Location: Las Vegas, NV
Hi all…sorry for bothering you, I'm just scared and overwhelmed and could use some general advice. Sorry for the length. I did cross post to legal advice, but thought you all might help with insight from the insurance side.
Three months ago, I was in a line of stop and go cars waiting/yielding at a light to access the highway. The car ahead of me was next in line, advanced, I turned my head to check oncoming traffic as I advanced, they suddenly stopped and I didn't catch it in time so I hit their rear bumper. Minimal to no damage (my corner bumper had cosmetic damage; their bumper and rear side panels were already severely damaged falling off and being held on by bungee cables, so hard to assess damage but minimal. We all got out, it was a 50's woman (Hispanic, no English driving but I can't prove it) and her 20's daughter who translated. I gave them my insurance and took pictures. They said they needed to find theirs…thankfully the state trooper came by at that point. We returned to our cars and I asked him to file an incident report (thankfully 🥲). He told me they had no insurance and their plates were suspended. I called my insurance to inform of the accident and that I had no damage needing repairs.
Insurance informed me a few days later that they'd hired a known aggressive personal injury firm and they we'd have to wait a few months to see what their claims were. I have coverage of 25,000 per individual/50,000 per accident with State Farm. They reassured me that things should be fine and this is unfortunately common in my city. The insurance informed me that we are taking liability.
I have a copy of the police report that details the speed of the accident at estimated 1-9mph, but that both passengers reported class "C" injury (reviewing the code​ this seems to mean claimed injury but not visible).
Now I get notice and a 10 page demand letter/form forwarded by my insurance from the attorney. It starts by saying that the full value of their (the 20's female) injuries that they could litigate for is far in excess of my insurance coverage, but since I'm "minimal"-y insured, that they're doing a kindness by only requesting $40,000. About 11k of that is listed as visiting a pain doctor, chiropractor, and imaging center. 28k is listed as recommended future care (intensive joint and spinal injections). And aside from more scary legal verbiage, they ask to provide any other insurances (including homeowner and/or rental), and then a sub-form listing all of my assets, from businesses (I have none), retirement, investment, checking and savings accounts that they could use to compensate her. Needless to say, I'm pe​​trified…I'm not rich, but I have a mortgage, some savings and retirement. I'm worried that they won't want to settle and will try to make this a big legal battle if they find out I have any money. (I'm in my 30's and a veterinarian, but I work for a nonprofit. No partner or dependents so I'm alone in this).
I panicked and called my claims adjuster who says she sees this form from this firm sometimes and that I should be okay just putting "N/A" in the assets section of the form, and that the required part for settlement is really the other insurance. But I'm not feeling reassured and am worried they'll just say I'm not cooperating and withdraw the offer to sue me. State Farm says they'll typically still be able to settle within my limits after a bit of back and forth on offers (I sent them the pictures and police report and she wasn't impressed).
Sorry for all that context, but my questions:
-Do I have to list all my financial assets on this form? Am I likely to be okay just putting N/A, or is that more likely to screw me over and have them withdraw the offer and sue?
-Speaking generally, is this sort of thing still okay to let insurance handle? Or am I in enough trouble that I should consult with an attorney? If so, is there a specific kind of attorney I should look for?
Thank you so much to anyone who read all of this to respond. I've never been in an accident before, and all of this happening for what I thought was such a minor incident is causing me so much stress and anxiety (I want to cry half the day) that I thought reaching out here might help.
Had a minor collision and the other party is claiming injuries in excess of my insurance coverage. Do I need an attorney?
byu/misssy inInsurance
Posted by misssy
13 Comments
Your insurance will provide a lawyer for you. You need to inform themÂ
If/when you need an attorney, your insurer will hire one to represent you.
Do as your adjuster tells you to do. It’s also a good idea to start a file where you can document everything that goes on. People tend to forget important details over time. Get as much in writing as possible. Print out emails and add them to your file. Also, keep track of dates of interactions.
You need to breathe. This is a completely normal BS tactic in NV with PI attorneys. The mechanism for injury doesn’t exist, the insurance carrier knows this, the attorney knows this – they’re just trying to milk the system.
Put NA – let your insurance carrier and their lawyers beat this idiot down in court. They see this all the time. They’re not just going to agree to anything and tell you you’re on the hook for the difference – that’s just not a thing. They have a duty to defend, and defend they do – it’s them cutting the $25K check from their money… they’re going to chop a zero off of that.
Your insurance should provide an atty. yes you need one
I was in an accident in Las Vegas last year the speed was 60+ the car was totaled the other vehicle was liable and the insurance covered my medical bills and first offer was 12k out of a 250k policy lol
If you refuse to pay anything extra it would go to an arbitrator who will realize an accident at 1-9mph is not going to cause those amounts of injuries and they definitely won’t even be awarded the full 50k from your insurance. Their medical bills won’t reach even half that unless they went to the hospital from the accident which they didn’t. So you won’t need to pay anything at all
Your insurance company , agent & adjuster are on your side. Follow their instructions because they have done this a million times . Your coverage includes an attorney and this is in addition to the policy limits . If without going to court your insurer can’t settle for the policy limits and it’s going to go to court then yes you might consider another attorney to protect you above the policy limits but it’s highly unlikely it needs to happen . You really need to drastically increase your limits for the next potential accident . The most expensive cost is minimum limits . To bump it to 50/100/50 just a little more . To 100/300/100 even
smaller % bump .What if they were serious hurt ? The other thing is to me if they were seriously hurt I wasn’t their medical bills & lost wages paid . People worry too much about coverage for broken windshields & small dents & scrapes on their car when they need better liability limits . Take a deep breath and raise your limits for a future incidents .
Whenever we handle a claim where the demand exceeded the limits we would send our insured a letter advising they had the right secure legal counsel to protect their interests should the value of the claim exceed their limits.
Usually our insurers would secure personal legal counsel if the injury was serious and their exposure was $20k or more.
We also were very sure to cc the insured on copies of all letters to the plaintiff attorney offering $$ and to send copies of all demand letters from plaintiff counsel so the insured was always aware of settlement discussions.
If you’re not getting these cal your adjuster and ask AND follow up in writing of your request. It’s also ok to call for regular updates on the claim (personally I think every 30-45 days is reasonable if I’m named as a defendant in an injury claim).
i am not racist, but somehow such fake injury scams I have heard of are mostly hispanic.
Do insurance companies even bother to investigate people who claim injury, the scammer doctors, and physical therapy places ?
They used to, but now it almost seems like they just let things ride.
I would bet money this was a scam accident.
Same happened to me, made a turn in an ice storm immediately upon turning car slides into a car waiting at light in opposite direction. No more than 10 mph and both cars were fine. A few days less than a year later I’m served papers being sued for $200,000. Insurance lawyer handled it and in the end she only got $22,000. My guess is HALF of that went to her scumbag, blood sucking attorney. It was yet another example of the daily reminders I usually have that people truly, truly SUCK!!!!