• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Dilemma, need a few words of advice please.

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

hurleydude000

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? NY

Ok this might seam long, but just take a minute please. :D

Ok well back in June I was involved in an accident on the highway(moderate traffic). 3 cars had an accident and were stopped dead. And as I came around the bend I switched from the middle to left lane. I was doing about 55 and right as I switch lanes there are these cars just stopped dead. No hazard lights, no nothing. So by the time a realized nothing was moving all I could do was hit the brakes. Not that I would have had enough time to move out of the way anyway. So the first car involved in the accident ran off after I hit. So I was left with these other two cars. Both young females. Everyone was ok, damage to my car was pretty bad. The lead car at this point was totaled, the car I hit that was in the center was repairable. And as soon as the EMT's roll up the girl I hit sits down in her car and starts crying, 5 minutes ago she was walking around fine. We were all driven to the emergency room just to make sure we were all ok. So we are sitting there and the girl I hit says to me "I was fine at first and then my foot just started hurting".

So this is where my dilemma comes in. I was served with papers from some lawyer saying she wants to sue me and the other girl that she hit. Both of our names were listed so I can only assume that she was sueing the other girl as well. So basically she wants to sue because she hurt her foot or ankle or whatever it was and she had some sort of "mental trauma". Meanwhile this is months after the accident im getting these papers. There is even wrong information, saying that the car was registered to me, it was leased in my name and the insuranec policy is under my name. Meanwhile its all under my grandfathers. Ok now I have a 250k-500k liability on my insurance plan(Liberty mutual) and I recently got another letter from them asking if I have any other insurance policies. Does this mean that they don't want to pay her? I also got a letter from her lawyer saying something about further exposure??? If the insurance company doesn't want to pay her im just afraid that she might try and get money from my grandfather, and I don't want her to try and clean him out because of my mistakes on the road. And when I think about it she can't really prove when she injured herself, if it was from the impact she first had, or from the impact of me. Plus when the other girl got out of the car after she was hit, she saw her on the cell phone. Its apparent she is just trying to make a quick buck. So to some of you legal experts out there would she be able to get money out of my grandfather for this? Or do the insurance companies usually settle?
 


S

seniorjudge

Guest
What does your lawyer say about all this?

Have you told your insurance company?
 

Lynx 36

Member
Quote: "Does this mean that they don't want to pay her?"

It doesn't look like your insurance company is looking to deny the claim, it sounds like they may be concerned about the coverage limits and are asking you if you have another policy on the car. if you do, one would be primary and the other would be secondary coverage. (Some people have 2 policies on a car f/ various reasons.)

Quote: "So to some of you legal experts out there would she be able to get money out of my grandfather for this? Or do the insurance companies usually settle?

The insurance company will pay up to the policy limits of your policy. If you have 250/500. They would pay 250 per person and 500 per accident. In this situation, since there were multiple parties involved, you have $500,000 in total coverage. Anything over that amount could result in a lawsuit of your grandfather.
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
"So does that mean she wants more money over my coverage limit???"

That is what it sounds like to me from what you wrote.

That does not mean she can get it; but when you sue someone, you start at the high end of what you want, not the low end.

It's real easy to press a key and add a couple more zeros to the amount demanded.
 

Lynx 36

Member
As the judge said, just b/c they want more money doesn't mean they will get it. Unless the foot has to be amputated or is completely not functional it seems that your coverage limits would more than take care of this injury...... unless I'm missing something.

Remember that the burden of proof is on her. She has to prove that you were the one 100% responsible f/ her foot. I wouldn't worry about it. Even if her foot is broke she will be lucky to get $50,000, let alone $500,000.

Something to look into f/ the future. You can get a $1,000,000 blanket on yourself. This would kick in if your current insurance coverages happen to max out. This includes car, boat, house, person etc. It isn't very expensive annually and it will give you a good piece of mind. I would recommend this if you own a house, or anything else of value that could be taken in case of a lawsuit.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top