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motorcycle accident - ins. co being difficult

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mikez

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? NY

i live in NY, i am insured in NY and have an NY license. I had an accident in PA with a PA driver. I was driving the motorcycle and my girlfriend was a passenger. A young(18 yrs old) PA driver make an improper/careless left hand turn in front of us causing us to collide with him. He was cited for making the improper turn in volition of §3322 of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code.

This accident happened in June of 2006. My girlfriend and I suffered numerous injuries(sprained shoulder, sprained hip, herniated disc in my upper back, numerous abrasions to our hands) and we taken away via ambulance. His insurance company paid for my motorcycle in full. My girlfriend and I received treatment from the ER, orthopedic doctor, and physical therapy (6 months worth), we also hired an attorney to recover money for our medical bills are pain and suffering. Our medial bills are together are over $20,000. (my insurance didn't pay medical bills because PIP is not offered on motorcycle policies in NY, our private health insurance companies did) It took some time for our health insurance companies to pay because they were claiming that auto had to pay first (lawyers sent them letters, and worked it out)

The situation:
Our attorney sent a letter to the PA driver's insurance company asking for their insureds limits of liability applicable to this loss. They never replied. Our attorney sent another letter along with our medical records/doctors notes/wage loss info. and my attorney stated that if they do not reply within 30 days (they have till may 12, 2007) that a lawsuit will be filled in PA. Is this normal for the insurance company to not reply to the lawyers letters? They still have 12 days, but it seems as if they are dragging their feet. Has anybody else had similar problems? Do you think the insurance company is going to respond before may 12 or will my lawyer have to file a lawsuit?

Thanks for all your input.
Mike
 
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moburkes

Senior Member
Maybe someone misplaced it. Maybe the won't misplace the new one. If they do, then a lawsuit will be filed. The crystal ball has left this site permanently, it appears, so we cannot answer if you will receive a response before a lawsuit is necessary.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Foot-dragging DOES appear to be fairly common. If you have to file suit, then you have to file suit. You will still most likely settle out of court even after the suit is filed. Filing just shows to them that you're not bluffing.

Remember that you will have to pay your health insurance back for whatever they spent on your medical bills, out of your settlement money. You don't mention what their policy limits are but hopefully it will be enough.
 

mikez

Junior Member
Their policy limits of liability are unknown at this time because the insurance company hasn't responded to my lawyers letters. Minimum liability for PA is 15K per person and 30K for an accident. We fall within these numbers because my injuries are 8K and my girlfriends are 12K. Since we are not PA residents and tort doesn't apply to NY, we do not have to worry about limited tort. I understand we will need to pay back our health insurance co's, i just wish they would stop dragging their feet because its clear as day.
 

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