by Guest » Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:27 am
Dear all,
I was in a minor fender-bender car accident earlier this year in January 2008. It was a wet and rainy day, when the car in front of me made a sudden stop, I stepped on my break as soon as I saw the front car stepped the break, however, my car still skidded and bumped the rear bumper of the front car.
The damage was minor, the other car's rear bumper was bent, and the grill and hood of my car was a little bent, there were 2 persons on the other car, the driver and another passenger, they came out of their car and we exchanged insurance information. No one was hurt and no police came.
The other driver and myself both reported to our own insurance carriers, and after investigation by adjusters, I was told that I am 100% at fault, I accept that I am at fault, and my insurance company said that they will take care of the rest, I have full coverage and I am in California.
But, last month when I renewed my auto insurance policy, of course my premium went up because of the accident and the fact that I am at fault, but my auto insurance agent also told me that my insurance company alreay paid for the other party's propery damage, but the other party is not willing to settle with the bodily injury part, the other party is claiming that they have neck and back pain and other sufferings due to the accident.
Today, I received a notice from my claim adjuster saying that the other driver and the other passenger has hired an attorney against me for bodily injury and request that I release the limit of my bodily injury liability coverage, what should I do?
Do I have to release the limit of my bodily injury liability coverage to the other driver's attorney?
Will my insurance company release the limit of my bodily injury liability coverage to the other driver's attorney?
I understand that I am at fault, but it was really a minor accident, I thought the case was closed a few months ago, but now the other party got an attorney against me, will I be in big trouble or get myself into an excess judgement?
I recently purchased a house, I am scared that I will lose my properties in an excess judgement?
I am really upset, can someone please help?
Thanks a lot.
I was in a minor fender-bender car accident earlier this year in January 2008. It was a wet and rainy day, when the car in front of me made a sudden stop, I stepped on my break as soon as I saw the front car stepped the break, however, my car still skidded and bumped the rear bumper of the front car.
The damage was minor, the other car's rear bumper was bent, and the grill and hood of my car was a little bent, there were 2 persons on the other car, the driver and another passenger, they came out of their car and we exchanged insurance information. No one was hurt and no police came.
The other driver and myself both reported to our own insurance carriers, and after investigation by adjusters, I was told that I am 100% at fault, I accept that I am at fault, and my insurance company said that they will take care of the rest, I have full coverage and I am in California.
But, last month when I renewed my auto insurance policy, of course my premium went up because of the accident and the fact that I am at fault, but my auto insurance agent also told me that my insurance company alreay paid for the other party's propery damage, but the other party is not willing to settle with the bodily injury part, the other party is claiming that they have neck and back pain and other sufferings due to the accident.
Today, I received a notice from my claim adjuster saying that the other driver and the other passenger has hired an attorney against me for bodily injury and request that I release the limit of my bodily injury liability coverage, what should I do?
Do I have to release the limit of my bodily injury liability coverage to the other driver's attorney?
Will my insurance company release the limit of my bodily injury liability coverage to the other driver's attorney?
I understand that I am at fault, but it was really a minor accident, I thought the case was closed a few months ago, but now the other party got an attorney against me, will I be in big trouble or get myself into an excess judgement?
I recently purchased a house, I am scared that I will lose my properties in an excess judgement?
I am really upset, can someone please help?
Thanks a lot.
Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 01:02 pm Post Subject:
Hi Lori, regarding the above where you mentioned "health provider", do you mean health insurance companies?
yepkind of...if they had health coverage then the bills have been paid, at a reduced rate most likely, then their health carrier will subro them...they will have to pay this back to their health carrier.....but they likely will still collect the total charge
Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 06:00 pm Post Subject:
Hello, Don't get upset. Its not a big problem. Try to consult an attorney to solve this problem. They know how to handle your case.
Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:43 pm Post Subject:
Hello, Don't get upset. Its not a big problem. Try to consult an attorney to solve this problem. They know how to handle your case.
Do I need to get my own attorney? :?
Or working with my adjuster would prevent me from being sued?
Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 09:26 am Post Subject:
Do I need to get my own attorney?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! If you did your carrier would provide one...that poster is hawking a PI attorney, (same type your accident victim got :roll: )........Don't worry about that you need NO ATTORNEY...unless you just have a bundle of money you don't know what to do with, in that case, I have a suggestion or two for you.. :wink:Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:57 pm Post Subject:
Dear Lori, thanks a lot for your clarifications, I was worried.
May I just confirm with you that in my situation, I don't need an attorney and my insurance carrier and adjuster will take care of everything for me and I don't need to do anything on my part, am I right?
My insurance carrier and adjuster will prevent me from being sued by the other party's attorney, right?
I just thought about, if an at fault person has auto insurance and their insurance carrier will help them to settle the claim to prevent that person being sued by the other party, does it mean that only people without insurance will get a suit filed at court? will people with insurance get a suit filed at court as well? if so, their insurance did not protect their interest?
Thank you.............
Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 01:15 pm Post Subject:
May I just confirm with you that in my situation, I don't need an attorney and my insurance carrier and adjuster will take care of everything for me and I don't need to do anything on my part, am I right
That is correct, just stay in touch with your adjuster, give them a call every week or ten days for a status etc...more to keep your mind at ease than anything else...My insurance carrier and adjuster will prevent me from being sued by the other party's attorney, right?
They cannot prevent that, it's there job to try and settle all claims within your limits so that this doesn't happen, sometimes, though atty's will file suit if they can't reach an agreement, if you are served with suit papers, immediately contact you adjuster and get the suit papers to them, they will provide a defense, but I really doubt anything like that will happen...Doesn't mean they didn't try to protect their insured...maybe an atty is unreasonable, and wants 100k for a minor 4k injury they may file suit, it's more posturing than anything though...
Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 01:42 pm Post Subject:
Good morning Lori,
That is correct, just stay in touch with your adjuster, give them a call every week or ten days for a status etc...more to keep your mind at ease than anything else...
I know that my adjusters are really busy, could you please share your experience that is it ok to call them every week? I would like to call for status updates, but I don't want to waste too much of their time though. :oops:
Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 08:39 pm Post Subject:
They work for you, not the other way around, if you want to call them every day you can....although that is a pain in the butt...calling them once a week is fine, try and make it on a thursday or friday morning if you can generally the least busy days of the week....
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 07:46 am Post Subject:
Dear Lori and all, thanks a lot for all the helps, thank you for the advise, I will try to call my adjusters on their least busy days.
one of my colleague told me that she encountered the same situation as mine many years ago, she only contacted her adjuster once after the accident to report the claim and record a statement, then she never called her adjuster again, and after a long while, she received a letter from her adjuster stating that her case is settled and closed, I am just curious is it ok not to call your adjuster at all? will your case be treated the same when you don't call or will it be better if you call and express that you are concerned about your own case?
Lori and tcope both mentioned that if my case ever goes to court, my insurance will get an attorney to defend me, but if court appearance is required, will the attorney from my insurance appear for me or do I have to appear to court my self?
Thank you.
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 07:53 am Post Subject:
Sorry, may I add this question please.
Doesn't mean they didn't try to protect their insured...maybe an atty is unreasonable, and wants 100k for a minor 4k injury they may file suit, it's more posturing than anything though...
does this mean that the other driver's attorney will not really bring the case to court, they are just posturing and just wanted to use these scare tactics to make my insurance carrier pay them what they demand?
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