Being sued. Please help.

[syadlov]

What is the name of your state? NY
About a month ago my car was hit by a driver of corporate vehicle. It was entirely his fault and just yesterday my repair bill was paid for in full by my insurance co. (geico).
Now the corporate owner of the car is seeking more than $1000 from me personally for the repairs done to their car and threatening to sue me if I don't comply. They have the gall to claim that it was MY negligence that caused the crash.
Can they do that? And what should I do next?
Please help.

 

[JETX]

Can they do that?

Of course they can.

And what should I do next?

Tell them to talk with your insurance company. And if they sue you, notify your insurance company.

 

[alnorth]

What is the name of your state? NY
About a month ago my car was hit by a driver of corporate vehicle. It was entirely his fault and just yesterday my repair bill was paid for in full by my insurance co. (geico).
Now the corporate owner of the car is seeking more than $1000 from me personally for the repairs done to their car and threatening to sue me if I don't comply. They have the gall to claim that it was MY negligence that caused the crash.
Can they do that? And what should I do next?
Please help.

This is why you bought insurance. Call your insurance company, tell them the accident was not your fault and you are now being threatened with a lawsuit, and give them all the information you have on the other driver and the corporate owner.

If your insurance company agrees with you, they will tell the other party that your not at fault and they are denying the claim. If they carry on with their threat to sue, your insurance company will offer a settlement and/or provide a lawyer if necessary to defend you.

Your liability coverage for property damage should be well above $1,000, so in the worst case scenario where you are found to be at-fault, your insurance company will pay.

 

[syadlov]

Thank you guys for the timely responses .
That corporation has my insurance info already. It's written on the police report. Is there a law that would preclude them from threatening and /or suing me? Can they (or anyone) file a frivolous lawsuit like that just out of spite?
Do you think that I should write a response letter asking that corporation to "cease and desist " any further communication with me?

 

[You Are Guilty]

Thank you guys for the timely responses .
That corporation has my insurance info already. It's written on the police report. Is there a law that would preclude them from threatening and /or suing me? Can they (or anyone) file a frivolous lawsuit like that just out of spite?
Do you think that I should write a response letter asking that corporation to "cease and desist " any further communication with me?

No. Yes. No.

Good luck.

 

[alnorth]

Thank you guys for the timely responses .
That corporation has my insurance info already. It's written on the police report. Is there a law that would preclude them from threatening and /or suing me? Can they (or anyone) file a frivolous lawsuit like that just out of spite?
Do you think that I should write a response letter asking that corporation to "cease and desist " any further communication with me?

Its not really frivolous in the corp's eyes, obviously their employee had a change of heart, didnt want to admit to wrecking the company car, and told his employer that you were at fault. They either havent bothered to call your insurance, or your insurance company is refusing to pay, either way they can still sue you. Your insurance will defend you, because they would be on the hook if you lose.

 

[syadlov]

I guess a phone call to my insurance co. is in order. I'll let you guys know the outcome. Thank you all for the suggestions.

 

[syadlov]

I guess a phone call to my insurance co. is in order. I'll let you guys know the outcome. Thank you all for the suggestions.

Well ,here's a follow up.
The person that threatened to sue me has yet to act upon his promise. Who knows , maybe he died or something (good riddance anyway).
But now I have a new problem. The other drivers ins.co. owes me some rental reimbursement money and it's been over a month since I've submitted the copy of the bill (over $1000). I (stupidly) did not have any rental coverage with my own ins. co. , so now I'm at the mercy of Allstate (other drivers' insurer). How long should it take to get get a rental bill settlement? As far as my ins. co. is concerned , the matter's been closed , but Allstate claims that there're "conversations that need to take place with my ins. co." (their words). Allstate has the subrogation pkg. from my insurer , they have the copies of the rental bill , and yet they keep feeding me the bull sh-t about "settling with geico".
What "settlement" are they talking about? Should I be filing a complaint with the insurance department ombudsman?
Once again , any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[GulfBreeze]

Well ,here's a follow up.
The person that threatened to sue me has yet to act upon his promise. Who knows , maybe he died or something (good riddance anyway).
But now I have a new problem. The other drivers ins.co. owes me some rental reimbursement money and it's been over a month since I've submitted the copy of the bill (over $1000). I (stupidly) did not have any rental coverage with my own ins. co. , so now I'm at the mercy of Allstate (other drivers' insurer). How long should it take to get get a rental bill settlement? As far as my ins. co. is concerned , the matter's been closed , but Allstate claims that there're "conversations that need to take place with my ins. co." (their words). Allstate has the subrogation pkg. from my insurer , they have the copies of the rental bill , and yet they keep feeding me the bull sh-t about "settling with geico".
What "settlement" are they talking about? Should I be filing a complaint with the insurance department ombudsman?
Once again , any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

how long did you have the rental...$1,000? even if you had rental coverage, and i have geico as well...they only cover so much. they will cover till the car is repaired or check for totaled car is issued...up to so many days. and then there is usually a limit. mine is $600 but i could have chosen the $750 coverage. they pay on mine up to $25 a day (covers small car at geico's discounted daily rate)...if i choose a big car or go past the days, i am responsible for the remaining part of the bill. i cant imagine that the other insurance will give you the whole $1,000 even if they agree to. good luck

 

[ecmst12]

If you rented a very expensive car, the other insurance may not cover all of it, but if you rented a reasonably priced car, and did not get extra insurance on it, then the other insurance company should absolutely cover 100% of the charges. It's not the same as rental coverage with your OWN insurance company; there you have a contract with them to only cover so much. When someone else damages you, they have to pay ALL the cost to make you whole, including the entire rental bill. The only reason they wouldn't pay it all is if you got extra insurance, or if you had the rental for more days then it took to get your car repaired. But this has nothing to do with the problem you are having.

The relevant part is this - Allstate must settle with Geico before they can settle with you, or really at the same time. They can't make payments until they have an agreed-upon amount with all parties. And it's not even clear that they've accepted liability. All you can do is call Geico and ask them what the status is. They are rather persistent with subrogation so they should be pursuing regularly.

 

[syadlov]

Thank you , ecmst12 and Gulfbreeze for the replies.
I had the rental for almost 40 days @ abou $28 a day , so the car was not a luxury one.
As far as not getting the whole amount of the bill returned , I'm prepared for that but even $750 or so is better than nothing(((
Ecmst12
The problem with both Geico and Allstate is that they both claim to not being able to get each other on the phone ,I mean in this day and age to use that lame excuse... As far as I knew , once the subrogation is done , it's over. I guess the joke is on me.
How much longer do you think I should wait till filing an official complain? And what IS a reasonable amount of time for the rental settlement?

 

[ecmst12]

Subrogation is usually not a speedy process; it's usually a low priority activity since the repairs are already done or settlement made and it's just a matter of the insurance company getting their money back. Geico may be able to help expedite, but if you understood the sheer volume of work that comes across an insurance adjuster's desk, then you might understand why it takes so long. At my company, we have ONE subrogation representative for the ENTIRE office, which is 3 or 4 different sub-companies and 10-12 states! Geico and Allstate might not be quite so short staffed, but quick settlement usually isn't considered important for these cases.

 

[syadlov]

ecmst12
So , in your opinion , waiting for as long as I have ( approx. 7 weeks and counting) is normal? If so , when should I begin to worry? Would another month or two be sufficient? What do you think is a reasonable amount of time from today on? Judging from your posts , you're an insurance professional. If so, what would your co. consider a reasonable amount of time? And if one needed to take the matters further , who would be the person( position wise) to ask for in your office?
Thank you.

 

[syadlov]

since the repairs are already done or SETTLEMENT MADE and it's just a matter of

But that's just the thing. The settlement hasn't been made in full. I'm still out of $1000+.

 

[ecmst12]

It can take months or years. Files are usually diaried in one month increments. And I know in your case settlement has not been made in full, but is most subrogation cases, it has been.