by Guest » Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:38 pm
Hi. I live in South Carolina. I was in a automobile accident last summer that involved a motorcycle. The motorcyclist suffered pretty severe damage to her foot, and her medical bills were close to $200,000. I had minimum coverage at the time and my insurance could only cover $25,000. The motorcyclist has under insured insurance, but it covers $25,000. My agent just contacted me and said the motorcyclist is going to sue me for the injuries she sustained in the accident. I have no assets. My house and car are in my wife's name. I read online that in South Carolina, a person's wages cannot be garnished except for debts related to taxes, child support, federally guaranteed student loans, and court-ordered fines or restitution. Are they able to go after my wife's assets or my wages? What can I expect from the lawsuit? Any answers will help tremendously. Thank you in advance.
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 02:53 am Post Subject:
Hi
I think your wages can't be garnished for baying the bodily injury liability since you're staying in South Carolina. Usually, a lien can be placed on your home if the other party gets a judgment against you from the court. But in this case, I think it cannot be done since it's in your wife's name.
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 07:45 am Post Subject:
Why would your agent know this and not you? When you say agent, do you mean claims adjuster?
Has your insurance company offered your $25k policy limits to the other person's attorney? If so, it's extremely rare that the attorney would not accept it and go after their own client's UMBI coverage. To file suit against you the attorney would need to not accept your $25k limit and not accept any UMBI money either. He would not see a dime until the case was settled. On top of that, he'd be fighting but your insurance companies defense as well as his own client's carrier's defense.
As I read, yes they could place a lien on your home.
But all of this does not make much sense as the attorney would usually take the easy money and not try to collect on a lien against a home.
Your wife's assets are your assets.
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 07:20 pm Post Subject:
Thank you for your responses. When I say agent, I do mean claims adjuster. Both me and the other driver have the same insurance company. My insurance company offered my $25k and they were going to use her $25K of under-insured motorist insurance to cover some of the extra cost. I'm not sure if she had health insurance. Since the medical bills exceed our policy limit, her lawyer denied the offering and have began looking into my assets.
I have read South Carolina is not a community property state, and since my wife bought the house before we were married, the house is non marital property. But you are saying that my wife's assets are my assets, and they could put a lien on our home. I'm getting confused. Is my information correct, or is there something that I'm missing?
Thanks in advance
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 07:20 pm Post Subject:
Thank you for your responses. When I say agent, I do mean claims adjuster. Both me and the other driver have the same insurance company. My insurance company offered my $25k and they were going to use her $25K of under-insured motorist insurance to cover some of the extra cost. I'm not sure if she had health insurance. Since the medical bills exceed our policy limit, her lawyer denied the offering and have began looking into my assets.
I have read South Carolina is not a community property state, and since my wife bought the house before we were married, the house is non marital property. But you are saying that my wife's assets are my assets, and they could put a lien on our home. I'm getting confused. Is my information correct, or is there something that I'm missing?
Thanks in advance
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 07:50 am Post Subject:
This involves lien, and his wife to discuss.
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