I AM BEING SUED FOR AN ACCIDENT, DO I NEED MY OWN LAWYER?
Our attorneys represent people who have been injured in a Minnesota auto accident. We only represent people injured because of the other driver’s fault.However, we recently had a call from someone who caused a car accident. They were being sued for property damage (damage to the other driver’s car.) Apparently, the caller’s insurance company wasn’t able to settle with the owner of the car she hit in the accident. The caller wanted to know if she needed to hire her own lawyer for the case. We thought it would be useful to share our answer with you.
If you cause a car accident in MN and you get sued, your auto insurer will pay to have a lawyer defend you. There are only three circumstances where you might need to hire your own separate attorney:
(1) if your car insurance company denies coverage. For example, if the insurance company says your policy was cancelled or you obtained the insurance fraudulently. If this happens, your insurance company will send you a letter specifically denying coverage and stating the reasons.
(2) if your insurance company agrees to defend you but irrationally refuses to pay the claim. for example, if they deny you were at fault even though you know you were. If the damages could be significant or you have a small policy limit, you should hire your own lawyer.
(3) if your insurance company acknowledges liability but refuses to pay the policy limits when the claim is worth that or more. For example, if your coverage is $500,000, but the insurance company insists that being paralyzed isn’t worth $500,000.
CONFLICT BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY
You need your own attorney in those last two situations because if there is a trial the person you injured could win a big verdict. Then, the insurance company will try to limit their payment to the amount of your coverage, leaving you potentially responsible for the remainder. For example, if before trial the paralyzed person was willing to accept the $500,000 policy limit to settle the case, but your insurance company refused, and the jury awarded $1,000,000 – you would be responsible for the excess $500,000.
If you have your own lawyer in that situation, your lawyer will try to pressure the insurance company to settle with the injured person. This will protect you from a potential large judgment in excess of your policy limits. There is also a law that says if the insurance company refuses to settle in bad faith, the insurance company can be held responsible for the excess verdict. Therefore, your separately hired car accident lawyer will try to document why refusing to settle would be bad faith.
MANY TYPES OF SIGNIFICANT INJURY CLAIMS
You should keep in mind that the other person doesn’t really need to be paralyzed for there to be a big verdict.There are many types of injuries that can generate large medical bills and permanent injuries.
Our MN auto accident lawyers have been involved in this type of situation several times. We have helped people who caused the accident and are worried about an excess verdict. Of course, we have also represented many injured people where the insurance company refuses to settle. We have also worked with the at-fault driver’s separate lawyer to set up a bad faith insurance claim to protect the driver being sued.
However, where the lawsuit against you is for only for a limited amount of property damage to the other vehicle, like the caller mentioned above, there does not appear to be any risk of an excess verdict. Therefore, hiring a separate lawyer should not be necessary.
INJURY LAWYER TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS
If you are ever in a situation like this, please do not hesitate to call us and speak with a car accident lawyer in MN for a free consultation. We are Minnesota personal injury lawyers with more than 25 years’ experience. We have successfully handled hundreds of auto accident injury cases. The initial consultation is always free, and sometimes it’s just a matter of giving people peace of mind.
We have big firm experience, but we are also able to provide small firm attention.A lawyer can meet you to discuss your car accident case at our offices in Minneapolis, Edina, Woodbury, and St. Louis Park.Our attorneysalso meet people at their homes in many surrounding cities including Chaska, Chanhassen, Apple Valley, Burnsville, Maple Grove, Brooklyn Park, Roseville, St. Paul, etc.