by Tinkerbella » Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:37 am
I know a lot of this maybe covered in the forum and I did some reading but I wanted to ask out right.
On December 13 last year my DH rear ended another vehicle. Here it is a year later and we get papers suing us, our insurance company as well as her own. What happens with this? Our IC is closed for the day so I can't call them right now. What does that affect that we own? We do not own our house nor our rental property outright. We do own the business but it is a LLC business. We do have a retirement/401K, not a lot of money in it.
This woman was not hurt that bad. She was walking around and not even going to the ER until the cop talked her in to going. She is suing for mega pain and suffering, loss of wages, loss of enjoyment of life (come on, she is not DEAD, sorry but I am frustrated!), also suing on behalf of her DH and DS who were not even in the car, suing for loss of consortium. UGH, this makes me ill beyond belief!
I am not sure if Allstate (my IC) has ever paid out or what is going to happen.
My kids were in the car and the most they needed was 3 stitches in my son's chin. He was in the back of the truck in one of those side seats and he hit the back of the truck.
Any help or understanding that you can shed on this is very greatly appreciated.
On December 13 last year my DH rear ended another vehicle. Here it is a year later and we get papers suing us, our insurance company as well as her own. What happens with this? Our IC is closed for the day so I can't call them right now. What does that affect that we own? We do not own our house nor our rental property outright. We do own the business but it is a LLC business. We do have a retirement/401K, not a lot of money in it.
This woman was not hurt that bad. She was walking around and not even going to the ER until the cop talked her in to going. She is suing for mega pain and suffering, loss of wages, loss of enjoyment of life (come on, she is not DEAD, sorry but I am frustrated!), also suing on behalf of her DH and DS who were not even in the car, suing for loss of consortium. UGH, this makes me ill beyond belief!
I am not sure if Allstate (my IC) has ever paid out or what is going to happen.
My kids were in the car and the most they needed was 3 stitches in my son's chin. He was in the back of the truck in one of those side seats and he hit the back of the truck.
Any help or understanding that you can shed on this is very greatly appreciated.
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:55 am Post Subject:
What's a ''DH''?
Here it is a year later and we get papers suing us, our insurance company as well as her own. What happens with this?
Well Tinker sounds to me like the woman wants a whole lot of money..first of all she can't sue your carrier...do you know what your BI limits are? Sounds like she wants your policy limits then also she must have UIM (under insured motorist) on her policy that she wants as well. Which she cannot even file a UIM claim unless and until your carrier agrees to pay your policy limits , and your carrier will not do that without getting a full release from her (thus protecting you from any further action on her part, which is your carrier job to protect you)...I'm guessing of course...OR another thing could be that she wants some stupid crazy amount and your carrier won't pay it (good for them)..and so she thinks filing suit will get them to pay it....OR she has to file suit to stay or stop the statute of limitations from running...do you have any idea your states statute of limitations on auto bodily injury? or just tell us what state you are in...Our IC is closed for the day so I can't call them right now
Your carrier will be closed tomorrow too honey and maybe friday as well...What does that affect that we own? We do not own our house nor our rental property outright. We do own the business but it is a LLC business. We do have a retirement/401K, not a lot of money in it.
Don't worry about an excess judgement right now, first of all they rarely every happen (i've seen two in over 20 years) and your insurance carrier will have an attorney (at their expense) defend this suit for you..This woman was not hurt that bad. She was walking around and not even going to the ER until the cop talked her in to going. She is suing for mega pain and suffering, loss of wages, loss of enjoyment of life (come on, she is not DEAD, sorry but I am frustrated!), also suing on behalf of her DH and DS who were not even in the car, suing for loss of consortium. UGH, this makes me ill beyond belief!
Ok what's 'DH' AND 'DS'? This explains it more than likely she's got a nothing claim and trying to hit the lottery your carrier has probably negotiated with her attorney and neither will budge..I don't know why she's naming your carrier and her's in the suit papers that part makes no sense really at this point to me.
I am not sure if Allstate (my IC) has ever paid out or what is going to happen
Clearly they have not for the bodily injury or she wouldn't be sueing...Honey don't worry about this, sounds like it's a bluff to me, but do call your agent and let them know you've been served, and get the suit papers to your adjuster asap....does it say in the papers what she wants from your carrier and hers?
I'm sure you're scared, but I can all but guarantee the only thing out side of the stress that will happen to you is your rates will increase, but that would've happened whether she sued or not...ask all the questions you want, and try not to worry about this.
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 01:05 am Post Subject:
This is how every lawsuit starts isn't it? They first have to send a letter to the insured telling them they are being sued. Loir is right you shouldn't have to worry about losing anything like your 401k, house or anything else. this is what you pay insurance for so your ins. company should be able to take care of this. I also have been racking my brain..DH...DS??
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 03:01 am Post Subject:
Thank you both for your quick replies. DH = Dear Husband and DS = Deas Son. Sorry to use those but it is habit from another board that I am a part of.
I live in Louisiana and we have a 10/20/50 policy. We tried to see about more insurance but sadly could not afford it at all.
My thoughts were along the line of her needing my policy to pay so her's would pay and this may not be against us personally but to get the policies to pay up.
I know that most suits tend to throw in the whole kitchen sink in a suit just to cover all bases but it is frustrating. I told my husband that I am going to worry about it today then release it tonight. I can't dwell on this, I have kid's to take care of. Boy, we had a bad year this year but we are alive and together as a family....that is what is important!
I am glad to hear about not worrying about an excess judgement. That freaked us out a bit then I thought people get sued all the time and don't lose everything.
Martin will be at Allstate's office first thing Friday to see what is going on. I got 3 copies of the interrogatories, one for us, one for Allstate and one for State Farm along with the summons.
I will just be glad when this is over.
Again, thank you so very much. This has helped to ease our minds a bit.
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:07 am Post Subject:
Hi Tinker, you may not have to panic about the lawsuit. You need to inform your insurer at the earliest about the lawsuit. And ask them to provide you with the legal representation. It might well happen that the insurance company settles the matter outside the court. IMO she is only looking to get the policy limit. But not sure why is she suing her own carrier? Do you have any idea about her claim size? Are you aware of the progress of the claim with your carrier so far?
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:59 am Post Subject:
Again, thank you so very much. This has helped to ease our minds a bit.
Let me ease them some more....
I live in Louisiana
(unless something has changed in the last couple of years) I KNEW IT I JUST KNEW IT! I almost said 'you don't live in LA do ya'?' that's funny....everythings fine then, EVERYONE files suit in LA cause your statute of limitation is ONE YEAR...so don't worry they HAD to file it and name anyone and everyone to stay the statute or they were out of luck...Martin will be at Allstate's office first thing Friday
better make sure they are open...also if he hands it to anyone other than the adjuster have them jot down a note AND sign it the time and date he gave it to them...'if' this doesn't get into the right hands there will be a default judgement, and 'if' the reason is you didn't get it to the company, they will not pay...i'd hate for that to happen because a secretary let it get buried under paper on her desk...better safe than sorry....I'm so glad you live in the 'sue state' there is zero to worry about now...everyone sues down there in and around the big easy... :wink: makes this including the timing make perfect sense...
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 02:48 pm Post Subject:
Thanks again! I know I do live in a sue everyone state and it is very sad. I would love to move out of LA but I have to much family here and Martin doesn't want to leave.
I felt like she had to file it to keep it alive and you all confirmed my thoughts. I have decided to let it go and not dwell on it as worry doesn't do any good. What will happen, will happen.
There was not much vehicle damage at all in this wreck. She drove off and our truck had to be towed but it was because a fender thing was touching the wheel. Martin cut that away and we needed no repairs to the truck.
Thank you all so very much for being here and helping people like me.
Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:24 pm Post Subject:
anytime tinker come back and give us an update once all this is settled...glad we could help
Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:40 pm Post Subject:
Some people can be so selfish.. I hate when people want to sue you jsut to get money, It is one thing if they are truly hurt and honestly not able to work or proceed with normal every day things... But its a nother to actually know there is nothing wrong with them and they are using you as a lottery pay-out! I've heard of people honestly just getting into car accidents just to make a few grand, it's ridiclious. Hopefully everything works out for the best for you and nothing gets out of hand. Best of luck to you DH... and DS.... (ps - i was close to right when i was reading ... i thought dh meant dear husband but i thought DS meant dear sister :P Close enough)
Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:26 am Post Subject:
Martin went to Allstate today and spoke to the owner. He assured us that we had nothing to worry about. They have already paid out $14,000 for her vehicle damages (why, I don't know because there was very minimal damage).
The owner told Martin that they had to name everyone and the kitchen sink in Louisiana (like you said) and that they have to settle with Allstate to get their underinsured motorist. The guy said they see this all the time and that it will likely never get to court.
He did tell Martin that it was even better that there was not a dollar figure in it as it means they are probably just going after the insurance money and that we had to be named or Allstate could have taken the suit out of Louisiana.
Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:43 am Post Subject:
They have already paid out $14,000 for her vehicle damages (why, I don't know because there was very minimal damage).
Tinker THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE with these rates!live in Louisiana and we have a 10/20/50 policy
unless you've put it in wrong...looks to me like you are saying you have 10k in PD and 20k per person (probably is 25k) per person and 50k per accident..if that's correct then they could not have paid 14k in damages...also it's not uncommon for someone to think, 'there wasn't much damage at all' when there really is...but many times it is hidden until the vehicle is disassembled, still 14k is ALOT of damage....that we had to be named or Allstate could have taken the suit out of Louisiana
They had to name you period, if it goes to trial (and it won't ) they cannot mention any insurance is involved...Martin went to Allstate today and spoke to the owner
I'm assuming you are talking about the agent right? Have you made arrangements to get these papers to the adjuster?Hope this is making you feel better tinker...keep us updated.
Add your comment