Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: accident by model or scam

You MUST respond in time or they can just get everything.

You have insurance, notify them and they will provide defense.

If adverse had not insurance, she can only get what she can prove as to lost wages and medical exepenses (and property damage, of course), but NO pain and suffering.

JOEL SELIK

www.SelikLaw.com

Re: accident by model or scam

I have not read the other attorney responses, however you need to turn this over to your insurance company. They are supposed to defend you in this type of case. Anytime an accident happens you need to report it to your insurance company ASAP!!

Re: accident by model or scam

I see you've already gotton alot of messages to your question. Hopefully, they all told you to report this accident to your ins. co. They will handle this for you, investigate the other drivers claims and decide what to do. If you get sued, you turn over lawsuit immediately to your claims rep and they will provide defense attys for you at no cost. If you are in the Orange County area, call me and we can go over your auto ins. coverage to beef it up. Sam Eagle.

Re: accident by model or scam

I concur will all that you MUST take the time to respond unless you have the time to pay a potential $50,000 default judgment.

As all others have stated, turn it all over to your insurance company immediately. They are obligated to defend you under the policy, and will get a lawyer for you. Also, if this is a scam, the insurance company will not hesitate to pursue them for insurance fraud if they keep pursuing it. I would also suggest sending a terse note to their attorney that you have turned the matter over to your liability carrier. This puts them on immediate notice that an insurance carrier is involved. If it's just a scam, they might well bail out at that point to avoid insurance fraud. I found it most curious that the woman did not ask you for proof of insurance. She might well have not wanted to know.

Re: accident by model or scam

You should probably notify your insurer and have them hire a lawyer to defend you. After all, this is what you have liability insurance for. Your parents and your employer should also notify their insurers.

Or if you can come up with the $500 she previously asked of you, you could call the lawyer and see if she will settle for that amount. $500 might seem like a lot at the moment, but compared to the hassle and stress of litigation and the potential increase in your insurance premiums (hopefully another LawGuru attorney can advise how --if at all -- your rates would be affected by litigating this matter), you will likely look back after the case is done and wish you had settled for a small sum at the outset.

Of course, she is not required to accept your proposal.

Her claim sounds like a bit of a stretch, but if she can prove that she would have landed modeling jobs but for the accident -- and that the accident was your fault -- she could win the entire sum she is seeking.

Based on the limited facts you have provided I don't see how your parents could be liable here. Your employer could be on the hook if you were driving on company business when this happened, but even then there are many issues which could insulate them from liability.

Good luck.

Re: accident by model or scam

She's suing you. You need an attorney. I used to work in insurance defense. I can probably make sure you don't have to pay legal fees. Contact me for a consultation. Sincerely, Chris 310-266-4115