QuestionHi Anne.
I was in a car accident in May of 2009 with a good friend of mine. I was driving my car with him as a passenger on an unfamiliar road when I took a corner too fast, spun out and hit a guard rail. I suffered a minor whiplash but my friend who has had spine problems was injured. His condition was perpetuated which will mean years of medical bills, pain management and resulted in his inability to work.
Naturally, I feel terribly guilty and want him to be taken care of as well as possible but initially, my insurance through AAA did not want to adequately compensate him for his losses. I had liability coverage for up to $100,000 at the time but they did not want to give him anywhere near that amount. With my ok, he has hired an attorney to go for the full $100,000 but AAA is having a hard time settling. It's been over a year now and i just recently received phone calls from an attorney whom AAA has hired to settle the case. This was a shock to me because i was told by AAA (after several conversations where i gave a recorded statement of what happened# that my insurance company would handle it from there on out and that i would not have to be involved in this process any further.
To make matters worse, in conversations with this attorneys' assistant #I can never seem to actually get a hold of the actual attorney) they have made it seem as though I am the one being sued and that I will "be served once the lawsuit is filed and served". They even went so far as to say that if I don't cooperate then AAA could deny coverage of the claim completely!
This doesn't make any sense to me. I had liability insurance for a reason right? Also, since my friend's attorney WILL NOT be going for any more than the $100,000 amount on the policy this whole claim is still against AAA and has nothing to do with me, correct?
Also, I was told, by this attorneys' assistant, that if the case is not settled within 2 years then the insurance company is no longer responsible for the claim and the settlement money must then come from me. Is that true? I'm not familiar with AAA's contract/policy on this matter but I'm pretty sure that's not the case. The Statute of limitations in California only states that the injured person has up to 2 years to file the claim, not 2 years to settle. My friend's attorney said (when my friend asked him upon initially filing the claim) that after the claim is filed there is NO time limit as to when the case needs to be settled.
So, as you can imagine, i am EXTREMELY confused and don't know whether i should trust this lawyer through AAA or not. I feel as though they are only there to try to save AAA from having to pay any settlement money whatsoever even if it means lying and twisting facts to accomplish that.
Can you shed a little light as to what might be going on here?
AnswerHello Alysha,
The statute of limitation requires that you settle or you file a formal lawsuit before the statue expires. Filing a claim does not "tolled" or stop your rights. If you fail to settle or to sue, then you would lose all your rights.
However, your lawyer knows this and if you cannot settle, then a formal lawsuit must be filed to preserve your rights. After your file a lawsuit, the statute is tolled and you have until the case is heard or there is a settlement.
Please see: http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/Statute-of-Limitations-1.html
Good Luck,
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