we're being sued! (long)

[jonette5]

Two and a half years ago my Dh was in an accident. It was Jan.26. We had snow and some ice the night before. He was on his way to work, he left 45 minutes early so he could drive slow. He was out on a two lane hwy. going up hill about 10 - 15 miles per hour, he hit patch of ice and his truck (Chevy s10) started sliding. He was trying to correct it but you know how ice is mostly you just slide and have to go with it. Well, a semi truck that had just come thru the light in other direction was in Dh path cause he had slid over center line. Dh was doing all he could to get his truck back over but to no avail. Semi saw him and started braking and pulling over to shoulder to get out of way.Well needless to say they hit. At this time semi could have only been doing about 5-10 miles per hour and dh the same or less. Front passenger side of Dh truck hit driver side bumper of semi, dh truck spun and back of truck hit semi. Dh truck was totaled, minor damage to semi's bumper and quarter panel. Thanks to God Dh literally walked away with only minor cuts and bruises. Semi driver got out to see if Dh was hurt, semi driver helped witnesses pick stuff up out of road and throw it in back of dh truck got in and out of semi several times to use radio, look for flash light people asked if he was hurt and he said no. Ambulance called for hubby because of cuts on his head. Semi driver refused treatment, nothing visible. Well now all this time later Dh get summons today to appear in court on 28th. Semi driver says he suffered severe neck and back injuries and is crippled for life cause of this accident! WTF! WTF! WTF!
Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture? We know he tried to claim work comp and was denied about year ago we got letter from his lawyer and we turned it over to insurance company and they said "oh great another lazy bum that don't want to work, We will take care of it"
I am sooooo freaked right now. Can they sue US if we had insurance? Shouldn't they only be able to sue insurance co.?
I don't if I should be mad , sad or just plain freaked!
:confused: :mad: :( :confused: :eek:

[girlwithsoul]

There should be a record of the refusal for the ambulance by the semi driver. That right there is a good start. More than likely they will sue the insurance company though and not you. Don't stress too much because it doesn't sound like he has much of a case. Good luck!

[captorquewrench]

you don't sue the insurance company, but there should be a claim filed on your policy. whether or not your polciy pays out will be determined by the coverage you had, and if the damages are covered, and/or if police report shows your hubby was at fault. your claims office should already be on it from when the accident was reported. your liability insurance covers you for the damages for which you're legally liable, ie, those circumstances when you can be sued, but you shouldn't sue your carrier. just make sure the ambulance driver will attest to what happened when the semi driver declined treatment.

let your claims office handle it, or an attorney if you think you need one. if you have an attorney, they will liase with your insurance carrier.

[BeesKnees]

Isn't there also a time limit to how long you can take to make a claim against somebody???
If he didn't get treatment until many moons later, how the heck is he going to link his supposed disabilities to the accident?

I think you are safe. Let the insurance company handle it.

[jonette5]

I forgot to add in his suit he says Dh was driving careless, reckless and at excessive speed. That Dh should have stopped swerved,slackened speed or sounded warning.WTF! Dh was on ice patch how could he do any of this. Does he not think he was trying to!

[BigLyd1]

Right now there are two lawsuits against my husband and me for traffic accidents we weren't even involved in. But the drivers of our vehicles caused them. I'm letting the insurance company take care of them. One of the lawsuits was filed just before the one-year time limit was up. It claimed the usual stuff but also said the husband couldn't perform his duties. I said I don't even want to know. Good luck. I know this sucks.

[dlwt]

Also did semi truck driver get a Post -Accident drug screen?? Not that he had to but it would be interesting to know.
Obviously if it was denied workers comp it probably is a crock.

Good luck

[dlwt]

Was there a police report?? That might help as well

[mrssnoop1]

I think the insurance company only pays to the limit of your policy. Anythng beyond that amount you could be sued for. Say you had limitation of $150,000, and he was suing for a million, he would sue you for everything over $150,000. He would have to prove injuries and the connection to the wreck. Call your insurance company and they can explain it to you. I was in a accident and when I signed the papers from their insurance company, I couldn't come back on anything. (They were at fault) I too think there is a rule that states a deadline for lawsuits. Your insurance will know that also.

[cab244]

Okay, I've been in one of those, what are they called "low-impact" collisions? I did suffer some neck injuries(spasms and a neck sprain). I did not feel that much pain at all right after it happened. It was more like a week or so. There was minor discomfort immediately and it got worse. However, 2 1/2 years??? Nope, if something was really wrong he would have known about it a long time before then. He can't help it if he lost control of the vehicle do to weather conditions like ice and such. Well, unless they were doing say 85 in a 45 or less zone in the pouring down rain or something like that. But if what you say is true then there's no way they can charge him with being reckless. I wonder why that guy hasn't tried to sue his company for denying him worker's comp? Or maybe he did and got fired and that's why he's giving you grief now.

[Anthill]

My husband got into a car accident in 2000. It was her fault, the Cops came gave her a ticket. She said she was in a hurry to get to work and did not report any pain. My DH and her both went on thier way. About a month later we got a letter from her Lawyer claiming to sue us for pain and suffering etc. My DH forwarded this to our Insurance CO, they told us not to worry, nothing will ever come of this. Last year, we were told that our Insurance Co was pulling out of PA, so we were searching for INsurance co and when one of them told us that we had a 100,000.00 Claim out against us. We were never told of this, our insurance co paid the claim without ever checking into this or contacted us. Supposdly when we signed for Insurance that gave them the right to act on our behalf unbeknownst to us. Needless to say we were really P$ssed. We contacted a lawyer to see what can be done about our insurance now. So good luck

[jonette5]

My hubby received no ticket , the police charged him with nothing.
I could understand if the next day the semi driver said he was sore had minor neck sprain or such but the injuries he is claiming....NO WAY!
His suit says he has suffered and will continue to suffer from...
bodily pain, loss of sleep, shock,arthritis, nervousness, headaches, dizziness, limitation of motion of his spine, and an impairment of the use and functions of the organs and members of his body (lord knows what that means! LOL)
I just can't see all this happening from that accident when Dh wasn't even really hurt and his truch was totaled and semi just minor damage!
All I got to say is if he thinks he can get money from us....he's WRONG! We ain't got squat! He can have all my bills though! LOL!

[Quaker_Parrots]

Originally posted by zitra
LOL! Arthritis? Since when can you get arthritis from a car accident?

Very possible. when you are injured, arthritis can set up becasue of the injury. My cousin injured her back, and got arthritis from it

[momfromTN]

Man that sounds like the greedy little 18 yr old wench my DH was in an accident with. He was in a Ford ranger, going uphill, less than an eighth from our house, so he had no time to build up speed. The girl was barreling around a curve in DH's lane. DH had to slam his brakes to keep from hitting her head-on and the ONLY reason it was determined to be his fault, was because the skid marks barely, and I mean BARELY scraped the yellow line. But stupid Geico didn't investigate properly and the passengers in her car lied for her. They were in a hurry to go to a party. And to add insult to injury, the cop doing the report took a snotty attitude with DH simply because we were not from there. We had just moved and were not locals and DH still had his license from the state we just moved from. AND, DH couldn't even exchange info from the girl because she started screaming like a deranged nut about her CAAAAARRRR~! She also claimed she wasn't hurt. Then, a couple of months later WE find out we are being sued. She attempted to get $6000 even though the ins co offered her $3500. Well, I got the judgement the other day. IT WAS DISMISSED!!!! YAY! Stupid, greedy girl got exactly what she deserved! A big fat NOTHING! And Geico will be losing a customer once this accident is off DH's record.

I hope all gets resolved soon. The bad, greedy people do not always win!

[twinkiesmom]

Take the summons to your car insurance agent. I'm going thru the same type of deal right now. Was in an 8 car accident - me in the middle and a passenger of the 2nd car is suing everyone. Cuz he claims he can't work a full 8hr day. Anyway, my ins is handling it. They're taking care of the lawyer and everything. The limit on filing a claim for ppl to sue u after an accident is 3yrs. In my case . . the guy got the papers signed by an attorney 1month b4 the 3yr deadline. Good luck.

[schsa]

Your insurance company will handle it. He can sue all he wants but he is going to have to prove that everything was the result of this accident and not from anything else that he has done. W/C denied him so it wouldn't surprise me if the insurance company will not pay out. Don't worry. Let them handle everything. That's what you pay for.

[Juli67]

Please let us know what happens. He would have had to seek medical attention so some one could diagnose him with that.He waived the right to medical attention after the accident.He's trying to get something for nothing.