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I'll also correct my initial post because it turns out the family member I referenced actually has $100K coverage (per person) with $300K being the maximum per accident (I assume $100K x 3 people).
In the event of a serious accident - $100K coverage per person just doesn't seem like a lot to me at all.
[quote=twingles;26112670
And yes, your personal assets are at risk. Let's say you hit and kill someone who just graduated from MIT and had a bright future ahead of them. Let's say they lingered in the hospital for a month before they succumbed. You're going to be on the hook for both their future earnings based on actuarial table (so in this case a good 50+ years of earnings) plus their "pain and suffering" while in the hospital (4 weeks is a long time but I had a case where the woman was there for 6 before she passed unexpectedly). That's a whole lotta money. You have 1 million umbrella and $250K underlying. Probably not going to be enough. The plaintiff attorney will do an asset check on you to see if it's worth it to go after you personally or just take the money and run. That's what happened in the case I mentioned above where the guy had to chip in. He was a hugely successful doctor living in a $1.5 mil house (a lot at that time) and had a ton of assets.[/quote]
This is a punitive damage situation and is very rare. The only way a judge would make you pay for the future earnings if you were a REPEAT DWI offender or something where gross negligence could be established. In a case where only negligence is established, you would NEVER get hit with this kind of a suit.
Not looking for legal advise here - just looking to educate myself on auto liability insurance in New York State and personal exposure beyond a policies liability limit.
Let's say that I have an auto policy with a 300K liability limit and that I get into an accident where I am determined to be at fault. The accident results in severe bodily harm to several other individuals in the other car and they all bring lawsuits against me - which total well beyond my 300K liability limit. Assuming the other parties win - my insurance company covers me up to 300K - and I'm on the hook for the rest - right? Can they come after my personal assets? The equity in my 1/2 of our home (I'm assuming they can't touch the equity in my wife's 1/2 of our home if I'm the one being sued), my IRA? bank accounts? 401K? my cars?
I happen to have a 1M liability limit - but a family member (with two teenage boys driving in the household) chose a 300K limit because they were told that it was unlikely that they would ever get sued beyond their policy limit - and even if they were they could never lose their house. While not a lawyer - I did not agree with what they were told.
Thanks in advance for your comments all...
Attorneys who take auto accident cases usually work on contingency. The vast majority of the time they will stick to suing within the policy limits, a known quantity which is available upon winning the case, because they do not want to spend years of their lives racking up non-billable hours chasing after someone's personal assets unless that someone has considerable personal assets that are also not well protected AND there is gross negligence. Contingency case attorneys have a certain amount of time and effort they are willing to exert factored into the cases they accept. They usually look at a potential case basing the maximum they can win on the maximum insurance company payout available.
This is a punitive damage situation and is very rare. The only way a judge would make you pay for the future earnings if you were a REPEAT DWI offender or something where gross negligence could be established. In a case where only negligence is established, you would NEVER get hit with this kind of a suit.
Not true. It wasn't a DWI case in fact it happened during a snowstorm and there was negligence on the plaintiff. She was standing on the side of a highway during a blizzard.
Yes it's rare but it does happen.
I know someone else - a relative - who had to chip in and it wasn't a punitive situation. Simple head on collision in the middle of the day where one party lost control of the car. Nothing wanton or reckless about it, no drugs or alcohol.
Attorneys who take auto accident cases usually work on contingency. The vast majority of the time they will stick to suing within the policy limits, .
Again not true. It costs them the same amount of time and money to sue someone for $300K as it does to sue for 3 million. You're filing a piece of paper in the state Supreme Court. You still have to file a bill of particulars and go thru all the steps if it doesn't settle. The dollar amount is simply meant to panic people. Again, most suits are settled outside of court and the jury is not made aware of how much insurance a person carries or who the carrier is if it does go to court.
Again not true. It costs them the same amount of time and money to sue someone for $300K as it does to sue for 3 million. You're filing a piece of paper in the state Supreme Court. You still have to file a bill of particulars and go thru all the steps if it doesn't settle. The dollar amount is simply meant to panic people. Again, most suits are settled outside of court and the jury is not made aware of how much insurance a person carries or who the carrier is if it does go to court.
Sure the initial lawsuit filing is in the millions for the smallest thing. Like you said, to panic/scare the Defendant. However, in the back of their minds, when it comes time to settle, contingency attorneys are counting on what the insurance policy limits are more often than not.
I hit an older woman crossing the street. I had the green light and proceeded to make a left turn into an intersection. It was around 9am and the sun was blaring in my eyes. I literally took my foot off the brake and began to enter the intersection and proceed left. The sun then became blocked and I saw this woman in front of my car. I stopped, she put 2 hands on the hood of my car, looked at me and my elderly mother who was in the passenger seat, and plopped herself down on the ground. To this day, I'm not sure I actually hit her.
Anyways, she had little to no injuries and EMS was not going to take her to the hospital. She insisted she was hurt and demanded to go to the ER.
Fast forward about 3 YEARS later, we get served with court papers and sued for 5 million. Yep. 5 million dollars.
Her lawyer filed the suit 2 days before the statute of limitations was to expire.
Fast forward 3 years after that, I had to give a deposition with my Allstate attorney and the plaintiff's attorney.
Trial was to start shortly after.
2 Days after the deposition, Allstate settled with her for 100K (the limit on the policy).
Allstate was with us every step of the way.
We were afraid at first when we saw the 5 million dollar number. Our attorney (allstate) told us that 99% of the time there is a settlement for the insurance limit.
Not looking for legal advise here - just looking to educate myself on auto liability insurance in New York State and personal exposure beyond a policies liability limit.
Let's say that I have an auto policy with a 300K liability limit and that I get into an accident where I am determined to be at fault. The accident results in severe bodily harm to several other individuals in the other car and they all bring lawsuits against me - which total well beyond my 300K liability limit. Assuming the other parties win - my insurance company covers me up to 300K - and I'm on the hook for the rest - right? Can they come after my personal assets? The equity in my 1/2 of our home (I'm assuming they can't touch the equity in my wife's 1/2 of our home if I'm the one being sued), my IRA? bank accounts? 401K? my cars?
I happen to have a 1M liability limit - but a family member (with two teenage boys driving in the household) chose a 300K limit because they were told that it was unlikely that they would ever get sued beyond their policy limit - and even if they were they could never lose their house. While not a lawyer - I did not agree with what they were told.
Thanks in advance for your comments all...
If your children are over 18, I don't think their liability would extend to you/your assets. Under 18, I'd consider talking to my agent about a umbrella policy for the household. That would provide liability coverage in excess of the policy limit of any specific policy.
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