Legal Question in Insurance Law in Florida

Death by accident

My daughter was driving my car to pick up a friend. She has a suspended license, which I wasn't aware of. A man on a bicycle ran out in front of her on a busy 4lane . He was crossing the highway without stopping. He hit the car and rolled over the hood & busted the windshield. My daughter was 6 months pregnant and so traumatized. He died later at the hospital. The homicide investigators said the accident was unavoidable after they checked out everything and got her statement. She was checked out at the ER also & the baby was ok. She was cited with a ticket for driving while license suspended & they said she would not be charged with any other crime, it was not her fault. My insurance company advised me that his family is wanting his medical & funeral bills paid by them. I only had liability,PIP, and it may not cover all the expenses. The insurance company will try to settle it all with what policy I have. Can his family come after funeral expenses? It was not my daughter's fault and I became a widow a year ago and live on retirement only. We both have nothing. They (insurance) are doing all they can to settle this claim with my policy funds & will let me know. Should I be worried?


Asked on 4/27/08, 11:09 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alan Wagner Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore P.A.

Re: Death by accident

I will assume that your daughter is over 18 years old since she was six months pregnant.

You do not know what happenned and neither do the police. They were not there. There is a difference, in any even, between the police decision not to charge someone with a crime and a determination that they were not negligent (looking the other way, on the cell phone, driving 5 mph over the speed limit, not paying attention, not braking soon enough, etcetera).

The family may bring a claim against your daughter and against you if you own the car. There are limitations on what they can recovery from you if you are not negligent and just owned the car. Probably, however, given your circumstances, they will just come after the insurance money.

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Answered on 4/28/08, 8:04 am


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