Auto Insurance Claims: Auto Accident Two Years Ago, rental charges, u turn

Question
Just over two years ago, I was involved in an auto accident where the other driver pulled an illegal U-turn in front of me. I was in my lane of traffic and the other driver was sitting perpendicular to the turn lane (nose pointing NORTH on an East/West road). The car was just sitting there and I proceeded as per usual in my lane. The car apparently did not see me coming at it and attempted to complete the U-Turn right in front of me.  Of course I hit the other car.  Two tickets were issued (one to the driver making the illegal U-turn and one to me for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident) and both tickets were ultimately dismissed.  I incurred three weeks of car rental charges while my car was being repaired and sent the receipt to the other driver's insurance company.  It went completely unanswered. Fast forward two years and my insurance company has recently contacted me to aid them in "subrogation".  An attorney has been arranged for (my insurance company did this) but as far as I know nothing has proceeded any further.  My question is this:  will I have to pay for this attorney?  Or give up a percentage of any money I get back? Or pay for the attorney if we lose the case?  Mind you, it's been two years and I don't miss the money any more.  But if it's going to cost me a third or 40% to get it back, then I'm not interested.  Do I have to participate in their case against the other insurance company?  Keep in mind that I did drop my insurance company two years ago when the accident happened. Apparently my insurance company feels the driver was completely at fault while the other driver's insurance company applies fault at 50/50.  I can only assume this is their opinion; again, all correspondence between me and the other insurance company went ignored for two years.  Hence the suing has started.  Any insight would be appreciated. Thank you.


Answer
Hi Janet,

Do not worry about the expense of the attorney. Any costs that your insurance comapny incurs will be paid by them. It will not come out of any money you are entitled to. You do need to assist them in pursuing the claim. Even though there may not be much money at stake for you, if it goes through as a 50/50 liability decision, it wouldl be considered an at-fault event and could cause your insurance rates to go up. Based on your description of the event, I would say that the other driver is 100% at fault.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh