they tried to settle!

[klyde]

my insurace company did not settle with the plantiffs in my case! the plantiff tried to settle within my policy limits! how do i let the insurance company know that i am not responsible if they are now awarded more than my policy limits! how do i legally write them a letter? do i send it to the claims represenitive? ....and should i send one to my insurance lawer?...please help!

 

[ALawyer]

Let's say you had an accident that caused what 10 experts would say should not produce an award in excess of $25,000 -$35,000 in damages. Let's say you had a $100,000 policy limit. And also assume the plaintiff's lawyer made a final offer to settle for $95,000 and your insurance company rejected it and now you go to trial where the plaintiff is demanding $10 million.

An insurance company has no obligation to settle a claim far in excess of what ia reasonable person says is reasonable just because it issued a policy that would cover a higher amount, otherwise every insurance company would find it difficult if not impossible to defend and have to pay plaintiff the high policy limit, regardless of merit, just because there was a possibility, no matter how remote, that an amount higher than the policy limit could be awarded by a jury.

However, if your insurance company acted in bad faith, and refused to settle a case that it knew, or should have known, was reasonably likely to produce a verdict in excess of the policy limits, that's a different story. Proof of bad faith is not easy. And if you know of any facts that hurt your case and might encourage the company to settle now, you'd better not keep them a secret.

You may also want to remind your company that it owes you a duty to act in good faith. Getting a lawyer of your own to represent you, or at least to put the company on notice that you are likely to go after it should an award beyond the policy limit result, may be a very good idea. Subtle things like that often influence a company to be more generous with a settlement. But while that may get them to offer the full $35,000, there is no way they will or should offer the $95k.

 

[klyde]

im also filing for banckruptcy!

i see what you are saying! its a wrongfull death case! i pleaded no contest to a dui because i could not afford an expert witness! so to make a long story short! my policy limit is 25,000$ ...the medical came to 23,000! when the plantiffs offered to settle my insurance did not! like i said i just dont want to come up paying alot of money for something that could have been settled! even though they have a hard case in front of them to get more money because i was never at fault! i would like to get this behind me! it has been over three years!........exactly what should i write to them? just that if for some reason we lose the cival suit i should not be held responsible?......thank you for replying previously!

 

[ALawyer]

Who are you fooling? Yourself?

If you pleaded guilty or no contest to a DUI and there was a related accident, 99 juries out of 100 will find you responsible for the accident just on that if the evidence of the plea comes in.

No one will buy the fact that you pleaded no contest solely because YOU could not afford an expert. The expert could NOT have proven you were not drunk, just that any tests given at the scene were less than fulky reliable. S/He might have been able to introduce an element of reasonable doubt (as in the OJ case), bu there was still some basis for the charge. While a guilty plea or a verdict would have been determinative, and almost created a summary judgment case, don't kid yourself.

Get a good bankruptcy lawyer to help you consider the impact of a bankruptcy filing and its ability to discharge the claims, and the timing. And don''t wait around, as Congress came very close to passing a new bankruptcy bill last year and had set a Conference Committee meeting to work out differences between the House and Senate Bills for Septemeber 12th -- and it was called off for obvious reasons. Insiders suggest there is a 50-50 shot this year, and the odds would have been higher but for Enron....