First time receiving a court summons

gellen · ‎03-14-2010

I was in a minor parking lot fender bender in early August. My insurance company declared that it was a 50/50 fault decision meaning myself and the other party were each fifty percent responsible. I received a court summons today stating that the other party is seeking 5000.00 in damages. The dent was very small on her vehicle. Of course I am now a nervous wreck and am hoping my insurance company will straighten it out. Has anyone had a siimilar experience? Thanks in advance

CelticCrafter · ‎03-09-2010

@gellen send it to your insurance company.

Snowpuppy · ‎03-09-2010

Who is the Plaintiff? The other driver or their insurance company?

What are the damages for? Lost wages, pain and emotional suffering? 😉

They're hoping you don't respond so easy win by default.

Tissyanne · ‎12-07-2012

@gellen wrote:
I was in a minor parking lot fender bender in early August. My insurance company declared that it was a 50/50 fault decision meaning myself and the other party were each fifty percent responsible. I received a court summons today stating that the other party is seeking 5000.00 in damages. The dent was very small on her vehicle. Of course I am now a nervous wreck and am hoping my insurance company will straighten it out. Has anyone had a siimilar experience? Thanks in advance

@gellen , give your insurance company the summons right away.

Venezia · ‎03-09-2010

@gellen - Even a small dent can cost that much to have repaired these days. Often the affected panel has to be replaced and resprayed (and it may involve the cost of a rental car for the time the vehicle is in the body shop).

However, absolutely get in touch with your insurer immediately and let them know what's happening. They can either sort it out and/or you can countersue.

You don't say what the damage was to your vehicle, but it's not fair that you would have to pay for the damage to both your and the other person's car, if it was decided that the fault was 50/50.

Some insurance companies will try anything to get out of paying!

"" A little learning is a dangerous thing."-Alexander Pope

jlkz · ‎12-02-2013

@gellen

Whenever there is an issue involving a car, there are two things that you need to do immediately:

First, call police and have them come out to the incident and write a report. Give you a copy of the report and its number.

Second, call your insurance agent next and explain what happened and give them / fax / whatever the police report.

This protects you from all " post incidence " remembrances or disclaimers from the other party.

It will save you many headaches and enable your insurance agent to get you a fair resolution. It will also protect your from punitive rate increases when you aren't the cause of the problem.

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
Sir Winston Churchill

Snowpuppy · ‎03-09-2010

The police won't respond to an accident in a parking lot, garage structure,etc. It's considered private property.

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

Here the won't respond unless there are injuries. You're told to just exchange information.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

@Venezia wrote:
@gellen - Even a small dent can cost that much to have repaired these days. Often the affected panel has to be replaced and resprayed (and it may involve the cost of a rental car for the time the vehicle is in the body shop).

However, absolutely get in touch with your insurer immediately and let them know what's happening. They can either sort it out and/or you can countersue.

You don't say what the damage was to your vehicle, but it's not fair that you would have to pay for the damage to both your and the other person's car, if it was decided that the fault was 50/50.

Some insurance companies will try anything to get out of paying!

@Venezia she said HER insurance company decided it that way. Apparently, the other insurance company doesn't agree.

In my state, if it's found that both parties have ANY amount of fault, neither party recovers. Unless the police happens to witness the accident, they won't assign fault either.

I had a lady try to pull something like that on me. She backed into the side of my car and then later tried to claim I had pulled into that spot while she was backing out. She must've thought I would offer her cash or something. I told her to deal with my insurance company and then I called my insruance agent. He was familiar with the woman, and we had the same insurance company. He told me he would take care of it and he did.

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if she ever tried to make a claim or not. I really think she was just trying to bully me into offering her money. Maybe that's the story she told her husband and he pushed her to make a claim.

elated · ‎06-09-2010

@gellen @A court summons is legal proceedings against the recipient, informing them of their obligation to@ respond to the lawsuit. I would call my insurance company and find out how to further proceed. Apparently, they want further compensation than your insurance company deemed fair. You need to be proactive to protect yourself. People are sue crazy.