QuestionI have an accident in Alton,IL where the police report says its my fault. I got a letter from Madison County court saying that the other driver is suing me for the amount he spent for his car repair. In the accident, the police officer gave us each other's insurance agency information. Instead of suing my insurance company, he is suing me. I talked to my insurance company and they said they will take care of it but the date of appearance in court is almost near and I heard nothing from my insurance company. I tried to contact them but they are not picking up the phone.
So, in this situation, is it lawful that the other driver sue me instead of suing my insurance company? What should I do?
AnswerHi Sam,
This is really a dumb move by the other driver. He could have spent about one hour filing a claim against your company and would have been paid for his damage. Instead, he has chosen to pay for the repairs out of his own pocket and sue you for recovery.
There is really no explanation for his using this method unless he also had other "old" damage that he got repaired at the same time and is hoping that the court will award him the full amount that he paid without scrutinizing the repair records.
It sounds like you have done everything right by reporting the accident to your insurance company and then notifying them that you were being sued. They should have requested that you immediately provide them with a copy of the law suit.
You need to keep trying to contact your company. If you can't make any contact with the office that you were dealing with, you need to move higher and contact the company main office.
Your insurance company owes you a legal defense in this matter and should have already appointed an attorney to review this matter and appear at your side in court.
If you are unable to contact or get assistance from your company, you MUST still appear in court for the hearing of the lawsuit. When you lose in court, your insurance company becomes responsible for paying the court ordered settlement and costs.
There is a loophole in your policy that allows your company to deny paying the claim if you FAIL to appear in court. It's possible that you have an unscrupulous company that is ignoring you in the hope that you will think they are taking care of everything and you will fail to appear in court on that basis. This would give them the legal right to deny the claim and the court ruling would all come out of your pocket.
Do everything in your power to make contact with your company. Under no condition should you fail to appear in court.
In the event that this is a common practice of your company to avoid paying claims, you need to file a complaint with your state department of insurance. It will take the state 4-6 weeks to investigate this matter. File your complaint at:
http://www.idfrp.com/DOI/Complaints/file_complaint.asp
I hope you find this information to be helpful. Please write again if you feel that I can be of more assistance.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area
