by rutwyler27 » Wed Sep 01, 2010 09:14 pm
So you are driving at night and see a deer in the distance,you tap your brakes and decrease your speed a bit.The deer appears to be going back into the woods VS into the road,then all of a sudden it is on your front end.You slam on the brakes and the truck behind you which was following too close rear ends you..The rear end damages are 3x the front end amount.The physical injuries are 100% worse because you were now bounced ard even w/seat belt on.Your insurance company has taken responsibility and the person who rear ended you has a insurance company that says they are not 100% responsible.What can you do? Can you file a civil suit against them? Other than getting a lawyer,what can you do? The driver was given a citation for following tooo close.
Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 09:43 pm Post Subject:
Your post is confusing but it appears that you have collision coverage to address your property damage. If so, your carrier can (and should) seek recovery against the other carrier). For your injury you'd probably want to seek counsel in order to either push the claim or have the attorney file suit against the other driver.
There is just no way they could get away with denying _all_ liability. If the state where the accident happened has contributory negligence then if you were even 1$ at fault, you could not recover from the other person. But if you had some to slow/stop then the other driver should have as well. Placing any liability against the deer (I can't see that) would still not be any % against you.
Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:07 am Post Subject:
im w/ tcope.
youre company may be paying to take care of you for now while the case is being fully investigated...with the intention on going after the other company for reimbursement (subrogation). typically, when someone rear ends you, they are simply at fault regardless. they would have to prove you negligent in some way. w/ a deer, not sure thats possible, especially considering you hit the deer. I'm curious as to how this pans out, pls keep us posted...it's how we all learn.
Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 02:46 am Post Subject:
Your insurance company has taken responsibility and the person who rear ended you has a insurance company that says they are not 100% responsible.What can you do? Can you file a civil suit against them? Other than getting a lawyer,what can you do? The driver was given a citation for following tooo close.
Don't fully understand the statement about your insurance company "taking responsibility" . . . for the other party's damages . . . or not blinking about paying the claim for your loss?
And I don't know what the rush to civil court is all about either. Although the other party is obviously responsible for some of your damages if they were cited for following too close. Stopping for an animal in the road is not normally a negligent act, but if you are in one of the few contributory negligence states, it could be a problem when trying to collect from the other party.
If your insurer is covering your property loss, then your only out of pocket expense is the collision deductible (typically $500 or $1000). Your insurer will subrogate the claim against the other insurer -- and it could go to arbitration. If your insurer recovers enough to reimburse your deductible you would get that back. Otherwise you would have a small claims court case against the other driver for your deductible. You could try for the "pain and suffering" stuff, but that's not usually a winning point in small claims court.
Now if you have considerable medical expenses, evidence of the seriousness of your injuries, then you would have a different claim against the other driver. That could be sufficient to go to civil court. But you'd then probably need an attorney, and that will cause you to give up at least 33% of any settlement or award.
So file your claim against the other driver and their insurance company and see what happens. It's not yet time to find a PI attorney. Wait until your claim has been denied or their offer is woefully unsatisfactory.
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