I am being sued for rear ending someone, I need advice.?

Question

I am 42 years old and had my first accident a year and a half ago. I rear ended a guy and he had some minor damage to his van(police report estimated $500.00) and the police report stated no injuries. We both drove away, in fact the guy got out of his car to see if I was Ok.
Then I found out that he contacted an attorney who initially asked for $65,000....then it went down to $45,000....then it went down to $18,000. My insurance company, after reviewing records (chiropractor, doctor, mri, etc) offered $5,000.000 and they declined it. I was served a summons a year and a half later.
What should I expect? I am hoping that this doesnt make it to court and will settle out of court but do you think we are past that point??
Oh yeah...one other thing, he was in an accident 9 months before I hit him, so I am not sure how it can be determined that my accident caused him such injury

Answer 1

You don't say what state you are in, but if you haven't already done so forward the suit papers to your insurer so that they can appoint an attorney for you. You should not have to pay for the attorney. The attorney will file an answer to the complaint and then embark upon a process called discovery. He or she will seek information regarding the plaintiff's injuries and claimed damages, as well as prior accidents. Your attorney will probably take the plaintiff's deposition, and they may want to take your deposition.

Ultimately, the insurance company will again try to settle the case. Frankly it doesn't sound to be worth the $5,000, but some people look at getting hit like winning the lottery. The vast majority of cases settle, but if it goes to trial, your attorney will represent you and your insurance company will pay any judgment (up to the limits of the policy).

Good luck.

Answer 2

You will have to consult a lawyer, but realize too that when there is a rear end type accident, the driver that hit the other one is nearly always at fault. The only way that you could be deemed not at fault would be if he was on a dark road and his tail lights were out and that caused you to not see him, thus hitting him.

Short of that, it is really out of your hands what the settlement or the end result will be because you have your insurance company dealing with it. I do suggest a lawyer on your side just in case you have questions.

The man is probably going to get something for his ails. It is clear cut in this type of accident. It won't matter that he was previously in an accident if he was medically cleared from it and now has a new set of injuries.

To be honest, it was an accident, rear enders usually hit the front driver due to driving too close to them or not paying attention at a light and jumping ahead before the front most car. Be more careful out there. Keep a three car distance at all times and this will not happen again.

Answer 3

When you hit someone in the rear end, you are liable for damages. All the different offers here, is confusing. Did you mean five thousands dollars or five million dollars, are the zeros correct. Your lawyer needs to get his medical records from the old accident he had. If he truly had injuries, some could have been already done before you hit him and he could have another case pending in a different court. If he is claiming the same injuries in both cases, this could very well lower your settlement to him by many thousands of dollars. That accident 9 months before this accident , needs to be investigated, seriously investigated before anything is settled period. Good Luck to you.

Answer 4

Since you have an insurance company, don't get too worried. Your insurance company has already evaluated the claim and most likely made a very good faith effort to settle. The injured party is simply after some bucks. I assume you passed on the summons to your insurance company.

If the case does go to trial, you need only to cooperate with your insurance company's attorney & be prepared to testify to the truth at trial. You don't need to hire another attorney, as the insurance company has a duty to defend you, under the policy.

It is the Plaintiff's burden to prove damages. He will have to prove that his injuries are directly attributable to the accident with you. He'll likely have a hard time doing that, based upon only $500 of damage to the vehicle. My guess is that your case will settle somewhere between 18k and 5k (I'd guess at 11.5k) before trial.

Answer 5

Well, you're going to need a lawyer. Your insurance company should help with that. Then your lawyer will make him submit to an IME (Independent Medical Exam) to determine the extent of his injuries and if any of them were related to the previous accident. There will also be discovery and depositions. All of this will determine exactly how hurt he is. Odds are it will settle out of court, especially if it looks like the facts are turning against him. Relatively few cases actually make it all the way to trial.

Answer 6

I hope you have an attorney in your corner. ANY communications that are going on should be done strictly by your attorney, not yourself.
This guy may be attempting some fast cash (he thinks! HA!) and this all could possibly be construed that way.
He's going to have to PROVE that your rear ending him caused whatever injury he seems to think he acquired.
If he had a prior accident to yours, AND...IF... he had any injury at all from that accident it will make it quite difficult to get much of a claim for damages from your insurance company. Insurance companies don't just bow there checkbooks that easily.
Like I said earlier, you NEED an attorney if you don't have one. You can make him produce ALL medical records, income records, any evidence that he has lost ANY time from work because of you hitting him, any enjoyment of life, etc., etc. This is what legal counsel will make him do. Once you begin the process of discovery, then he might choose to back off, who knows. Fight fire with fire. You have rights too.
Also, his counsel (if he has any) can request similar documents about your life as well.
You have to be willing to put the cards on the table about your life to get into his, the process called discovery.
Since your insurance company low balled him with the $5000 offer, they seem to think he NEEDS TO PROVE his case.
It can seem scary, and it all sucks, but thats what we buy insurance for, to represent us when we need it.
I hope you had a fair sized policy in force at the time of that accident so the court system will see you as a citizen trying to be responsible for any losses to the public. What I mean by this is a policy of like $100,000/$300,000, or greater, not some bare minimum of your states requirements. That way if for some reason if this was to go to court and this idiot for some reason won a judgement in excess of a bare minimum policy, that he couldn't get at any other assets you may have.
Gird up your loins and fight for your rights my dear! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!!!

Answer 7

I'm sorry to hear, but the laws provides ample statues of limitation. He filed a claim within time, and his doctors now have to prove aggravation for your rear end, against his prior injuries. Be careful the law suit for rear ends exceeds $100,000, unless intentional or malicious the injuried party may recover losses that may exceed in the millions.

Answer 8

It doesn't make any sense regarding his so called injuries.. What were his injuries, and how soon did he seek medical treatment after the accident.. I see no justification for this lawsuit. I believe you are being ripped off and taken advantage of by both his and your insurance Company..

Answer 9

Yes. But then anyone can sue anyone at any time for anything. You are clearly at fault. Use your own insurance. Let them handle everything ! If the other guy has no insurance You can use your own collision coverage to have your car fixed. You will have to pay your insurance company your collision deductible (if any), they will fix your car and go after the other party If they collect, they will return part or all of your deductible.

Answer 10

Did you send the summons to your insurance company? If you did, let them take care of it.

If you did not, get the summons to your insurance company immediately.