Request to see insurance limits. I don't know how to respond.

[Kasienda]

So a few weeks ago I was involved in an auto accident. I was legally at fault. She braked in front of a train crossing right as the lights started flashing. I tried to brake and swerve by my car started skidding and I lost all traction and rear ended her. I was moving at about 35 mph when I hit my breaks. I do not find fault with this assessment. I was at fault.

So today, in the mail, I received a letter from my insurance company saying that the lady I hit had obtained a lawyer and was filing an injury claim. The letter asks us permission to reveal our insurance limits. And I don't know what is best for myself legally mainly because the whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth. And here's the reason:

When we got out of the car the driver and her passenger (her mother) got out of their car they were very angry and confrontational. They both walked back and forth between our two cars (which was about 100 feet or so). The driver was very angry and yelling a lot. Both of them were moving around a lot - very animatedly. (I was kind of hysterical at the time so I don't know what she said). When the cops were there asking me questions the other driver kept interrupting me to the point where the cop had to ask her to leave so he could take my statement.

The second I pulled out my insurance information, suddenly the mother has back pain and the driver neck pain (this happened before the cops showed up). And they are very hurt and can't move much. So when the police and ambulance showed up and they both said they needed an ambulance. And I felt myself resentful at the time because I didn't think they were hurt. But I in such a situation you can't accuse others of lying. what if they in fact weren't and were just less than nice to me and angry because their car just got totaled (which was my fault)? I didn't trust myself to be a good judge. But I did honestly feel they played up their pain as soon as the insurance info came out.

Now, I'm no doctor. I only have my feelings and impressions to go on. If she was really hurt I think she deserves to paid. But I honestly feel like they weren't and now they are just fishing to see whether or not it is worth it to sue me.

In any case, I'm not certain if I should disclose the limits or not.
The limits are
5K for property
and
15K/30K for bodily injury

Any outside perspective would be greatly appreciated.


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

 

[justalayman]

well, since everybody in California is supposed to have insurance, I doubt the whipping out the insurance paperwork was what triggered their claims. Since most of the drivers follow the law, it would be better than an even bet you had insurance.

Your limits are quite low and an substantial injury could easily exceed the policy limit.


As to disclose or not; your insurance company is who will provide you with legal counsel so I would seek direction from them as to what is in your best interest.

 

[Kasienda]

Haha! I take it you don't live in California then? Just because insurance is required doesn't mean everyone has it. Trust me. Now that insurance companies send notifications electronically to the DMV as soon as you sign up or stop paying its definitely harder, but even then it take 90 days for your registration to expire and you still have your sticker on your plate that says you're current. So unless you break a traffic law there's no reason to pull you over. Now, growing up less than well off, I probably don't have a representative sample at all. But I have lots of anecdotal stories from family and friends where someone didn't have insurance. Most people do. But there's a significant fraction that don't seem to.

I did ask my insurance company. And my claim agent says that they are not allowed to say one way or the other. I'm sure is a liability thing. The company doesn't want to get sued for offering bad legal advice. They just tell me what the options are. They don't won't even tell me pros or cons or what this might mean. That's why I came on here to ask.

 

[JustAPal00]

Since it looks like you've got the legal minimum limits, I would go ahead and let them know. You'll probably end up ruining their day. Right now they're probably window shopping to their hearts content, planning on what to spend their new found wealth on.

 

[ecmst12]

Minimum coverage, jeez you almost might as well be uninsured.

You might as well disclose it, their injuries are *probably* minor and they will be motivated to settle within your policy limits (they won't pay out the whole limits if it's not justified but you don't know what kind of injuries you are dealing with).

 

[Kasienda]

Thanks all for taking the time to respond! Its greatly appreciated!