Ooh, I know! The kind of snake scrotum that probably thinks he can intimidate an old woman into a settlement by making her think she’s “getting off easy” when she gets to keep her house?
What a sleaze.
A grandmother speaking here. A similar situation happened to me. I was a passenger in my own car that a friend was driving. Because of blinding sunlight (not an excuse), my friend failed to yield the right-of-way and hit a pickup truck.
The friend had just moved to Tennessee from Georgia that week but she still had a Georgia license. The statute of limitations in Tennessee is one year. But in Georgia it is two years. So just before the two years were up, the driver of the pickup truck filed suit in Georgia – against the driver and my husband and me. (The accident too place about two blocks from my house in Nashville.)
Allstate Insurance took care of all of it. At one time we did receive a letter from them cautioning that we might want to retain our own attorney to work with them, but we chose not to.
It took another year or so before the case was completely thrown out of court. I had to do only one interview in my home with an accident investigator from my insurance company. Everything else was handled over the phone and through the mail. I never had to set foot in a courtroom.
Please make sure that your grandmother knows not to talk to anyone about the accident without clearing it with her insurance company and their lawyers. I had sneaky phone calls from people misrepresenting who they really were in order to get information from me.
She should also tell her lawyers and insurance lawyers about the vicious threat that was made to her. That lawyer should get busted.
I knew that there was nothing I could do about the situation but let it play out. So I became like “the lilies of the field.” It was a great lesson for me.
Thanks from the heart for caring so much about your grandmother.
JarGrannyJ hasn’t been sued, so far. Just threatened, and from what I believe is happening, with the intent to get her to settle out of court in a matter where the potential plaintiff has no standing. In essence, extortion.
Bolding is mine, and illustrates what I’ve been trying to state the whole time. Jodi gets it, as does Zoe. The rest of you responders have failed miserably in the fight against ignorance. Why does JarGrannyJ have to fork over $150 to hear a lawyer tell her to get the auto insurance carrier involved, when going there first is the right thing to do, and doesn’t cost her anything?
“Get a Lawyer!” The dozen plus instances of that in this thread is nothing more than the herd mentality hallelujah chorus. *Rattle, rattle, here come the cattle. MOO! *
Jodi did not say “Don’t bother with a lawyer, trust the insurance company in all things.” She did say:
Look, an insurance company’s lawyer is going to have the interests of the insurance company first and foremost in all his actions. Grandma could stand to have a lawyer for whom her interests come first. Is $150 worth the peace of mind she’ll get from knowing someone is protecting her?
Moo.
MOOOOOO!
If I was the guilty party in a hit-and-run involving an injury, I’d get a lawyer first, just to make damn sure that there was someone who understood accidents, insurance, the law, etc. representing my interests and only my interests. As for the $150 bit, a half-hour consult, arranged through the local bar’s referal service (which I mentioned earlier), might very well cost a small fraction of that. If nothing else, I’m sure the lawyer would have some good advice on dealing with my insurance company.
Show me where I said that. Here’s some help.
Thanks for all the advice folks. I’m all fired up now…I feel like maybe taking over the world
Please keep us informed.
Climb down off your high horse, Bob.
It is never a bad idea for the elderly to contact a lawyer in matters like this. I can think of a number of possible scenarios in which her own insurance would try to screw her. $150 is a small price to pay to make sure that doesn’t happen – especially when her insurance company has told her to “just sit tight for awhile”.
But you missed that part, didn’t you? She already has contacted her insurance company, numbnuts.
Which brings up another thing.
Vunderbob seems to be proof that the one screaming the loudest that everyone else is wrong is the one least likely to know what he’s talking about.
JarbabyJ mentions in the OP that the statute of limitations runs out this week. My understanding is that to prevent the limitations period expiring, a statement of claim must be brought. Of course I don’t know the law in the US, but this would seem to indicate that a claim HAS in fact been filed.
… damn you and your speedy fingers! Speedy monkey fingers, none less.
If you read the OP, she also said that Grandpa’s insurance fixed the other people’s car. She didn’t say that they paid the hospital bills, but you have presume they did because that’s part of the claim.
Claim has already been made. So, one of two things are going on. Either the adjuster didn’t get the other people to sign papers saying the matter was settled, or the other people are ignoring the fact that they did sign.
Monkey, no lawsuit is official until it’s been filed, and paper are served. I don’t see anything in the OP about a process server or certified mailing.
And I don’t think this is a case of me shouting because I know the least. More like a voice of truth in the wilderness that no one else is willing to hear.
Let’s try again. We don’t need to consider the merits of the present case or whether the same ground was covered under the earlier action. The facts appears that a claim was filed this week:
So when you say,
… it would appear that you are incorrect.
On preview…
The statute of limitations expires this week. To prevent this, a claim must be brought before the limitations period passes. It is therefore unreasonable to conclude that a lawsuit HAS been filed?
[Australain accent]
“Today on Crocodile Hunter, we seek out the elusive loudmouth loon. This amazing creature, with the most powerful voice in the world, lives in isolation because it is frequently killed by predators for sport or just to get some peace and quiet. Crikey! There’s one now! For my own protection, I’ll just slip on these earmuffs. I just hope he doesn’t bite.”
[/Aus]
Despite being the target of Pit Whack-a-Mole, I find this quite amusing. 
That phone call sucked. Is this not why we pay for insurance? So if we make a mistake we know that we are not going to be paying for something we can not afford? Equally, if we make a claim, we don’t have to worry too much that some some schmo is going to end up in the poor house because of a silly or stupid mistake they made. Maybe those folks do deserve some recompense for something, but it is grandpa’s insurers that should have got the phone call. Calling up an old lady in that manner is wrong. It surely is the other party’s insurers who deserve both barrels though.
Jarjar, I hate to sound callous, but when did Gramps pass away? Because, depending on the state, any suit might be pretty much moot against his estate if it’s cleared probate or if he passed more than 6 months ago. Estate disolved, no estate to sue, no case. Just an interesting wrinkle that may or may not factor in.
(IANAL)
This makes me glad I live in a state with the homested exemtion.
Jodi gave some good advice, but I would disagree with her a bit (keep in mind this is not legal advice and I am not licesed to practice in whatever state we are talking about unless it’s OK or TX).
If Grandma gets sued, the insurance company will pretty much have to get her a lawyer–if there are ramifications due to the hit-and-run then there will be some sort of reservation of rights letter saying we’ll defend you, but we might claim there’s no coverage. Here in Texas I’ve had insurance companies pay up on claims where the driver was drunk so I’m pretty sure here at least that hit-and-run would mean about zippo especially since the criminal side was dismissed.
Call the insurance company and make them get grandma a lawyer if suits been filed. Get a copy of the Petition from them if Grandma doesn’t have one. Also, get a copy of Grandpa’s policy for that time period–you may need it later. The lawyer although paid for by the insurance company will be your grandma’s lawyer and SHOULD EHTICALLY be her lawyer–not the insurance company’s lawyer. If you feel like she’s getting the short end of the stick, make a complaint as this would scare the crap out of me.
For those who think the claim might be settled, it might be or it might not be. The property damage has been paid for. Often insurance companies will pay for property damageand then deal with mental anguish/pain and suffereing and any medical bills/ economic damages later. The property damage is set early on and there won’t be any quibbling over it. In fact, in some states, if they don’t settle property damage and then Plaintiffs recover for it, attorneys fees are awarded to Plaintiff.