by smonroe » Sat Aug 14, 2010 03:14 am
My son was in an accident in February on the interstate. The police came but left when both my son and the other driver agreed he wasnt needed.
We decided to be responsible for each others vehicles. My son did what he was suppose to do and gave his insurance card. The other driver gave his registration but not his insurance card. Next thing I Know I get a call from my insurance about the claim he filed. I called them and disputed and requested a claim through his insurance. They filed one and the companies decided each of us fix our own vehicle until arbitration. There was a witness that called about 10 minutes after the accident. His statements were contradictory and skeud. He spoke to the other driver prior to making his statement.
The insurance companies decided to cover each his own.
Now the other driver sent a letter to my son saying he was going to sue for $2000 plus court costs if I don't send $500 by Sept 1.
Can he sue after his insurance paid his claim?
My son is off to college now. Don't know if he can even show up for a court case. I do not think I should have to send him $500
He now says he has a police report. Can you get a report after the fact without the other driver knowing about it??
We decided to be responsible for each others vehicles. My son did what he was suppose to do and gave his insurance card. The other driver gave his registration but not his insurance card. Next thing I Know I get a call from my insurance about the claim he filed. I called them and disputed and requested a claim through his insurance. They filed one and the companies decided each of us fix our own vehicle until arbitration. There was a witness that called about 10 minutes after the accident. His statements were contradictory and skeud. He spoke to the other driver prior to making his statement.
The insurance companies decided to cover each his own.
Now the other driver sent a letter to my son saying he was going to sue for $2000 plus court costs if I don't send $500 by Sept 1.
Can he sue after his insurance paid his claim?
My son is off to college now. Don't know if he can even show up for a court case. I do not think I should have to send him $500
He now says he has a police report. Can you get a report after the fact without the other driver knowing about it??
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 08:51 am Post Subject:
A lot of thinks are not quite clear to me. As though you've disputed, it seems you're not accepting that your son is at-fault. Your must share this letter with your carrier and also keep your son on the loop. I'm sure the other party needs to explain this additional $500 worth of claim now that both companies agreed to cover their respective clients.
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 09:09 am Post Subject: insurance
I'm a bit confused, too. Usually when police show up on an accident, they just don't leave,..even if he WAS told "he wasn't needed." Of course, I don't know what state the accident happened in, but,..in MY case, the police didn't leave until he saw me and the other driver exchange Insurance information, etc. and he wrote up a police report. I really don't see (legally) how the other driver can sue 'after the fact' (after the claim was ALREADY in place).
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 12:38 am Post Subject: Lawsuit
I still haven't had anyone advise me about whether this guy can sue if his insurance already paid for the claim.
Plus, Is it legal to threaten someone with a dollar amount to not sue???
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 02:04 am Post Subject:
Now the other driver sent a letter to my son saying he was going to sue for $2000 plus court costs if I don't send $500 by Sept 1.
The other driver appears to be attempting to recover their deductible.Can he sue after his insurance paid his claim?
A call to the other guys insurance may put a stop to their attempts to obtain additional funds from you. They may be violating terms of the insurance contract and harming the insurers rights of subrogation.
You should notify your insurer of their attempts to sue you if you have received a summons to court or a letter indicationg their intent. Your own insurer will provide for your defense with regard to the accident.
I'm not an attorney and this isn't legal advice, but I have been advised by attorneys in the past that if one threatens to sue and does not follow through, one opens themselves up to a lawsuit for harrassment and intimidation by use of the courts. You in turn, can then sue the other party for damages (not for the auto accident but) for harrassment. You may wish to consult an attorney on this matter if the other party is persistent. Govern yourself accordingly.
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 03:09 am Post Subject: Insurance
There has been no summons just the letter of intent with the choice of paying up or getting sued for more..
Thank you, I will contact both insurance companies on Monday.
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 02:33 pm Post Subject:
I still haven't had anyone advise me about whether this guy can sue if his insurance already paid for the claim.
He 'can' do anything he wants..but as Mike pointed out, and I can tell you, his carrier is going to be plenty ticked off when they find out about this.
You've said this is going to Arb. which means the carriers cannot come to an agreement re: liability/negligence. Arb rulings are binding, no appeals...His carrier should be including his deductible in their arb filing. Your carrier NOT you, will pay whatever is awarded by the Arb board.
You need to get this letter in the hands of your adjuster YESTERDAY. If this idiot contacts you again, give him your adjusters name and number, and advise him if he contacts you again, you will slap a harrassment charge on him...he's trying to strong arm you for his deductible...
Again, I can not say this strongly enough...call your adjuster first thing, tomorrow and get this letter to them...
Re: police report, yes, if the officer responded there is a report....you didn't say what happened in the accident, so don't know if your boy is at fault or not...also your state negligence law will come into play (pure comparative, comparative? 51/49 rule?). If you'd like to expand on that we can give you our opinions on that as well..
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 02:44 pm Post Subject:
the post below was from Tcope---I'm deleting the OP's multiple posting of this same issue
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First, I can sue you if I want. Does a person have a case is something different.
The other person can sue for the entire amount, even if his company paid for this loss. If he recovers anything, he'd need to pay his carrier back for what they spent. Also, his carrier should _not_ let him file suit for what they paid as if he screws it up, _they_ are then bared from recovering their amount. It's also possible that the judge might throw out whatever his carrier already paid as the judge knows he should not be collecting for this.
All of that is moot as you have insurance. You simply turn that letter over to your carrier and let them deal with it. That is, they will provide you a defense if one is needed. If the other person files a lawsuit, your insurance company will have an attorney handle the matter.
You can get a police report after the fact. Basically, it simply contains the information about the two people in the accident and note that it was filed by one of the parties. Its basically worthless in this situation.
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 06:04 pm Post Subject: Insurance
State negligence law 51/49 rule? What is that? There was no police report assigning blame. I haven't heard from my insurance stating that they found my son at fault. No negligence has been assigned at this time. I will find out tomorrow if the arbitration is completed.
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:00 pm Post Subject:
If the claim went to Arb. that means the carriers cannot agree on negligency or negligent percentages (whos at fault)..once Arb makes their ruling it is binding..no one is going to change it.
State negligence law 51/49 rule? What is that?
In these states if you are 50% or more at fault for the accident you are barred from recovering from the other party...example...(in a state with this negligency law), your son is determined to be 60% at fault for the accident..he gets nothing, the other guy gets 60% of his damages paid by your sons carrier....in a pure comparative negligence state your son's policy would pay the other guy 60% of his damage, and your son would collect 40% of his damage from the other partys policy.Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:34 pm Post Subject: 51/49 rule
Is Florida one of those states?
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