Was involved in a chain reaction accident on 10/3. In Indiana. The vehicle directly in front of me had rear ended the car in front of them.The car in the very front came to a sudden stop in traffic for an unknown reason. I then rear ended the car directly in front of me.
My car was totaled. My air bags deployed and I got third degree burns on my hand from the air bag. The other two cars had no serious visible damages. The only visible injuries were my burns. I know that means nothing and injuries can take time and be invisible.
I understood right away I was liable for hitting the car directly in front of me. I know I should have had enough following distance to stop. I still want to say it happened so quickly in front of me and there was traffic in the other lane that prevented me from swerving. But I understand I still should have had room so I get it. No need to crucify me for rear ending. I know how the liability falls with those.
There were multiple passengers in the vehicle I hit. One passenger was visibly pregnant. We were all very cordial and worried about each other at the scene. No one went in an ambulance from othet vehicles and the other two drivers were able to drive their vehicles away from the accident.
Now two weeks later, I received the damages may exceed policy limits letter. I called my adjuster for updates. She let me know there was no serious property damage claims, and a couple passengers got checked out for minor things, but the pregnant passenger apparently went into labor after the accident.
My question now is, would I likely be liable for the entire labor and delivery?
My adjuster told me that, so I am assuming so? I was so shocked I just said ok and we ended the call. I will ask her specifically, but just wanted to see what reddit had to say.
I am certain that would exceed my policy of 50k per person BI/100k per accident BI.
I hope she had a safe delivery and her baby is healthy. I cant help but be beyond stressed. And not to mention dealing with my own injury and paying out of pocket for that because I dont have medpay on my policy and paying my health insurances deductible for my visits.
Just to add the official fault of the entire incident was determined 50% myself and 50% the car directly in front of me if that matters. But I know I am liable for them.
Received letter my claim may exceed policy limits
byu/Ashamed-Afternoon89 inInsurance
Posted by Ashamed-Afternoon89
4 Comments
If the other vehicle stopped and then you pushed them into the first one you would be 100% liable for both of them. You are 100% liable for the damages of the vehicle you hit and your damages but maybe only partially at fault for the first vehicle.
So perhaps not a true “chain accident” but sort of! I suppose there being solid proof of the first accident occurring is the reason for the 50/50 fault determination
Your carrier won’t pay anything toward those injuries without a release from all the other parties. That is, the only way the other parties would collect anything from your policy is if they signed a release or they went through a trial and got an excess judgment. If the other party were to sue, they would need an attorney and there is a _very_ good chance that attorney would just take your limits and call it a day.
I’d not worry too much about it.
That sounds like a very significant event, far beyond the ordinary of day-to-day life. These kinds of events can leave quite an impact.
Additionally, kudos to you for your willingness to accept accountability and responsibility. That’s a diminishing trait in today’s society, and we are much worse off for it.
That said, you also need to do your best to back up a little bit from the inherent bias you will have from being a party in the accident. You can only see your actions, and that tends to lead to warped perspectives of what actually happened.
There’s a reason that 50/50 liability was assigned – while it is most likely true you could have done a better job of leaving stopping room, *it is also most likely true* that the car in front of you could have done the same.
Additionally, while the pregnant passenger in front of you did go into labor subsequent to the accident, depending on how far along she was, it doesn’t mean that the accident is the sole and only cause. Without knowing her due date, or any other details, the old axiom of “correlation is not causation” is very relevant.
To further touch on this point, *even if the accident was the sole cause of the labor* (unknowable, but let’s stipulate), then you play a 50% role in that, not 100%. And one can argue that a pregnant person must acknowledge the inherent risk factor of traveling via automobile – there’s a risk we *all* take every time we get inside of 4000 pounds of steel and rubber and hurdle ourselves through time and space at 70mph. That risk becomes more poignant when you add in the consideration of pregnancy – it’s not your responsibility to make that risk assessment for her.
Now, I agree with you on this element: I hope that everything went well with the labor and delivery. There’s a good chance that the impact caused a placenta tear, and that led to labor. That’s “ok”. Hell, one of the recommended ways to bring on overdue labor is vigorous exercise and/or sex. A car crash is a bit more extreme, for sure, but the point being – external events causing labor isn’t inherently a “bad thing”.
So, hopefully it will turn out to be a crazy story mom tells little one some day – that it took a car crash to get them out. 😁
So, with all of that in mind – give yourself a bit of grace. This is literally “accidents happen”. The likelihood of mom and baby being just fine is very good – between your description of “visibly pregnant” and the reality of how incredibly advanced neonatal care has become, positive outcomes are the “normal”.
With regard to the financial side of it, yea – $50k/$100k is going to go up like smoke, even with 50% fault. Even if there’s no immediate trauma to the baby, best practices is going to dictate a bit of time in NICU to monitor and observe.
That said, I imagine that while you did receive a letter of limit exhaustion, that the other party’s insurance will take the limits and call it a day. There’s something called an “affidavit of no other insurance” that you may get from the other party’s insurance company, that they will want you to sign. Basically, what you are swearing is that you don’t have other liability insurance coverage, such as an umbrella policy. The affidavit will (should) list examples of other policies that would be relevant.
If you get one of these affidavits, I would recommend that you have an attorney double check it for you, but *usually* what it means is the insurance company is not going to pursue further action against you individually.
Hopefully, you aren’t one of those people who have $2 million in assets and carry 50/100 limits. If you are, lawyer up now. Because I promise you, the insurance company *will not* be simply sending you an affidavit – it will be a notice of service for the lawsuit.
But, short of you having large assets, you’re unlikely to be exposed to continued financial risk beyond your policy limits. Insurance companies rarely collect on those kinds of judgements – the debtor claims bankruptcy and – short of extenuating circumstances – the debt is discharged. It’s just not worth their time.
So, take a breath. It sounds like you’re a good person, and you did what you’re supposed to. Life gets messy, and this is one of the messy times.