by Shirley Lawrie » Thu Oct 02, 2008 07:15 pm
I am dealing with an insurance co over a dog attack. The insurance company is telling legally, I am not suing them, that insurance companies cannot be sued, I am suing the people and insurance is representing them. true or not true. Because I understand you can sue insurance, but if they have not the right amount of liability, then you have to go after the peoples assests and not the insurance company, one or the other.
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 07:24 pm Post Subject:
An individual's HO liability insurance would cover a dog attack claim - you would file a claim, claims department gets involved, etc. If the "settlement" the insurance company wants to offer isn't enough (if the liability coverage is maxed out), then you will have sue the family directly.
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 08:08 pm Post Subject:
I am dealing with an insurance co over a dog attack. The insurance company is telling legally, I am not suing them, that insurance companies cannot be sued, I am suing the people and insurance is representing them. true or not true
TRUE...if you have a dispute (what is the disagreement about? the liability or the amount you want?)...if you sue you will be suing the owner of the dog....period...you cannot sue the insurance company...the insurance company will then have an attorney represent their insured.....Because I understand you can sue insurance, but if they have not the right amount of liability, then you have to go after the peoples assests and not the insurance company, one or the other.
I don't understand this part of your question...if you get a settlement from the insurance company you will be required to sign a release...BEFORE they will give you a penny...after that you are done you cannot sue the people for more money...now if the insurance company has denied the claim...then you can sue the dog owners if you get a judgement then the insurance company will pay the claim on behave of their insured...make sense?Please explain in DETAIL what the problem is so that we can be of greater assistance to you.
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 09:16 pm Post Subject:
People get confused as it's the insurance that pays the claim so people think they need to file suit against the insurance company to pay the claim. This is not correct. As mentioned, it's the dog owner in this case who is liable. The insurance company really has no obligation to you directly to pay you anything... they did not cause you to suffer a loss. So you'd loss if you sued the carrier directly as they did not cause your loss. Their obligation is to protect their insured... this probably means paying the claim on their insured's behalf.
On the other hand... there are a few states that allow direct action. I think LA is one of them. So in a few state (not many) you could file suit directly against the insurance company. I'm betting that is not the case here.
Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 12:32 am Post Subject:
You may need to also make sure that they have the coverage as certain types of dogs are considered to be agressive and most insurance policies don't cover them under the homeowners policy.
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