Getting sued...need advice
Long story short, my wife was in a fender bender in September and both parties walked away fine. My wife was 8 months pregnant and didn't go to the doctor so it was that small of a bump. She got served papers today and the plaintiff is claiming all sorts of injuries, emotional distress, blah, blah, blah. We really think they are just out to get the money. Any attorneys on here? How often do these cases go in their favor? I've read that these cases usually settle for whatever insurance will pay, but it's still a crock. She is wanting compensation for future pain and suffering as well. It was $500 damage to their car. My wife was behind her and was stopped but her foot just happened to come off the break. Couldn't have been going more than 2-3 MPH.
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If you didn't go through insurance, you might be shafted.
My uncle was in a fender bender, in a few week he was served for pain and suffering from the other driver. Lucky the police wrote in the report that both parties had no signs of injuries and both stated to be fine. They went to court and the judge sided with my uncle. Case closed
Are they represented by counsel?
I'm assuming by the group who delivered the papers to our home this evening.
Who was at fault?
His wife. She was cited.
Are they represented by counsel?
I'm assuming by the group who delivered the papers to our home this evening.
You'll have to look on the papers, it will tell you. Do you have full coverage with your insurance, including bodily injury?
Are they represented by counsel?
I'm assuming by the group who delivered the papers to our home this evening.
I am an attorney. Sending pm.
Who was at fault?
Since she hit them from behind, she's liable by default. I'm pretty sure...
My wife dealt with something like this around 14 years ago.
This is part of your state required coverage (liability and bodily injury).
Who was at fault?
Since she hit them from behind, she's liable by default. I'm pretty sure...
The way liability gets applied varies by state.
Assuming you are in America, you are innocent until proven guilty. Yes, your wife was guilty of the minor bump up, but if the police cited minor damage and no cause of injury, then the other party can't just claim all of these injuries and expect a payday. Think of it like this. You wanted to put a fence up around your yard. You accidentally put one fence post in your neighbors yard and they sue you for your house. Ha ha... you're at fault, but no. You might have to move the fence post and repair your fence, but you're not giving them everything their asking because that's ridiculous. At most, they might get a couple hunderd bucks to re-sod the damaged area, but they can't take you for everything you hold for such an infraction. This circumstance is similar. They can severely claim damages on a comparably simple incident.
The two main issues is that you won't win if you don't get a lawyer. Lawyers know how to argue this point and file the paperwork to get this swept under the rug. Furthermore, all of that work takes time and money so your insurance will likely settle out of court. Yes, this further perpetuates this problem by giving in but if they didn't, they'd waste a lot of time and time is money... a lot of money when it involves the courts.
And, so, people like this jerk will keep doing what they are doing because they know that your insurance (not you personally) will keep paying. The people that get hurt the most are individuals like as yourself who aren't coveraged by liability insurance and have no choice but to hire a lawyer. It's expensive and could cost just as much as the damages but at least the scammer isn't getting anything out of it.
At a minimum, your insurance should have a lawyer that will deal with this on your behalf.
My wife dealt with something like this around 14 years ago.
This is part of your state required coverage (liability and bodily injury).
Yep. So even though you didn't want to turn this in as a claim, sounds like you may need to at this point.
Better call Saul!
That show is sooo good right now.
Sorry what happened OP, hope all turns out well. People can be so nasty in the world today.
Better call Saul!
That show is sooo good right now.
Sorry what happened OP, hope all turns out well. People can be so nasty in the world today.
Great show. I have to watch the last 2 episodes.
OP, I hope all turns out well for you both. People can be jerks with car accidents no matter how minor. We had a similar situation to yours, but our car was the one that got hit. The passenger in their car took pictures of us and stated he is taking them for insurance purposes in case we wanted to claim anything. I assured him we were fine, but he still took the pictures. We got the damages covered... which surprisingly the bumper did get bent some as the impact was a little faster.
Assuming you are in America, you are innocent until proven guilty.
Just keep in mind that the exact language that this sentiment summarizes and the level of "proof" is HUGELY DIFFERENT between criminal and civil matters...
Might have to find the officer that was there and have some written testimony , especially if both parties went off on their own without any medical treatment day of the fender bender.
The more info you can give your lawyer the better , they can do the foot work but it helps if you can point out things they can look into.
Sorry that ya gotta deal with this , and good luck