Being sued, need some advice

I was involved in an auto accident back in July of 2004. I was pulling out of my parking space and I feel this tap (kind of felt like slightly hitting the curb) and hear this scrapping sound. As I was looking back my brother swung his head around to see the driver was very close to the other parked vehicles and was operating a cell phone.

Now before I went to put my car in reverse, it was clear, I did have a huge Chevy Astro van blocking my view of any car that would come zipping down the court. I noticed it was clear, check to make sure my car was in reverse, let my foot off the brake and as I was looking back, there he was. As I stated above my brother noticed he was close to the other parked vehicles and was operating a cell phone. After the accident occured I got out of my car with my insurance information while he stayed in his vehicle to finish his cell phone conversation. The police were called out but the officers said that there was really nothing to report, no skid marks and no real major damage and that the accident was clearly an accident.

So I reported the accident to my insurance company and they state to me that the guy is claiming injury from being hit at less then 5mph ( my car didn't even move a foot out of my parking space). The next day my insurance company takes pictures of my bumper to write up a claim for my repair, I should note that the only damage done to the cars was a slight dent on his car and the paint smeared on both cars. My insurance company questions me on my bumper being out of line, I told them that was from a previous accident from a parking lot that was a hit and run kind of thing and had nothing to do with this accident.

A couple months later I get a letter from my insurance company saying that they would not hold me responsible for the accident and my insurance rate would not increase.

Now fast forward to last tuesday night. I come home from a long day of school, and work to see I've been summoned to appear in court and I'm being sued for $10k. Now I was reading through the report and he's claiming neck and back pain and that he was thrown forward and back after the colission (which is wierd because he's breaking the laws of physics, he should of been thrown left and right). The report also stated he was given a perscription that was never filled and was involved in another accident in 2003. Also, for as miner as this accident was he sure is claiming a lot and from the doctors notes my mom is calling BS on a lot of that.

So today, my insurance company tells me to drop off the paper work and they will look over it (I will be making a copy of it first). Now I was thinking about counter sueing him for driving fast in a residental area and not having complete control of his vehicle but I don't want to be that guy thats a dick about it. The way I see it we were both at fault.

So should I let my insurance company handle it or get an opinion from a lawyer. Other then this accident my driving record is clean, no tickets, no parking violations, no nothing. I know if I rear-ended this guy he could sue me and I know I would be at fault but this is rediculious. I just don't want my insurance company to raise my rate to something completely rediculious when there was no real damage.

get an opinion from a lawyer. Find some decent ones in the area and go in for an interview.

My uncle is a lawyer, I will be asking him after my insurance company reviews everything and gets back to me.

in then end isn't it the insurance company who would have to pay the lawsuit and not you, so then it is in the insurance companys best interest to handle it, but I do have one question. I don't know much about law but i did get in an accident once and when I got payed for the repairs by the other guys insurance company it said RIGHT on the check that once i cashed the check i was never again aloud to sue or bring up any charges against the company and that the check was considered payment in full. If this guy got a check is there a chance it had some stipulation like that on it? in which case isn't he out of luck? BTW the insurance company that had that on the check was geico.

Your insurance company will provide legal coverage if necessary.

I just don't want to be dicked over and have my rate jump a couple hundred dollars for literally just paint damage and a slight dent.

Don't respond to anything.

Your insurance agent has a record of your claim, his claim and what they've paid. Let them handle this. If you have a full service company like All State, Nationwide or Erie Insurance they will eat a sheister lawyer for breakfast and have you home in time for The Price Is Right.

Do not get involved, let your insurance company handle it.

I have Allstate, the other guys insurance was State Farm.

I guarantee you he's not doing this through State Farm.

He hired some TV attorney and is looking for a non-existent pay day.

His attorney is not a TV attorney.

I tend to agree with PAD on this one. Doubtful anything will come of this and your insurance company should be able to handle it. Since he's not trying to sue for some ungodly sum over what your coverage provides you don't have much to worry about outside of your rates going up, of course. But that really seems unlikely here. Nice of your insurance company to forgive the accident.

I thought that in MD if you were backing up you were pretty much automatically found to be at fault even if the other driver was driving like a douche. (I actually try to pull through or back into spots to avoid this sort of crap.)

Oh, and your mom is 100% correct. His claims are absolutely BS.

Stock up:

BTW, if your accident was in July, 2004 and you just got served what state are you in?

Seems to me that there could be a statue of limitations possibility here.

EDIT: NM, I saw that it's Maryland. You have a 3 year statute. That's not going to work.

Maryland

[quote name='PittsburghAfterDark']If you have a full service company like All State, Nationwide or Erie Insurance they will eat a sheister lawyer for breakfast and have you home in time for The Price Is Right.[/QUOTE]



Well said!

Ugh, I hate these BS lawsuits. I know at least 3 friends who have gotten sued for ludicrous amounts of money for minor fender benders. What ended up happening in all three cases was that the insurance company took over and the person suing got nothing, so PAD is totally correct. I don't get why these people even try, and in your case, even your insurance company didn't hold you at fault. Let your insurance company deal with it, they're generally good with crap like this. I hope everything settles okay, and I'm sure it will.

[quote name='auralia']in then end isn't it the insurance company who would have to pay the lawsuit[/QUOTE]

I think it is, I think they would at least have to provide legal coverage and also pay the amount up to your coverage(?). I think OP said it the best. "He was thrown foward and backward which breaks the laws of physics" Make sure you mention that. I'm not a lawyer but sometihng like that screams to me he is a liar trying to get money.

WOW, what a fag, hope everything goes well for you.

Want me to TAKE CARE of him?

Sounds like a con artist to me.

If you're insurance is Allstate, you should be in good hand... seriously. Allstate is very strict in paying for opposite party's medical bills. My cousin has Allstate and he rear ended someone very slightly (only bumper damages) and the other party also sued him for medical bills for $5000. Allstate then conducted a detailed analysis of the case and dragged it for nearly 2 years since the lawsuit for medical bill was filed, and finally Allstate offered a $250 to pay the other party. By then the other party didn't really care anymore and just took the offer. Allstate and my cousin clearly knew that the medical claim was fake since the accident was nowhere near mild. You shouldn't worry too much about it. Allstate is very good at spotting fake medical claims and very good at dragging it for a long time.

maybe he was roaming while the accident happened and is trying to pay off his cell phone bill

It's been mentioned, but this should be extra clarified.

DON'T TALK ABOUT ANYTHING TO ANYONE OTHER THAN YOUR LAWYER.

Let me repeat.

DON'T TALK ABOUT ANYTHING TO ANYONE OTHER THAN YOUR LAWYER.

Don't post it here.
Don't tell anyone other than your insurer's lawyers.
The other insurance company/lawyer will call you. Don't talk to them either, have them contact your insurer's lawyers.
Tell your family not to talk to anyone else either.

They will attempt to discredit you by any means necessary.

Some lady rammed me as I went through an 4 way stop, she didn't stop at all. Police report clearly pointing out it was her fault. Her insurance company called me night and day for a week trying to get a statement, especially one that would have contradicted the one that I gave my insurers or the one on the police report as any contradiction could be a way to negate the police report or any previous statements and give them a win. I finally had to flat out tell them that contacting me again would be viewed as harassment and that they should only contact my insurers. The phonecalls stopped. They paid up.

Sounds like he is trying to get you to pay for a pre-existing injury that he couldn't afford to pay for himself.

[quote name='saigumi']Her insurance company called me night and day for a week trying to get a statement, especially one that would have contradicted the one that I gave my insurers or the one on the police report as any contradiction could be a way to negate the police report or any previous statements and give them a win. I finally had to flat out tell them that contacting me again would be viewed as harassment and that they should only contact my insurers. The phonecalls stopped. They paid up.[/QUOTE]

I'll have to keep this in mind in case I ever get into a accident. I didn't realize some companies would do this type of thing.

Well, a similar incident happened to me like this however I totalled another persons car (totally not my fault he ran 40 miles an hr perpendicular to my car and basicly pwned himself with my front bumper, i was lurching forward to see if a car was coming and thwack). Anyways... my insurance company told me that under law they couldnt do shit to get the guy even though it was his fault since it happened in a parking lot and not a state road, now I have no idea if your state is different but in WI what I stated is true. So, you have nothing to worry about? Maybe? Can anyone else back me up?