I may be getting sued.

Factual Questions
21

I talked to my claims representative and he said I could respond to the letter.

I responded to the guy’s letter (written by him, and not by a lawyer). I think I mailed it, but if not I’ll send it off Monday. (He said I had to respond by the 10th.) As much as I wanted to, I did not threaten him with a countersuit to recover legal fees if he persued a court action. Instead I stated that I was not at fault in the collision, stated the name and the address of the person who was at fault (the uninsured motorist who pushed me into him), told him that my insurance company would issue a formal letter of denial and send him a copy of the police report (which states that both he and I were stopped in traffic and that the woman who hit me is at fault), gave him the name, title, phone number and fax number of my claims representative, and repeated that I am not at fault. I told him that if he has any questions, to contact the claims rep.

My sister told me that if he does wish to persue the case in court that I should get him to take it to The People’s Court. LOL

Additional information: My vehicle took the brunt of the impact and had damage on the back end. The damage to the front end was some gouges in the plastic bumper ends, some scuffed paint, and my license plate came off. My claims representative said they paid out $3,300 to repair my vehicle (bent frame in the rear). The guy in front of me is claiming $3,400 for his vehicle, which is 10 years older than mine (he was in a 1989 Nissan). Although he sent an itemized estimate (from a repair shop – my repairs were made at a dealer), I think he might be scamming “just a little”. There’s no way there was as much damage as he claims.

22

  1. talk to your insurance comp., if they say NO, get a letter from them stating as such.

  2. talk to your local bar assn & ask for a referral for a half hour counsultation, it’s $25.00

What about your car? Don’t you have UNINSURED motorist coverage?

23

handy:

  1. My insurance company will be sending him formal letter of denial.

  2. I’ll do that if it looks like he’s serious about going to court.

  3. I have full coverage on my vehicle, so I was very well and very quickly taken care of. USAA costs a little more than other places, but dad swore by them. They are going after the woman who hit me to recover expenses from her, but I doubt they’ll get anything. I think most people would have insurance if they could afford it, but she was driving an '88 Pontiac, she’s young, and she’s pregnant. She probably doesn’t have any money, which is probably why the other guy is trying to get money out of me.

Since USAA’s investigation shows that I’m not at fault, they will not pay the claimant. If it does go to court and I lose (which would seriously call into question the logic aptitude of our tort system) the company will pay. But even though I personally don’t have anything to lose, I live my life by a code of responsibility. If I make a mistake I’ll pay for it. But I’ll not gladly pay for the mistakes of others.