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Seriously worried & stressed. Does legal representation=Big Trouble?

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SinkingFeeling

Guest
What is the name of your state?:( What is the name of your state? Illinois

Hi Evryone! Would really appreciate some advice here. On 09/26, I rear-ended someone at about 20-25 mph. The other party's car had barely any visible damage while my car from was wrecked pretty badly resulting in car repair costs of about $7000. After the accident, we exchanged information and after we determined that there was no apparent physical injury, and we agreed that no police report was necessary, they drove off. About more than month later, 11/05, I got a call from a state police officer saying that the other party has just filed an accident report and wanted my version of the story. I gave a short version of the accident cos' the questions were really basic.

I called my ins. co. the next day because I thought it was weird to file for a report more than a month later after the accident occurred. I was then informed that they have legal representation claiming for personal injury for the front seat passenger. Does legal representation = lawsuit? Why would they file for a claim now if it was minor injuries? I'm really worried about getting sued for millions of dollars for a serious injury. My ins co told me not to worry as they are treating this as a "minimal impact" case and will probably not pay the other party. I think they suspect some kind of fraud. Should I be very very concerned about this?
 


Shay-Pari'e

Senior Member
You need to let your insurance company deal with it. They are not suing you, that is why you have insurance. The fact that no report was made at the time is a big plus for your ins. company.



Did you report this to your insurance at the time? Did you file a claim to fix your car? If so, even better for your ins. company.
 
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SinkingFeeling

Guest
Yes I filed for a claim

Yes, I did file for a claim immediately after the accident. They later took a formal recorded statement from me.
 

BethM

Member
Let me relate a story to you. Two years ago I was involved in a minor accident. A lady ran a stop sign and ran into the passenger side of my car at a low rate of speed. The seat belt jabbed me in the right side but since there was no blood, I was functioning, moving around and not in pain I didn't seek medical attention. Within a week of the accident I was experiencing pain in my right side. Within two weeks it was determined that my kidney had been lacerated when the seat belt jabbed me.

What can appear to be a minor accident might actually be something worse than first thought. I incurred $43,000 in medical expenses. I had to have 3 surgeries and ended up with a kidney that only functions at 55%.

The lady who hit me only had $50,000 in insurance. Enough to cover medical expenses with a little left over. I had $150,000 on my policy plus under-insured drivers coverage. I ended up settling with her insurance for the limit of her policy and my insurance picked up the rest which was the limit of my coverage.

Because of my injuries I had to change careers and am limited in the kind of work I can do. I could have sued the woman who hit me and probably would have gotten anything she had to get. I chose not to do that because it was an accident, the woman did not set out to malicious do harm to me.

The point I'm trying to make is this...don't assume that there were no injuries just because you didn't see evident injuries at the time of the accident. Check with your insurance company and find out exactly what kind of coverage you have and what limits and what, exactly will happen if this person's medical expenses turn out to be more than the coverage you have. Better safe than sorry.

More than likely it is someone trying to extort money, make some easy money at your expense. I know from experience though that just because someone does not look injured does not mean there isn't some sort of hidden injury that might show up in time. Another thing, always, always insist that the police be called to the scene of an accident. It's called covering your butt for anything that might come up. Good luck!
 
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SinkingFeeling

Guest
Sorry to hear that

I'm sorry to hear that you had to deal with such unfortunate consequences from a car accident. I must commend you on your honesty and integrity for not pursuing a lawsuit even though you really could have based on the circumstances.

Of course, if the other party really sustained injuries from this accident, I have no doubt that my ins. co. will compensate her. However, I really hope that she will not exploit the situation. By the way, can anyone explain why it is advantageous for the ins. co. if a police report was not made within a few days of the accident?
 

lwpat

Senior Member
By driving off they left the scene of an accident which probably is illegal in Illinois. By not seeking immediate medical attention their case is weakened which is why you should always go to the emergency room. Beth's injury may have been detected earlier if she had.

However it is very common for injuries not to show up until several days after the accident, especially a rear ender. This may be what is happening. However the legal representation sounds like just someone trying to get something for nothing.
 

BethM

Member
Why is it adventageous? Because witnesses can not be questioned, the police can look at the scene of an accident and draw a lot of conclusions as to exactly what happened, it would be in the report that the parties denied the offer of an ambulance...there are several reasons. Insurance adjusters will know everything there is to know about you before they pay you a penny. That is just the way they are trained to work.

For the life of me I don't know how anyone would be able to scam an adjuster. As severely injured as I was...documented medical records and all they dug really deep before they settled with me. The darn lacerated kidney was easier to deal with than the insurance adjusters.

I didn't hire an attorney. I knew my motivation was not to get rich and I especially didn't want to make some attorney rich either. I felt I was being honest, was not about to file any law suits so didn't need one.

Iwpat is probably right, someone put a bug in the ear of someone and off to an attorney they went. Really, really stupid on their part cause, if they do get anything they will give the attorney between 40 and 50% of it. Have you spoken with the adjuster at your insurance company to see what kind of injury they are claiming?

I learned my lesson. For one thing, I couldn't believe a lady who was driving a brand new cadilac would only have $50,000 in coverage and for another, if ever in an accident, no matter how inconsequential an injury might seem one should head straight for the emergency room.
 

Shay-Pari'e

Senior Member
9QUOTE)Why is it adventageous? Because witnesses can not be questioned, the police can look at the scene of an accident and draw a lot of conclusions as to exactly what happened, it would be in the report that the parties denied the offer of an ambulance...there are several reasons.(QUOTE)

There was No report, No witnesses, No scene, No ambulance,...........NO CONCLUSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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