Fender bender Q

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

My wife was involved in an auto accident where she rear-ended a car at about 5 mph (snowy day). We know she's at fault - that's obvious. The woman she hit has hired firm to sue us ("It costs nothing for you to sue unless you win!"). Despite the reported ~$300 in damages to her car, our insurance co offered $15000 to cover medical bills. The woman is now claiming psychological damages and is looking for $40-50,000! This from $300 damage from her car (and *none* to ours).

My wife has been absolutely sick over this for the better part of a year. A trial date is approaching and she "fears losing the house". Lost sleep, anxiety, lost wages from work for deposition, law office appearances, phone calls, etc. There is no doubt my wife is suffering psychological damages! Will the outcome of the trial in any way allow an effective counter suit? If the plaintiff rejects our insurance company's offer and chooses to seek more but they don't get it, does that show they were being malicious or exorbitant?

Thanks.

You do have insurance? Just because the offer was rejected doesn't mean the insurance company won't defend or negotiate a settlement.

The insurance company is doing all of the negotiating. They are fighting it, as they feel it's unwarranted/excessive, or whatever. They have tried to settle it, but the plaintiff (attorney?) is pushing for more money. Again, it seems they have nothing to lose but to shoot for the moon, which is exactly is causing emotional distress in our house.

My question is about a counter suit. If this does go to trial and either the judge throws it out, or they end up with much less than they were looking for, does that make winning a counter suit more plausible?

Basically, this woman has nothing to lose by torturing us and asking for more and more. (She is no stranger to the court system - simple court records search shows she's less than a model citizen - which I would hope goes to her character.) I would like to send the message that her actions have had deleterious effect.

No, you can't counter sue, it's her right to seek compensation for her injuries. Stop taking this personally, she's not doing it to torture you, she's doing it for money, nothing more. You have insurance and they are taking care of it. I'd say there's a 75% or better chance that it will never go to trial. Especially if your policy limits are higher then what they are asking for (and if you own a house, they should be), then you really have absolutely no reason to worry. So what if she's exaggerating her injuries? This is what you have insurance for.

Wow. "So what if she's exaggerating her injuries. That's what you have insurance for" ? Um, because it's fraud? Just because my insurance will pay doesn't make it right.

My suit would in no way affect her rights to seek compensation. In fact, I've said that it would be AFTER she is paid.

What's to stop her from asking for $1 million in "damages" then? At what point is it obvious that her actions negatively affect others' lives?

Yes it's personal. Because it's happening to me.

Nothing stops her from ASKING for anything she wants. Now if it goes to court, she will have to prove to the judge and/or jury that she actually received $1mill worth of damages. That is the problem she is having now. She believes her injuries are worth more then your insurance company believes is supported by the evidence. In the end, the MOST likely outcome is that they will settle out of court within your policy limits. Going to trial costs everyone more money, including her, and if she goes through with the trial she will end up owing more to her lawyer and having less in her pocket at the end of it all - even if the judgement she receives is a little bit larger then the settlement she was offered. So she and her lawyer would really have to believe that a judge would award them a LOT more money then your insurance company is offering in order for them to believe that proceeding to trial is financially wise. Hence why it is so rare for auto accident cases to go to trial. So she DOES have something to lose by refusing to accept a reasonable settlement. She and her lawyer may just be deciding to hold off on settling for a while. It's a strategy.

But her actions really should not be affecting your life AT ALL at this point. Your insurance is handling everything, they are protecting you and refusing to pay more then they believe the evidence supports, the system is on your side. You need to sit back and let them do their job and stop letting it get to you. Like I said, no one is out there TRYING to hurt you.

And don't forget, your wife is still ultimately at fault for the accident, so she won't get very far claiming to be a victim. Being inconvenienced by a lawsuit is a consequence of causing an accident where someone was injured. But there's really no reason for her to be losing sleep or suffering psychological damages.

ma_resident said:

Wow. "So what if she's exaggerating her injuries. That's what you have insurance for" ? Um, because it's fraud? Just because my insurance will pay doesn't make it right.

My suit would in no way affect her rights to seek compensation. In fact, I've said that it would be AFTER she is paid.

What's to stop her from asking for $1 million in "damages" then? At what point is it obvious that her actions negatively affect others' lives?

Yes it's personal. Because it's happening to me.

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If you think that insurance companies pay out 1 dime more than they are legally obligated to then you are living in a dream world.

Your wife needs to relax, your insurance company will defend itself very well.

And in any event, the $$ is not coming out of your pocket, its from the insurance company.

Look at BP today about the oil spill; they are self insured and they now say "what oil?"