lawrat said:
When did she file? Because if she filed after one year - she cannot collect. If the insurance company already settled and she cashed the check (car damage?), then she can't sue now.
Is she suing the mother in law personally or has she also attached the insurance company as a party? Check the filing date and the original date of the accident about the one year statute of limitations.
My response to Lawrat:
I was wondering how you know what the Statute of Limitations is for our writer; i.e., "one year" ? I could find no State name in the post. The Limitations period could, in fact, be greater than one year depending upon the State where the accident happened.
Personal Injury and Property Damage are two, separate and distinct claims - - each having their own Statute of Limitations. For example, in California, the Limitations period for Property Damage is 3 years, and the Limitations period for Personal Injury is 1 year.
It doesn't matter if the property damage check was cashed by the claimant woman. Doing so is for the singular issue of Property Damage, having nothing to do with a settlement of, or lawsuit concerning, Personal Injury - - which is a separate issue.
Also, why would anyone include an insurance company in the lawsuit itself ? There's no reason to. The formality of a Summons and Complaint requires that only the parties are named in a lawsuit. The insurance company has NOTHING whatever to do with the "happening" of the accident - - they are merely an insurer - - unless we're talking about a "Bad Faith" lawsuit; but, I see nothing in the facts of our writer's post to indicate Insurance Bad Faith.
IAAL