QuestionHopefully I am not offending anyone by asking this question as most of the queations seem to come from the plaintiff rather than the defendant side but...
I was involved in an auto accident almost 2 years ago. I was held at fault. Out of 3 witnesses 2 said i ran the red light, one said my light was green. There was damage to both vehicles and they ended up being towed. I was pregnant at the time, but declined medical assistance as did the people in the other car. A few months ago I was served with papers saying i was being sued. I gave all info to my insurance co. They assigned me a lawyer who told me that the suit was for around $5600. My insurance company offered about $2600 which was refused. My policy limit is $100,000. They told me that I would be fine. A few months later I received a letter indicating that a new adjustor had taken over the case. I called her to find out what was going on and she told me that she handles more serious cases. Apparently the gentleman from the other vehicle had surgery and didnt settle for the earlier offer. Just last week I received a copy of a letter from my insurance to the plaintiff's lawyer offering to settle for $100,000 which is my policy limit. I am shocked that they go from under $10 000 to the policy limit right away. I guess I am just wondering if most cases settle for the limit or if this gentleman will go after our personal assets. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to me, and I am a stay at home mother...this will ruin my family financially if he wants more than my policy allows... Do most cases settle within policy limits at this level? I know this is vague and generalized but I don't know anything about his injuries other than it involved back surgery.
any advice or insight would be appreciated.
thank you very much
AnswerI don't think you should spend much time worrying about this.
This is certainly unusual. It appears that the plaintiff was willing to settle for much less before he realized his injuries were more serious and required surgery. The insurance company had the opportunity to settle for much less. If they had done so, this would all be over with.
The case will probably settle for policy limits. The plaintiff attorney would be taking a big risk going to trial, because you have a witness who says you had a green light. He could lose on liability. Also, it is very difficult to collect more than policy limits. He'd have to get a judgment against you and then get you to liquidate your assets. This is not easy, so he'll probably just take the money now.
Worst case scenario, the case goes to trial and the plaintiff is awarded more than $100k. The insurance company could be accused of bad faith because they could have settled the case for much less but chose not to. They will almost definitely offer to pay anything beyond the policy limit to avoid this. There is very very little chance of you paying anything. Just cooperate with your insurance company attorney if the case proceeds to trial.
If the case does go to trial and the plaintiff is awarded more than $100k, you should retain an attorney to sue your insurance company for bad faith. But I'm getting way ahead here -- don't worry about this unless it happens.
