Auto Insurance Claims: Other party claiming bodily injury, bodily injury liability, personal injury attorneys

Question
Hi,
I was involved in a car accident where I was deemed at fault by my insurance carrier. To make a long story short, the other driver claimed I backed into his car, and thus, he couldn't stop in time to prevent hitting my car.
The Other driver, hired an attorney, and is claiming an injury of "post traumatic head syndrome".  I received a demand letter from his attorney stating the injuries above ,and that doctors recommended his client to have surgery, the demand letter also stated that my bodily injury liability limit may not be enough to cover the injury. My bodily injury coverage is 25K.  
It was not a major accident, after exchanging information, I saw the other driver drove away.    
If my bodily injury limit is not enough, i know i can be sued.  However, I have no viable assets. I'm currently renting, don't own any properties.  Making payments on a new car.  The word "lawsuit" worries me.  I'm in california, the most litigious state.  Can the other driver and his attorney get a court judgement for my car,  any retirement accounts I have, like 401k, and garnish my wages?.  And to get a judgment, does it mean that the other driver and his attorney would have to bring me to court, and the judge or jury will decide?     Any advice, would be helpful.

Answer
Hi Larry,

Relax and enjoy a good Christmas and New Year without a thought of any adverse consequences of your negligence since your insurance company will handle everything for you and no attorney is going to come after your modest assets.

Personal injury attorneys like Doctor Settlement get maximum insurance settlements without going after personal assets.  Since the tortfeasor can discharge any judgment like this in bankruptcy (unless the tortfeasor was in commission of a crime such as DUI), we have NO desire to pursue anyone's personal assets.  

There are a lot of assets that are exempt from bankruptcy attachment or garnishment (including your car).  So once you take those out of the picture, and you factor in the hassle of going forward with getting a judgment (your insurer will make them go through a jury trial) and then through a bankruptcy proceeding, no attorney is going to do all of that when there is a ready source of money in the client's own Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UIM).  

It is a whole lot easier for us to go through a UIM arbitration than it is to chase down a tortfeasor's personal assets after a jury trial.  In all of my 27 years as a personal injury attorney Dr. Settlement never once pursued a tortfeasor's assets.  It just is not worth it since most people with modest limits do not have huge asset bases to go after.  And if they do have sufficient assets to pursue, then that class of people will always also have large insurance liability limits.

In an accident of such modest impact there can and will usually be injuries, notwithstanding the fact the parties drive away.  The shock effect hides the injuries for a few hours, and sometimes it can take a week before a person notices an increasingly chronic pain in her neck, etc.  But the injuries from such a modest impact will not amount to a value in excess of your Insurance limits PLUS the victim's UIM.

As for the claims in the demand letter, of course we always make those a bit more dramatic than they really are just to attract a higher value from both the tortfeasor's adjuster (that is your company) and our own UIM adjuster.  

MAKE SURE that you turn over everything that the attorney sent to you ASAP.  Do not delay.  That way, they can start the defense of your claim.  An attorney will be hired to represent you in the event a lawsuit has to be filed.  Cooperate fully with the adjuster and the attorney.

Now you can just relax and not worry at all about this accident, other than the time you will have to give to the adjuster and maybe the attorney to discuss the accident with them.  

I trust that my time here has produced some information that has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you take the time to locate the FEEDBACK FORM on this site and leave some feedback for me.

Best Wishes,

Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
Http://www.SettlementCentral.Com