civil suit for accident

[ceceil21]

What is the name of your state? Mich
My son took the family car (he is 19) without permission. Rear ended another vehicle. My insurance had him as an excluded driver without our permission or knowledge. This happened in 2005. Now the owner of the other vehicle (no seatbelt, not in a turn lane, no turn signal, brake lights inoperative) is sueing me, my wife and my son, individually. I an my wife are being sued for negligence. He did not have permission to drive the vehicle and neither has any of my children. The keys were in wifes purse, zippered close pocket, zipper closed purse, top flap closed and latched, purse in a roll top desk that was closed. The accuser is claiming back, neck, metacarpal, and shoulder injuries. I visited him in the ER with my son and the other drivers girlfriend present. He stated he did not have a seat belt on, no turn signal, in a traffic lane, brake lights MAY not have been working and that he had pre-existing neck and back problems due to working in construction. I wrote all of this down immediately after exiting the ER.
My question is that I believe his suit against me and my wife is to force a lawsuit against my insurance company and that he has no case against us as owners. What is your opinions of his case possibilities and winning the suit against us. He is sueing for his vehicle (my son paid his insurance company for the vehicle and has a release from liability for it) and medical bills.
Second question is what do I need to put together to defend. My current lawyer is to busy to talk and I just turned down their settlement offer of $75000 from each of us.
Third question - counter suite recommendations?

 

[ecmst12]

Your insurance company is not going to provide any coverage, but they *may* provide for your defense in the suit. Call them and ask them. They cannot exclude a driver from coverage without a signed waiver from you - if they don't have a signed waiver, then they can't deny for an excluded driver. Ask to see the form that you signed approving the exclusion.

If not, you need to hire your own lawyer. It sounds like you have a decent case for NOT being negligent here, but you're still going to need a defense. If your lawyer doesn't think you can escape liability for whatever reason, get a second opinion. If the 2nd lawyer also thinks you're liable, then you may have to consider settling, but you can still dispute the AMOUNT of the damages, as well as the percentage attributable to your negligence as opposed to your son's (he will obviously have the majority of fault in the matter).

 

[ceceil21]

re-reply

Excellent advice. Thank You.
I do have a lawyer, he thinks he can win, his staff is a joke and not responsive. I have decided to sue my insurance company. The exclusion form does not have mine or my wifes signature. The exclusion form was mailed to my son and when he called the insurance company they told him to put in the names of the primary people on the policy and sign the form and send it back to them as he was in the process of selling his car and understood this to be his removal from the policy. The woman at the agency who did this was terminated shortly afterword. I intend on sueing for removal of the exclusion, cost of the vehicles and legal fees to date. Any additional recommendations?

 

[ecmst12]

Before you sue, I'd complain to the department of insurance, and speak to a supervisor in claims. Every state is different, but at my company, if there's no waiver signed by the policyholder, then the exclusion doesn't exist. And DOI complaints are taken seriously.