Legal Question in Personal Injury in North Carolina

subrogation against family for daughters no fault accident

At 12 midnight in Dec 2004 in Durham North Carolina, my daughter was driving my truck which collided with another car at a traffic light controlled intersection. The driver of the other car was was injured, she was not. She has stated that the light was green and she struck the vehicle because he wasc speeding, ran the red light and she could not avoid the collision. The accident was judged no fault by the state troopers at the scene. No one was ticketed. My insurance carrier paid for my vehicle and his insurance paid for his. He then (I believe through his insurance carrier) sued my insurance carrier and they counter sued. The case went to arbitration and was again deeded no-fault. To make a long story short... The car's driver sued me, my daughter, my insurance and his UIM carrier for 100k. I only had 30k liability coverage, never realizing that I might need more. I have been with my carrier for about 28 years and no one had informed me that my coverage might not be adequate. I have since upped my coverage. My carrier decided not to take a chance with a jury and to pay out the $30K, the UIM carrier came in and paid the 70k difference.

I am now being sued for 70K. What can I do now? Is bankruptcy my only option?


Asked on 1/16/07, 1:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Kirby Law Offices of John M. Kirby

Re: subrogation against family for daughters no fault accident

That's a very good question. I believe you need to retain an attorney to look into this in more detail to protect your interests. At a minimum, you can defend against the subrogation case on the grounds of (a) your daughter's liability and (b) your vicarious liability. You may or may not have claims against your liability insurer if it mis-handled the claim. Bankruptcy should generally not be done lightly, and thus you should probably explore your options with an attorney.

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Answered on 1/16/07, 6:40 pm


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