Automobile accident / personal injury lawsuit.. legal advice needed.

September 21st, 2002 I was in an accident with another vehicle while crossing an intersection. Vision was obscured in the lane closest to me, so I inched up to the intersection and stopped. It was there that I was hit by another vehicle. I had a stop sign, the other car didn't. At the scene both the other driver and myself stated that we were fine.


Today, I received a summons. It states that the female driver recieved painful, permanent, and disabling injuries when I recklessly and with disregard for traffic rules hit her vehicle. For this I am being sued for 1 Million dollars.

In addition, her husband is suing me for loss of comfort/services from his wife as a result of her "injuries" for a total of 100,000 dollars.



Obviously, I feel this is a complete bogus lawsuit. But what can I do?

Do I go through my insurance company or pay for a private lawyer?


Does anyone know anything regarding this that could help me?


I'm absolutely fuming and terrified at the same time, right now....


Thanks

WaxWorm,

I'm not a lawyer, but I've been through this, so take this as my .02

Unless you were ticketed for being impaired at the time of the accident (i.e., DWI or DUI), contact your insurance company and let them handle it preliminarily. They have lawyers that will represent your (their) interests.

This initial demand for a million bucks is typical and in no way reflects what they even *expect* to settle for. Unfortunately, it's just part of the game that legal proceedings have been reduced to.

Good luck!

OK thats a bit overboard with the 1 million and $100,000.... like everyone in this world has a few million to spare... as bad as this is going to sound... shes still alive and even if she wasnt 1 million??? come on they are nuts.... Hope this goes well for you... it just makes the others look money hungry to me....

Was a police report filed for the accident? Are there any witnesses to what happened?

If it was as you described, it sounds as thought THEY hit an unmoving vehicle (yours), not the other way around. In such a case I believe they could be cited for failure to avoid an accident. If they could have avoided hitting your vehicle, but did not, then I think YOU could file a countersuit against them. And, depending on the circumstances, if could be their word against yours about what happened.

After all this time, I suspect some family member prodded them into this. A $100 spent on a letter from YOUR attorney might nip this in the bud.

I am certain they are not expecting you to fight this.

In addition, her husband is suing me for loss of comfort/services from his wife as a result of her "injuries" for a total of 100,000 dollars.

Loss of what exactly? Give me a break. No one is as good as $100,000 for a few months. You know, when I was 16, I had a girlfriend who's mother did not like me and did not allow us to spend much time together outside of school. I wonder if I can sue her for loss of comfort/services from my then girlfriend? I think I'll go call my lawyer.

What a load of crap.

No witnesses.

Despite my being the one to call the police and speak to them when they showed, the Police simply reduced it to "you had a stop sign, she didn't" and drove off.. I was not happy with how it was handled.


Yeah, it's a total crock.. Obviously the amount they are asking for is in hopes that I/my insurance company will settle for a smaller sum. Which is another reason I was asking for advice- is it in my best interest to have my insurance company fight this, or should I look for a private lawyer? I may be paranoid, but I'm worried that my insurance company would simply look to settle, leaving me with even higher premiums than the rediculous amount I already pay for being under 25, male, in new york with a modern car.

How was the vehicle damage handled? If your insurance company paid for her repairs, then they've technically already admitted liability. If each company paid for their own driver's vehicle, then it was already determined to be on the "no fault" line.

Was the letter sent ONLY to you, or also to your insurance company?

Your insurance company most likely will opt to settle for a much lesser amount, and while you can give them your input, it's basically a dollars and cents decision for them....time invested, staff invested, possible litigation expenses versus just writing a check.

However, in this litigation happy society, stranger things have happened......just ask the person who got $5 million from McDonald's for spilling their own coffee on their leg.

Apparently my company admitted liability because of the positioning of my car in the accident.

The woman tried from day 1 to make a claim, stating soft tissue damage (aches and pains) and my insurance company denied her claim. So now she's suing me directly.

I faxed the papers over to my insurance company, so now I wait to hear from their lawyers.

Wow.

Let me first say that my experience with these situations is not from defending a suit, but from filing one on behalf of one of my children injured in a car accident. However, we sued to cover her reconstructive surgery only, and weren't out to gouge anyone. In the process, I learned alot of things that insurance companies and personal injury lawyers do to try to swing things in their favor.

First of all, if your insurance company gave her *any* sort of settlement, for lost work, replacement of clothing that was ruined by a blood spill, any of that, she may have already lost her claim with them. My daughter's accident was on a Friday evening, and by 9 a.m. on Saturday the insurance adjuster for the driver was asking me to fax her a $ value for my daughter's clothing so she could *hand deliver* a check to me that day. Let me tell you, I was in a fog, and couldn't understand why someone was trying to replace her clothing while she was still recovering from surgery. Fortunately, my call waiting clicked in, a trusted friend was on the other line, and when I told him that the insurance company wanted some weird information, he calmly told me to get her phone number and advise her I'd call right back. He then 3-wayed to the lawyer we both knew. I was amazed when the lawyer explained that this is common for the insurance company to get you to endorse a check for any ridiculous amount (in this case, to reimburse for the clothing she had cut off of her by the EMTs), because that can be used in court as proof of settlement on the entire claim. Amazing, eh?

The husband's claim is based on loss of companionship, meaning that his wife was cranky, was unable to do what she normally did, probably didn't want to have sex. This is a common ploy as well. If she's actually (and probably unintentionally) settled her claim, he still has one.

It's a scare tactic to sue you personally. Let's face it, if denying a claim made it go away, you could just deny this one as your insurance company did, and then they'd have to go sue the person who was in the lane next to you for blocking your visibility. What they're doing is scaring you so that you're more likely to push your insurance company to settle the claim so you won't have personal liability. The truth is, denying the claim is simply saying "we're not going to agree to what you want", and forces the injured party to set up the legal procedure and stop trying to negotiate individually.

The fact that she didn't claim injury at the scene is probably not relevant. It's been proven over and over and over again that many injuries received in a sudden trauma will not manifest themselves for hours or even days.

Don't panic over this. It's just the beginning of a long series of posturing and paperwork.

WW,

You need to contact your own attorney, but the primary action taken on this should come by way of your insurance company. If they have already settled a claim, they have the ability to have this thrown out for you. Insurance companies have on staff lawyers that do nothing else but go to court over insurance issues. That being the case, their expertise is likely much better than even the best of private practices lawyers in such matters.

Further, since this was a claim that was covered by your policy, and it was one in which they payed a settlement, the insurance company has the right to defend itself and you. If you were to admit guilt beyond what the insurance company had already established, it could reflect on them, and they don't want any attribution of guilt against which they cannot argue for themselves.

This tactic of suing you, personally, is just that . . .a tactic. If your insurance company is informed of your situation, they will be your best bet in clearing this up quickly. If you do contact an attorney for yourself, I am certain he/she will tell you the very same thing.

Good luck, and try not to sweat this too much!