So I can’t be the only parent on CC who has dealt with or will deal with your teenager’s minor fender bender which results in a medical claim and claims for lost wages, pain and suffering? Really?? Yes I know this is my college bound teenagers fault and we are fully responsible for the damage, it was heavy rain, poor visibility, lots of traffic and yes, she rearended you because she was following too closely for the conditions. No one was ticketed. You car had minor damage, you have a rental car, you are out nothing for the repair of your car, you claimed over and over again you were fine, no problem, no injury but now you say you are injured and can not work… How do people sleep at night when they turn something like this into a personal injury claim with a personal injury lawyer who now wants to sue us. And where does the line get drawn for how long you can’t work. No hospital, no ambulances, no broken bones, no air bag deployment for either vehicle… Person did not seem to think they needed medical care until days after accident. So where does it all end? What happens if lawyer wins some claim that exceeds my already generous liability limit? Should I tell said teenage daughter you can’t go off to college because I might need the money I was gonna use for your tuition room and board to pay the personal injury claim of this person you rear ended? Sorry for the rant but had to get a few of those thoughts off my mind…
@leennp it is atrocious how prevalent this has become in our society. Anyone can sue anyone for any reason. They obviously talked to someone or even an attorney who gave them the advice to pursue it for money. There is always the possibility that they are legitimately hurt. Sometimes the adrenaline kicks in and you don’t feel any pain at the time of the accident. Unfortunately, because there are so many people abusing the system we tend not to believe the people who are actually injured. The system is completely broken. There are no consequences in bringing a claim in most of these personal injury claims. Usually the person doesn’t even pay the attorney unless they win. And of course, the insurance company doesn’t want it to go to court because it just easier to settle. More cost effective. So, these claims continue to perpetuate themselves. Until, there is reform nothing will change. It’s easy money. its truly unfortunate because I’m sure these laws were eneacted to help the injured. It has just been abused so much it morphed into an easy way to get a pay day.
I hope you aren’t too stressed out. And, I hope it all works out for you.
OP, I’m sorry you and your D are going through this.
Something very similar happened to me and my family when I was 16. I rear ended another student in the school parking lot. We were doing about 5 miles an hour. I was following too close, and he hit his brakes. He was driving his mom’s old Volvo station wagon. I was driving a Corolla. The bumper sticker on the back of his car got scraped, while my front fender crumpled like aluminum foil. He and I both got out of the car. He was a football player and was laughing it up with his bros the whole time. He was totally and completely fine.
About 3 days later, we get a call in the middle of dinner from the student’s mother. Seems little Johnny has developed a stiff neck and back, and she is very concerned he was badly injured when I “rammed” his car. No, she hadn’t taken him to the doctor because she didn’t want him to miss school, but it seems very serious to her. She has decided she is going to sue us and wants to know what my parents do for a living, how much they make, and how many people are in our immediate family. I am not making this up. Oh, and by the way, that bumper sticker was VERY important to both her and little Johnny, and they both cried when it was destroyed.
The phone calls went on for about a week. Dad talked to a lawyer who told him the best thing to do was give her the information because it would all come out in the trial anyway. So the next time she calls, he tells her what she wants to know. Suddenly, she decides Johnny has been feeling better, and she has decided to have mercy on us (she actually used that word) and not sue us. Apparently, we didn’t have enough to make it worth her while.
It was awful. I was a wreck the whole time. Her son, the guy I rear ended, actually apologized to me at school. He said his uncle was a personal injury lawyer who had investigated my parents before his mom had even called. Somehow they got the wrong idea about how high up my parents were in their company, so they decided they would try to cash in before the kid went to college. It was a side of people I had not even imagined before. Despicable.
I really, really hope they will decide it’s not worth the trouble to keep pursuing your family. But greed is an ugly thing.
While it’s possible the claims may be bogus, there’s an equal possibility based on the information provided so far that the other party’s injuries didn’t manifest itself until hours or sometimes even days afterwards.
Not all injuries arising from car crashes…even seemingly “light” ones make themselves apparent immediately after the accident.
Also, hope the opposing attorney never gets wind of this thread as s/he could easily use the implied tone from OP to show the judge/jury how you/your D are much more concerned about minimizing/avoiding any responsibilities your D had for actually causing the crash in the first place than any concern for the allegedly injured party.
That won’t play well with many judges/jurors who may hear the case and decide on the outcome.
@Belle315, what bumper sticker was so important that it made little Johnny and his mommy cry? 8-| If I were your parent on the phone hearing that, I don’t think I could contain myself and laugh hysterically.
Well since anything I say might be interpreted to use against me I will not be responding to anything further on this forum and would delete it I could. Since I can not will let it runs it’s course and no longer reply.
We live in a litigious country. For a long time now we should have been looking into tort reforms such as European-style “loser pays” laws or caps on “pain and suffering.” But we keep electing politicians with no interest in tort reform, probably because so many of them are lawyers. So we get the country we deserve, as always, and as everywhere.
One reason why that works much better in Europe is because they have a much more robust social welfare safety net than is the case here in the US where individuals/families can be bankrupted due to medical costs arising from injuries sustained in accidents such as car crashes.
I have no earthly idea what that stupid bumper sticker said. I never even saw it. It was total bull****.
My parents didn’t find it funny at the time, but oh yeah, we got a had a lot of laughs about it later. It was actually a moment when I was very proud of my father for keeping his cool and being a gentleman under difficult circumstances.
OP, out of respect for you, I won’t post again.
@leennp, you might ask the moderators if they would delete the thread, given that it might be injurious to you. Press the little flag on the left side of the bottom of your post, and request deletion.
Good luck.
If one had deep pockets, I’d hire a private investigator to document some of the claims versus daily activities… At the very least, I would stalk on social media and keep screen shots if anything seems contradictory to the claims and provide to my insurance company.
I was rear ended once. Felt fine at the time and a few days later had a very stiff neck and some bruising. But it ended there. I don’t think I even told anyone about feeling sore. Went back to work and got on with my life.
On the other side, my husband was recently hit by a young women in her dad’s car. She was at fault. Now the family has been unresponsive to requests for information. They are trying to avoid any responsibility. No personal injury issues just car damage.
The abuse more often comes from the insurance companies that deny valid claims and make you file suit for everything. In most states you are required to carry insurance to cover for this type of situation as described by the OP. Also think about this hypothetical. Suppose you walk up behind some one unexpectedly and yell BOO. They are startled jump and throw out at a disk. It happens unfortunately. Major injuries can happen with little contact.
This thread should be a reminder that a personal umbrella liability policy is a good thing to have. I’ve had a policy for about 15-20 years now; basically it’s additional coverage beyond what your specific insurance (e.g. Homeowners, auto) provides. The cost is pretty reasonable, too.
- Some soft tissue damages won't manifest until days after an accident. I wouldn't assume the claims are bogus.
- Winning a 6-figure or higher claim on soft tissue damages alone is rare.
- 99% of the time, all the plaintiff is after is the insurance policy limit. Going after personal assets is extremely rare.
Take a step back, relax, and let your insurance company handle this. That’s what you pay them for.
Didn’t you have insurance? That’s the whole point of having insurance – you shouldn’t have to pay anything for a PI claim arising out of a collision. That’s something that should be left entirely to the insurance company.
Damages to you own car are usually subject to a deductible – but the PI claim should be handled in full by the insurance company.
And it is very possible that a person can sustain injuries in an auto accident that don’t become apparent until several days later. I have no clue whether or not that is the case for the person your kid rear-ended, but it is farily common in rear-end collisions. However, the amount of damages the person will get on their claim will be very dependent on medical costs & out-of-pocket damages like lost wages. Without those, the insurance settlement will likely be very moderate.
And although post #13 is correct in suggesting that an umbrella policy is a good idea for those with high assets, it really wouldn’t come into play in a case like this, as long as the policy holder is smart enough to buy an auto policy with high end policy limits.
In some states like HI, there is no-fault and there is a minimum amount of medical and wage loss claims that are required BEFORE any action can be brought via lawsuit. It has curbed some abuses, fortunately. I agree that “soft-tissue” injuries from accident can no appear immediately after accidents but later. Still, there are bad actors who do try to “milk” situations and make one wonder how indeed they are able to sleep at night (or live with themselves). I agree that good auto and umbrella insurance is invaluable.
Insurance companies don’t just pay personal injury claims. They do an investigation. They talk to witnesses and they review the plaintiffs medical records before they will pay anything at all. Insurance companies also often low ball plaintiffs at first before they will pay a reasonable amount on a claim. It is a system based upon evidence
When I got hit a few years back, I thought I was fine. My father insisted on going to the hospital and getting checked out and sure enough, there were a few things wrong that I couldn’t feel yet. I sure felt them the next day though.
The insurance company isn’t going to pay out a claim just because the person says they can’t work. If that were the case, insurance companies would go broke because they’d be paying everyone after every accident.
Require the plaintiff to pay all costs if they lose would end all the frivolous lawsuits, including the legalized extortion known as class actions. But it will never happen as long as there are 500+ lawyers in Congress.
I’ve said this in another thread - we will never work for an attorney again. 
We have a previous client threatening to sue us for ridiculous reasons, but since he’s a lawyer, he can take action without spending a penny while we have to pay $200 an hour for legal advice. I don’t know how he can sleep at night, either!