QuestionQUESTION: If someone files a lawsuit against State Farm over an auto accident injury, can they get part of your monthly retirement check and your social security check? A friend
of mine ( and it really is a friend ) is in this situation
and someone from State Farm is coming to question them tomorrow. I don't think they can take their social security checks, but I could be wrong.
ANSWER: Hi Lee,
Your question is not quiet clear enough for me to provide an
answer.
I assume that your friend is insured with State Farm, had an
accident in which he was at fault and is being sued for an
amount that is greater than his policy limit.
Please verify if I am correct on at least that part and provide
me with more specific information including the approximate
date of the accident and the state where it happened.
If you know the amount of insurance carried by your friend
and the amount of the lawsuit, provide that information also.
You can do all this with a follow up question.
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Yes, you are correct. My friend's husband had an accident last year and he was at fault. They live in Florida and have State Farm Insurance. Their insurance pays $50,000 per accident and $100,000 for loss of limb. The lady is claiming she lost the use of her back, but she can walk and drive. Tomorrow morning, a lawyer from State Farm is coming over to have them fill out forms listing all of their assets, how much money her husband gets from his
pension and how much social security they both get. Her
husband is partially disabled due to an injury he suffered in Vietnam.
AnswerHi Lee,
Thanks for the additional information.
Based on the information that you have made available to me, the
following is PROBABLY what's happening in this ongoing situation.
After the injured party was fully recovered, her attorney presented
an unknown dollar demand to State Farm to settle the injury claim.
State Farm has copies of all her medical bills, doctors reports
including the diagnosis made by the doctor and his treatment plan
plus the charges for all special tests such as a MRI, CT scan,
X-rays etc., the total number of prescribed physical therapy and
it's cost. If she treated with a Chiropractor or massage therapist
they also have the diagnosis, number of treatments and charges
from each. Plus they know the amount of any wage loss (if any)
and any and all other expenses that the injured party considers
were caused by the accident.
State Farm has reviewed all the information and decided that the
"unknown" (to us) demand made by the attorney is much greater
than the true value of the claim and has made a dollar amount
offer (which is unknown to anyone except the attorney and his
client) of an amount much lower than the amount of the demand
made by the attorney. State Farm has been involved in ongoing
correspondence with the attorney and may have increased their
offer 2-3 times and each time the offer was rejected by the
attorney. State Farm has finally hit the maximum limit that
they are willing to offer and told the attorney that this is
their FINAL offer.
Now, the attorney has filed a lawsuit in order to hopefully speed
up the settlement and get State Farm to make a larger offer.
He chose to sue for an amount greater than the policy limits
in order to scare your friend and hope that he would try to
put pressure on State Farm to make a larger offer.
State Farm has an obligation to their insured (your friend) to
make every possible attempt to settle this claim within the
policy limits so as to not endanger your friend's assets.
State Farm is coming to see your friend to determine the total
value of his assets. That includes his home, any rental or
commercial property, any stocks or bonds, the amount of money
in savings or CD's and their total monthly retirement checks
including social security.
The attorney has an obligation to his client to hire a firm to
research your friend's assets. If your friend has little or
no assets other than social security checks, he must inform
his client that this case is not worth the extra time and expense
of taking to trial. If it goes to trial, the attorney will be
able to charge more for his expenses plus he gets a larger
percent of the settlement as opposed to the percent that he gets
if it is settled out of court. Depending on how busy the court
calendar is, it could be 1-2 years before he gets a trial date.
If he takes this case to trial, there is no guarantee of what
a jury may decide to award. It could be even less than the last
offer made by State Farm. The moment the case goes to trial,
State Farm's offer comes off the table and can NOT even be
mentioned in court.
If it does go to trial and the attorney wins an amount greater
that $50,000, your friend will be responsible for the excess
amount. He would be forced to pay that amount from his assets,
but if their only asset is their social security checks, then
they could expect the court to only order them to make a very
small "token" monthly payment.
Print this and take it over to your friend and discuss it.
I hope that you and your friend find this information to be
helpful. Your feedback by rating my response will be appreciated.
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area
