Auto Insurance Claims: Ins. company wont settle - no reason., Auto Claim Help

Question
I was in a 5 car non-fault accident. The insurance company for the driver that caused the accident (commercial) has settled with everyone but me. My feeling is because I was the only one without legal representation. I have called the adjuster several times since the accident and always has an excuse/run-around. I have never received any calls or letters from the adjuster or the insurance company acknowledging anything about the accident, like it never happened. It's been almost a year since the accident. My settlement was very reasonable as I'm trying to minimize their liability. I don't have medical bills. For us it was a mental anguish and stress due to the lack of sleep after the accident. My son (15 years-old), who was with me at the time of the accident, had trouble concentrating in school. Tired of waiting, I called the adjuster's supervisor and complained. I mentioned to her that I was going to hire an attorney and sue her driver since his insurance company wasn’t responding, to which she responded “ok”. She didn’t offer any feedback, nothing. All she did was listened to me. Never gave me an explanation as to why is taking so long, especially when they already settled with the other 3 parties involved in the accident. In my settlement I was asking for my car rental, diminished value ($32k truck which was only 3 months old at the time of the accident) and $2k for pain, suffering and mental anguish we went thru. I called the owner of the business that the driver worked for and told him I will have to take him to court if his insurance company doesn't settle within 10 days. Am I doing the right thing by taking the driver to court? If I take the driver to court, can I suit him to also recover all legal feeds? I did found out that they have been settling with all parties only after the other insurance companies went to litigation. Please advise.

Answer
Indeed your only option is to sue the negligent party/ies.  If the vehicle was a commercial vehicle, then you likely will need to sue both the driver and his employer vicariously.  

It is unfortunately a common occurrence to get ignored by an insurance company, especially if you are not really threatening them in the right manner.  Keep in mind, the insurance doesn't have any duty to even speak with you.  They only have to defend their insured party.

Also, it is not very common to get any type of injury settlement (even for mental anguish) if there is no injury documented.  Not that it couldn't happen, just that it is not common for a jury to award that type of damage with no documented injury.

Making phone calls is an effective way to get information, but it is rarely an effective way to reach a settlement.  You need to negotiate your claim in writing and force the insurance company to do the same.  If they refuse, you need to deal directly with the responsible parties and sue them if they do not take care of your damages.  If the negligent party calls their insurance company due to the real threat of a suit, something normally happens because the insurance company has to respond if their insured invokes the policy, or it could be a breach of contract suit on top of what they might owe for your damages.  

When and if you sue, you can generally get the cost of suit back in the final judgment.  My personal opinion is that you need an attorney or at the very least, expert assistance in getting your claim paid.  My company does that and we're easy to find if you get stuck.  

I hope this helps.  Information is always free at Petty Details, LLC!