Friend in accident

[jazzyjam]

What is the name of your state? NJ

Can anyone tell me how this all works or what is likely to happen. There were no witnesses. A person hit them in the passenger side of the car in a parking lot. Injury to the person sitting in the passenger seat. She is in pain most of the time. Her injuries are visible in the x ray's. She gave her deposition today and now they have to review all the insurance Dr's opinions. What will likely happen with this case? What is next?

 

[dallas702]

She gave a "deposition" to WHO?

A deposition is usually only required when a court action is pending. Was she represented by an attorney or someone from her insurance company?

Is your friend the driver or the injured party?

Neither of them should be signing anything or making statements without an attorney!

 

[jazzyjam]

She was represented by an attorney, she was the passenger and I'm not really sure about the deposition and who it was given to. Her attorney, and the other insurance attorney were present. The other attorney wasn't an insurance employee, he was privately hired. My friend has a diagnosis but I don't know what it is called. She is in pain everyday and the insurance company from the woman that hit her doesn't want to pay her medical expences. The woman has changed her story and is saying that the car my friend was in hit her. Which seems impossible because the woman's car had my friend blocked in the car because she hit the passenger side door. My friends attorney is good but very vague with my friend. I would like to give her something positive to think about.

 

[dallas702]

Cases like this should be simple. Driver causes accident, insurance pays all damages. Sometimes when lawyers get involved they make it more complicated than necessary or ask for too much so they can pad their bill. If she's at the point of giving depositions it looks like the insurance company is fighting the amount requested. It will take time, but if her attorney is worth a dime he will get a decent settlement for her. The other driver is an idiot who should never be allowed to drive again.

 

[jazzyjam]

Thank you dallas for the info. I thought it sounded great that the insurance company was willing to fork out for a private attorney but then again a private attorny must be better than the one on their own payroll. Would the woman's insurance company ask her to change her story from the truth or would she have done this on her own? From someone that doesn't lie, it's difficult to believe that someone would lie on their own.

 

[dallas702]

She probably needed the attorney because the amount of medical coverage for passengers is much lower than that of the insured driver. I would imagine she had to sue for actual damages and the insurance company is disputing some portion of that claim. It's not uncommon for defendants to lie, but I don't know what good it would do her. Her company is going to have to pay whatever the expenses are up to the limits of the policy, but she will be personally liable for anything after that. If her policy had minimal limits she could be on the hook for a lot of money. Let's just hope your friend heals well and all her bills are paid....especially after the lawyer's cut.

 

[judge425]

Just to clarify..NJ is a no-fault state which requires that all medical bills be paid for through the auto insurance of the host vehicle.. there are limitations on the amount that will be covered by no-fault which if exceeded will become chargeable to the adverse driver. Any excess bills incurred for medical expenses will be claimed in the lawsuit.
People lie all the time. A good lawyer is always better than a good lie in the sense that lies are difficult to uphold when you are confronted with hundreds of questions all pertaining to the same thing..In my experience.. the absolute lie always surfaces after some careful probing of the witness during a deposition.
Your corroboration of the facts will certainly add great strength to your friends case.
if your friend is injured, an x-ray is generally only useful to diagnose hard tissue injury such as fractures or dislocations. If this is the case, than she will have no problem overcoming the threshold laws that exist in NJ (they are very similar to NY) if they are soft tissue or musculoskeletal, than there is much more required to substantiate her loss. She may in fact have pain as many of my client's claim to have, but without an objectively diagnosed injury of sufficient gravity from a health practitioner, the injury will go uncompensated.