law about 80/20% negligible in auto accident

I am from lake county, Illinois and a car waiting to turn into a neighborhood going the opposite direction bolted in front of us. I could not avoid hitting the other car. The insurance company is stating we are 20% at fault due to some Illinois state law. I called a lawyer and he said that legal costs would probably exceed the amount of the 20% and this was a game insurance companies play. If I accept the 80% from the insurance company does that mean I can not pursue legal means for the remainder of the 20%.

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, Verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Shel:
I am from lake county, Illinois and a car waiting to turn into a neighborhood going the opposite direction bolted in front of us. I could not avoid hitting the other car. The insurance company is stating we are 20% at fault due to some Illinois state law. I called a lawyer and he said that legal costs would probably exceed the amount of the 20% and this was a game insurance companies play. If I accept the 80% from the insurance company does that mean I can not pursue legal means for the remainder of the 20%.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


My response:

Once you sign on the dotted line, you will be releasing everyone involved. Therefore, once signed, you can't go after anyone else for your 20%. If you take them to court, it's a crapshoot whether you'll do any better. It's your choice.

IAAL


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Wait untill you get your new premium bill from the insurance company. I don't know how it works where your at, but here in FL if the insurance company finds you even 1% at fault they can increase your premiums for the next 3 years until the incident drops off your record.

Do all you can to fight this, get with your states Department of Insurance office and ask them for advice.

As far as legal fees go take 20% of your annual premium and multiply it by 3. If this figure is larger than the legal fees then get a good lawyer and make that insurance company beg your forgiveness.

You can also write letters to your states Department of Insurance, local media sources, and State Representatives office. And carbon copy them to the insurance company, sometimes this scares them into reviewing the case.

This is definately a game and there are rules that are in your favor, you just need to learn them and play like a winner.

Good luck James from FL

P.S. Im not a lawyer, so don't make a major decision based on this post.

whilenot practice in illinois and cannot speak specifically for their laws, in my 20+ years of doing injury law, i have never heard of a state that a person is 20% just for beig there. what counts is what a juy or judge would do when considering all the facts; adjusters play such games very often to intimidate victims.
George Senteney

Similar thing happened to me several years ago in another state. The other driver admitted it was 100% his fault ("didn't see the other car") to the police officer and received his tickets, but then his insurance company tried to claim that I was partially responsible. Such a bunch of b.s. and I told them so. I had the right of way, was driving at or under the speed limit, and tried the best I could to avoid hitting the idiot... and if they wanted me to repeat that to a judge, so be it. I'd called their bluff. They shut up and paid up.