I was involved in an auto accident in January of this year (there were 3 other cars involved as well; no injuries). I filed a claim right away. Damages were assessed by an adjuster, I was issued a check and had my car fixed. Anyway…when I track the claim online, it says the case is still open. How can this be? Shouldn’t some kind of decision re: liability have been made by now?

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I read-ended another car at an intersection. Both of us were stopped at a light. When the light turned green, the other car started moving and immediately slammed on brakes. In the meanwhile, I had taken my foot off brake and hit the car (at < 5mph).

The other party has filed claim for 50 for damages and also for "unknown" amount of bodily injury. There is not even a mark of any collision on my car (as the speed was low). My insurance company has agreed to their claim related to damages and is waiting for the exact amount for the bodily injury claim.

This has been quite unfair to me and will definitely bump up my premium like crazy.

Is there any way I can challenge my insurance company’s appraisal of the damages ? Are there any other alternatives ? What kind of evidence would I need to furnish for the same ?

We had called a "Cop" to report the accident. I wanted him to note that the impact was at < 5mph. However, he refused to do that saying that this would be left to insurance
Well… Folks, thanks for the answers. As I said earlier, I am not denying that I was at fault and neither is it my intention to ignore the impact on the other car/driver.

The other party had actually contacted me to settle this privately and we had agreed for me to hand out a certain amount. The day I was going to hand over a check, I just happened to call up my insurance agent and learnt that the other party had reported the accident 5 days ago. So in worst case, I would have still paid the check and also had gotten an acci. reported against me.

Shady dealing like this on other party’s behalf and knowing the speed/magnitude of impact makes me believe that the other party is just trying to extract as much as possible out of this.

Again, my car had absolutely no damages (even minor). So it is difficult to believe that the damagaes to other car are worth 50 and bodily injury is completely out of question. (People dont get injured if another car TOUCHES their car) Arhhh… Patheti

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Don’t give me because it costs too much and they cant afford it. I think it’s the price of having a car. You wouldn’t get a car and say "well tires are expensive, I can’t afford them" you just need them. The point of insurance is to be able to afford to fix any damages you may cause to another driver’s car or person. If I wrecked someone’s car I would certainly want the other person to be able to get their car fixed or replaced. And if there was injury I wouldn’t want someone else saddled with huge medical bills because of a mistake I made. Is that just me?

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I have a question regarding a personal injury lawsuit that was filed against me. First, let me you give you a brief background:

In July 2003, I rear-ended a Pontiac Sunfire which was in turn pushed into a Chevy Bronco. The Sunfire sustained moderate damages to the front and rear while the Bronco sustained a 0-800 dent to the rear bumper. All vehicles were driven from the scene of the accident.

A few months after the loss, the driver of the Bronco and his wife (who was a passenger in the vehicle at the time) filed suit against me for personal injury.

Since 2003, my insurance company (Allstate) and my defense attorney (provided by Allstate) have attempted on multiple occasions to settle the suit with the plaintiff attorney. Per my attorney, the plaintiff attorney has not once responded to a settlement offer or relayed a demand on behalf of her clients.

In 2009, I provided a deposition as did the plaintiffs. While at my deposition, the plaintiff attorney agreed to high-low arbitration to resolve the matter by year end. I never heard anything after. I then called my attorney in March of this year who advised me that the plaintiff attorney had became unresponsive after the high-low arbitration offer. My attorney advised me that she made the decision to file a certificate of readiness to push the suit to trial. A few days ago I received notification from my attorney that the suit is now set for trial for the first week of June.

I have been an adjuster myself for the past three years and I have never seen a plaintiff attorney not submit a demand or respond to an offer. I initially thought she was pushing for a UIM claim but now that this is going to suit, I have no idea.

At the time of the loss I had k in bodily injury limits. Allstate’s last offer was 00 combined. Based on the plaintiff’s treatment history, there’s nothing to suggest that they sustained any significant injuries from the loss. And I do know that Mr. Plaintiff has a history of auto injury suits, workers comp suits, etc. And per my attorney it appears Mr. Plaintiff is the one that has been more adamant about claiming injury.

My questions are: 1.) If this does indeed go to trial and the plaintiffs receive a verdict in excess of my policy limits, will Allstate cover the excess? I know they are not obligated to, but I feel as if they filed the certificate of readiness to push this to trial and not made attempts to settle (even for my limits) prior, there is an element of bad faith there. 2.) Anyone that is experienced with attorney rep’d injury claims (I only handle unrepped claims), what do you feel the suit is worth at trial? Keeping in mind that the plaintiff injuries appear to be limited to soft tissue with minimal treatment. 3.) At the extreme, if the verdict is well beyond my limits and Allstate does not pick up the excess, can I have the excess discharged in bankruptcy?

Thanks!
@ mrbrcatz.

1. My question was not specifically whether or not Allstate would be required to pickup an excess verdict. Obviously they are not required to. My question was, and I believe was answered very well below, whether or not bad faith existed given that Allstate pushed this to trial for resolution.
2. Yes, you can discharge a judgment via bankruptcy and retain your assets such as your home and automobile. This is allowable under Chapter 7. I’ve never seen a bankruptcy judge deny a request nor have I seen a plaintiff fight it when their injury claim was so-so. Again, that was not my question. My question was regarding the excess portion and bankruptcy.

@MDAS - Thanks for the well thought-out responses.

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I had a claim today the member lives in a no fault state for auto insurance. A medical claim was submitted and it was a work related auto accident (mail carrier), workers comp has denied the claim, will the no fault automobile insurance pick this up? Even if it’s a work related auto injury?
Sorry, evidentally I was very vague when asking my question..

I work for the person’s health insurance company, and we’re trying to investigate third party liability. The member is the subscriber/insured of our plan. She is a mail carrier and was injured in a car accident while delivering mail. Workers comp denied their claim for whatever reason, but now we’re being told we need to investigate if their auto insurance will pay as they live in a no fault state. If you live in a no fault state when you’re in an accident your auto insurance pays for your damages regardless of who’s at fault. The other drivers insurance pays for their on damages as well. So I’m asking if her auto insurance will pay for her damages/medical expenses if she’s injured in a work related car accident. Or will her auto insurance pay regardless of whether it’s a work related injury or not?

Do you think we should do more investigation as to why workers comp denied the claim?

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I was involved in an accident on July 1, 2009. I was coming through an intersection (with a green light) and a vehicle coming in the opposite direction decided to pull out in front of me and make a left hand turn. I ended up hitting them. They were found at fault. I settled with my insurance company to cover the cost of my vehicle. Damages came to about , 500 and with that amount my car was totaled. My insurance company (Nationwide) gave me about ,500, the other drivers insurance company offered me almost a thousand less. I was still financing, so the entire ,500 paid for what I owed on my car. I then hired an attorney. I sustained a concussion (which I still encounter headaches from and it could continue for years), neck and back pain, lots of bruising, bumps and burns (from the air bags deploying), not to mention the emotional trauma I am STILL going through, I dove into a deep depression from it all. I have about ,000 in medical expenses (physical therapy, doctors visits etc.) My claim has just now been passed over to the insurance company! What should I expect? What should I base my settlement amount off of? How do you determine how much you should be awarded for pain and suffering? I lost my job from the accident (because I had no car). It’s been almost a year and I still have no car. Can’t afford to buy one without a job and can’t really get a job without a car (goes hand in hand). This wreck has put me through a lot. I hope and pray it’s my last. Any advice? Anything I should go by when the insurance company comes to my lawyer with an offer? Any advice or suggestions is much, much appreciated! Thank you!

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I was involved in an accident on July 1, 2009. I was coming through an intersection (with a green light) and a vehicle coming in the opposite direction decided to pull out in front of me and make a left hand turn. I ended up hitting them. They were found at fault. I settled with my insurance company to cover the cost of my vehicle. Damages came to about , 500 and with that amount my car was totaled. My insurance company (Nationwide) gave me about ,500, the other drivers insurance company offered me almost a thousand less. I was still financing, so the entire ,500 paid for what I owed on my car. I then hired an attorney. I sustained a concussion (which I still encounter headaches from and it could continue for years), neck and back pain, lots of bruising, bumps and burns (from the air bags deploying), not to mention the emotional trauma I am STILL going through, I dove into a deep depression from it all. I have about ,000 in medical expenses (physical therapy, doctors visits etc.) My claim has just now been passed over to the insurance company! What should I expect? What should I base my settlement amount off of? How do you determine how much you should be awarded for pain and suffering? I lost my job from the accident (because I had no car). It’s been almost a year and I still have no car. Can’t afford to buy one without a job and can’t really get a job without a car (goes hand in hand). This wreck has put me through a lot. I hope and pray it’s my last. Any advice? Anything I should go by when the insurance company comes to my lawyer with an offer? Any advice or suggestions is much, much appreciated! Thank you!

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I’m in a messed up situation.I was involved in an auto accident, the person at fault was excluded from the insurance policy on the vehicle, that being said, Fred Loya Insurance will not cover for any of my damages. I also went to an injury clinic because the personnel there convinced me that the insurance would pay. So now i have a wrecked car, with a medical bill on top of that, and have no auto insurance either. What can i do to get my damages covered? i’m from texas by the way.

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My wife was involved in an auto accident last October. The other party submitted a claim to our insurance company this February for personal injury. The insurance company has determined very little liability and have not been able to come to an agreement on the terms of settlement. We have just discovered the other party has filed a personal injury suit against my wife. Can this be done at the same time? Is the insurance company supposed to deal with this? If the other party gets paid by the insurance company, would my wife still be liable for damages? What if the insurance company and the other party never come to an agreement? Help?!

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I was in an auto accident where the other driver ran a stop sign. She was issued the ticket and declared at fault, I have a witness who has given a recorded statement to the insurance company to that fact and also on the report for the police. My two small children were in the car but the main impact was on my side and door. I went to the hospital as soon as I could after (when husband came home because my car was towed) Damages on car are 6,000.00 and so far it looks like med bills will be over 3000 easy. I have an MRI next week but we think it is a bulging or herniated disc in my back. I also had whiplash and head problems from head hitting window (nothing serious, but blurred vision and headaches). I have been out of work 3 wks already and can’t do much at home ( I am a homemaker by day and hair stylist by night and weekend) I can’t stand for long or even sit up for long. Anyone know what we can expect?
I am not looking to get rich but I am looking for what is fair. This was completely the other drivers fault and I have proof in the form of a witness and her ticket. My father is a lawyer but he doesn’t do this sort of case much anymore so he said he would refer me to someone if he thought we would be better off than with just the insurance company.

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I was recently involved in a car accident that was the fault of the other driver. There were no injuries(thank goodness!), but the other driver had no drivers license and is not on the policy of the owner of the car(who was also in the car at the time of the accident).Yesterday, I was told by their insurance that this claim could be denied by them and their policy canceled, which leaves me to file with my insurance company. If this happens, I would like to know if I can sue these people anyway and what type of lawyer should I contact. I just purchased a new van in 2008. This really sucks that I might have to pay for the damages to my new van that will probably never be the same again.

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I was in an auto accident, the police came but didn’t make a report because we both said we weren’t hurt and all she had was a small crack in the bumper. we are both insured but she didn’t want to go through insurance. I tapped her bumper from behind because she made a right turn and once I saw it was clear I made my right turn on a green light. As soon as I turned the corner she was stopped there and I couldn’t stop my car in time so I hit her bumper. The police said it was minor under 0 in damages on her 2000 mitsubishi gallant, her estiamte came to 8 plus rental car total of 6. My dad won’t let me claim with insurance he thinks we will lose our discounts. Should I have a lawyer review my claim relase form I’m sending to her to sign before I pay her? I got a claim release from off a legal form website…I’m worried this lady is shady, but we can’t afford increased premiums. I have Geico in CA, does anyone know there claim threshold for surcharges?
I was not driving fast for road conditions…Se slammed on her brakes and stopped for no apparent reason, I never drive fast and I don’t tailgate this was just an unfortunate accident

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I refused the roadside tests but at the station I wanted to take the breathalyzer test. The officers said that I refused the test. I had a lawyer on my cell phone, I mentioned to the lawyer that I wanted to take the test. The officers were in my presence at that point. The lawyer then requested to talk to the officer. The officer didn’t listen and hung up the phone after 30 seconds.

Did the officers act illegally by refusing my request to do the breathalyzer at the station?

Can I take the officers or the state to civil court? What damages could I recover?

How likely is it that I can get the criminial case thrown out, because the officers denied me crucial evidence?

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i was rearended, the guy only had liability insurance. bodily INJURY WAS MORE THAN POLICY LIMITS. MY AUTO INSURANCE EXHAUSTED PIP LIMITS. I HAD TO HAVE AN ANTERIOR CERVICAL FUSION. DOES THIS ALL GET PAID FOR AS WELL AS REIMBURSEMENT FOR MISSED WORK, AND OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES AND VEHICLE DAMAGES AND PAIN/SUFFERING/INCONVENIENCE?

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march 22, 2008 .I was leaving the beach at Port Aransas Texas on the last saturday of spring break , when a truck struck my car when he was reversing and left it unmovable , im checking out the car when a cop tells me to wait on another that is on his way for me.the other police officer tells me to get inside the car on the paseenger side. im thinking he is going to help me get some help to take my car out of the sand, or contact family . he drives me to the station and performs field sobriety test’s (only two at that) then arresst me for dwi . i had to wiat one month for me to get a accident report after bonding out , becuase the "officers" that were at the accident were all on "vacation". now im waiting court for the dwi 3rd offense that makes it a felony .. (im only 19 ,doesnt everyone expierment with drugs at this age?) now the at fault insurance company wants to only cover 80 percent ot the damages which are more than 3000 dollars . i allready piad my lawyer 4000 dollars.help!

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