Victims suing other victims

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts (accident in NY) For give me for being confused about this. A minor child who was a passenger in a car that struck my car and totalled it is now suing me for injuries. This happened in New York. Is this right? Can myself as a victim be sued by this child's mother for his injuries? I was t-boned by the person driving the vehicle that this child was riding in. I'm not real sure how this is supposed to work? My insurance company denied the claim stating I was not at fault and has dropped the matter. I have now been served with court papers saying I am being sued personally. The guy who hit me was cited for reckless driving. Insurance company says I'm 0% at fault and there are witnesses who back this up. I have a week to answer this in NY and have no way to get there. Am I just going to lose?

Unfortunately this is a continuation of a post that I did last year. I'm being sued twice. by the same family.

You report this to your insurance company IMMEDIATELY and let them do their job and defend you.

When a passenger is injured, they will sue ALL the drivers. Because even if you were to be found 1% at fault, your insurance would have to pay 1% of their damages and the other driver's insurance the other 99%. Unlike drivers, passengers are always 100% INNOCENT victims and are entitled to be made whole by collecting from every involved driver if necessary. Sometimes, even if a driver is only 1% at fault, they may end up having to pay more of the damages if the majority at-fault party is uninsured or underinsured. Usually, if a driver is 0% at fault (such as if rear ended), they won't have to pay anything out no matter whether the passenger can collect from the other driver, but any small amount of fault will open up the possibility of joint and several liability. And NY is one of the states which follows joint and several liability for auto accidents.

At any rate, that is why you are named in the suit. But so long as you were insured, your insurance should take care of everything and will tell you what steps if any you need to take.

Not surprisingly, this is very similar to the answer I gave you last year. Did you even read it?

Thank you for your swift reply. It stinks that I can't defend myself since the insurance company has decided that it will not pay out for this child's claim. I feel bad for the kid. I don't know what type of injury he sustained considering that he was not taken to a hospital. I have no assets to speak of. up until two months ago I was homeless and I'm still looking for work. I won't be able to answer the suit so I guess then they will get a default judgement even though I did nothing wrong. There goes my credit for the rest of my life. How will I know when the courts decide against me and how much it's for. Is there some kind of time line? I've never been sued before. When I got hit by a car when I was little my mom got very little to cover my facial reconstruction but it seemed fairly quick.

Yes I went back and read what you wrote before. After I posted this time. sorry. It's a lawsuit happy world we live in.

You obviously did not read what I wrote THIS time either.

Your insurance company is OBLIGATED to provide you with a lawyer and defend against this lawsuit. You absolutely SHOULD NOT ignore it and need to be on the phone with your insurance company first thing tomorrow and faxing them the paperwork. Is your credit not important to you?