They'll take it and run, and your insurer will pay it all. That might even be what they want you to do, and they've already thought of that themselves, and will make an offer of the lesser amount later, now that they've got you running scared. The ambulance-chaser wants his 40% of the settlement, and he'll be happy if he can get 40K for an hour's work. You might even go for a kickback from the lawyer, but that would smell a lot like insurance fraud, so watch out for that.

By the way, if both vehicles were moving at the time of the crash, there will almost always be partial fault on both drivers, even if one was ticketed for a moving violation. Unless there was an obvious infraction like unlicensed driver, DUI, act of terrorism, or something like that. In general, in most states, courts rule that simply by being in your car in a public street puts you partially responsible for any accident.