C
Chelley62
Guest
What is the name of your state? Florida
Friends were involved in a 5 vehicle car pileup. The first vehicle stopped suddenly and the second & third vehicles stopped in time & the fourth rammed right into them causing them to subsequently hit the other. My friends were in a 5th vehicle that attempted to stop but did slightly hit the 4th, an SUV, but their bumper was barely dented. The whole front end of the 4th vehicle was smashed in from them hitting the rear of 3rd car, before the 5th vehicle hit them. The folks in the first 3 cars claimed whiplash & the ambulance, cops & fire trucks all responded. The driver of the 4th vehicle stated that my friends hit her & pushed HER into the other vehicles and because they were the last in the row, it was deemed their fault & was given a ticket for driving with undo care and attention. I don’t believe anyone was killed or seriously injured in the long term in this accident. They later went to court & it was determined, based on the evidence (barely dented bumper, etc) that he was not guilty of "Driving with undo care and attention" but they COULD have been guilty of "Following too close". That was never proven however and they were subsequently never cited for anything. They are still fighting this because they were still the last in line and they later found out the 4th vehicle had no insurance and is attempting to make them the scapegoat in the collision. My friend’s insurance company hired a lawyer & they are fighting this but the other day they received a letter from their insurance company in the mail stating:
"Due to the complex issues in this accident, ie liability, uninsured motorists and the number of potential plaintiffs involved in this collision, we must advise that the claims of all parties could exceed the one million third party liability coverage that you carry with us. You should contact independent legal counsel in this regard."
Now they are concerned about having to find the money to hire additional counsel. Given that they were found not guilty of the initial ticket and no ticket was eventually charged to them, is it likely that they will need to really do this? Is this just something an insurance company normally sends to follow up with them liability wise? They are reasonably concerned about the financial considerations of hiring an additional lawyer, but don't want to be "scared" into anything. Any advice regarding this is appreciated.
Friends were involved in a 5 vehicle car pileup. The first vehicle stopped suddenly and the second & third vehicles stopped in time & the fourth rammed right into them causing them to subsequently hit the other. My friends were in a 5th vehicle that attempted to stop but did slightly hit the 4th, an SUV, but their bumper was barely dented. The whole front end of the 4th vehicle was smashed in from them hitting the rear of 3rd car, before the 5th vehicle hit them. The folks in the first 3 cars claimed whiplash & the ambulance, cops & fire trucks all responded. The driver of the 4th vehicle stated that my friends hit her & pushed HER into the other vehicles and because they were the last in the row, it was deemed their fault & was given a ticket for driving with undo care and attention. I don’t believe anyone was killed or seriously injured in the long term in this accident. They later went to court & it was determined, based on the evidence (barely dented bumper, etc) that he was not guilty of "Driving with undo care and attention" but they COULD have been guilty of "Following too close". That was never proven however and they were subsequently never cited for anything. They are still fighting this because they were still the last in line and they later found out the 4th vehicle had no insurance and is attempting to make them the scapegoat in the collision. My friend’s insurance company hired a lawyer & they are fighting this but the other day they received a letter from their insurance company in the mail stating:
"Due to the complex issues in this accident, ie liability, uninsured motorists and the number of potential plaintiffs involved in this collision, we must advise that the claims of all parties could exceed the one million third party liability coverage that you carry with us. You should contact independent legal counsel in this regard."
Now they are concerned about having to find the money to hire additional counsel. Given that they were found not guilty of the initial ticket and no ticket was eventually charged to them, is it likely that they will need to really do this? Is this just something an insurance company normally sends to follow up with them liability wise? They are reasonably concerned about the financial considerations of hiring an additional lawyer, but don't want to be "scared" into anything. Any advice regarding this is appreciated.
