im being sued for $24,000

[jdev]

dear mr. devaney

this letter will serve as a followup to your request to review the liability regarding the above captioned matter (above is case claim number)

the law of comparative negligence in massachusetts allows you to recover for damages provided you are no more than 50% at fault. our original investigation placed you greater at fault for this accident based on the red light violation you recieved. However, since you won that appeal, the liability was re-evaluated and changed to reflect 50% on both parties. The unbiased witness indicates that your actions equally contributed to this accident.

there is no evidence to place more than 50% negligence on our insured. Our liability decision to settle the claim at 50% remains unchange. Therefore, I will be able to honor youre request to pay your claim in full.

(signature of insurance officer)

so. I have that kind of going for me. my mother is an attorney, so, she is going to offer me whatever advice possible. it is likely that I will have to hire an attorney for this, but I do have 20 days to respond to the claim that has been lodged against me.

and my day was going fine until i got home @ 3:30. this is when I saw the papers for a lawsuit jammed between my doorgframe and my doorknob. :sigh:

.joe.

[PyRo]

Well, what the hell is he sueing for? And if he wins your insurance company pays it don't they?
No way in heck he should win this when its your word against his, neither of you can prove fault.

[jdev]

this is actually a personal claim against me. he was denied through my insurance company

[PyRo]

Sorry to here about that. Good luck with it, I don't think he has much of a case, especially since you got out of that ticket.
I cannot believe someone would do this, hit you, then sue you.

[Konigballer]

time to get your gun and shovel out of the basement joey.

[jdev]

well. after reading the information sent to me, and typying out the appropriate answers regarding the requested information, i found something.

after the accident, I saved all documents, in the event something like this happened. I vaguely recalled a letter from my insurance company (metlife at the time) saying they would handle my defense should I be sued. I just became the happiest person alive for the moment. here is the letter I recieved from MetLife

Dear Joseph A. Devaney,

we wanted to inform you that we have failed to reach an agreement for bodily injury claim for (other parties name removed) injuries.

You may recieve suit papers from either him or his attorney. Please notify me right away if you recieve anything resembling suit papers. We will then assign your case to our defense attorney

If you recieve any phone calls from them, please ask them to contact me directly and let me know.

Of course, you may call me with any questions at (phone number, ext)

(parting greeting)

I am so happy to have found this. I may still have to pay some money for a defense of this, but, with any luck, I will not have to.

when i get my own vechile insured, I am definitely going back to this company for insurance. Stand up company, and EXCELLENT customer service.

.joe.

[nippinout]

Yahoo for insurance companies?



Good luck man!

[FragTek]

I had something similar to this happen to me... I ended up winning and didn't have to pay anything out of pocket.

Yay for lawyers! hehe.

[Miscue]

Counter-sue that schmuck!

Well, hope everything turns out well.

[Caffiend]

first off, glad to hear you're ok joey. good on Metlife to get your back like that. that's awesome. have they told you what you're being sued for yet? since your ins. company already denied him the suit, that's +1 in your book right? meaning you already have the lead, so to speak. best of luck with the suit, hope they toss him outta court.

[pbcustom98]

good luck. hope all goes well for you!

[bornl33t]

theres a reason I keep a camera and long "flashlight" in my car

[Albinonewt]

Originally posted by Konigballer
time to get your gun and shovel out of the basement joey.

Don't do that. They'll know it was you. I'll send you my gun and shovel (and my ferensic chemist wife for backup)

[Collegeboy]

I am not sure if I would file a counter suit, the judge could then think this is a squabble between the two of you, and punish both of you for wasting the courts time. The only counter suit that would work would be for the cost of your legal bills. In some states this is already awarded to the winner, so first check your state laws. If it is not awarded automatically, only counter sue for the predetermined amount that you and your lawyer have set up.

It looks like a standard shared liability case where both parties walk away with the responsibility of their own cost, no one is responsible for the others cost etc..

The tactic the guy is trying to get you to do is one of settling out of court. I would not be surprised if in the next few days you get papers that are asking for an out of court settlement, if so, don't. Once the judge sees this, he/she will either throw out the case, or listen to both sides to see what it is about (for the judge doesn't know much more then the standard file he/she gets), and quickly dismiss the case for lack of fault on either side, and might award you the cost of your legal services.

I wish you luck.

[dansim]

counter sue for


...lets see carry the 2....9 dollars to cover cost of the coffee, but dude that sucks i hope you win i dont want to see the anexiation of joey d sale