Jack Taylor
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- Florida
A few months ago, my wife was in an automobile accident here in Florida in which she rear-ended a car with our Chevy Express van. Both of our names were on the title. Fortunately, at least from the looks of things at the accident scene, no one was seriously injured. There were a total of three cars involved in the accident. I understand Florida is a 'no fault' state, but my wife was obviously the at-fault driver.
After the rear-ending the lady she rear-ended got out of her car, walked over to my wife who was in a confused state still sitting in her driver's' seat. She walked normally to my wife's window, stood there and then spoke normally with my wife. But shortly thereafter she began to cry probably due to the shock of the situation.
A few weeks ago we learned from our insurance company that the driver whom my wife rear-ended hired an attorney, and just yesterday we heard from our insurance company that "the value of the bodily injury claim(s) of relating to XXXXXX may exceed the limits under (our) policy." The limit we have at the insurance company's suggestion is $50,000.
Our insurance company also stated we have the right, if desired "to hire an attorney of (our) own choosing and expense for advice and counsel… (we) face personal exposure for liability for any damages above (our) insurance protection…a jury could determine that (we) are liable for all or a part of medical bills incurred to date, any future medical bills, any wages lost in the past or in the future as a result of the injuries from the accident, as well as any compensation for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, inconvenience and loss of enjoyment of life…but we will make every effort to settle this case within your insurance coverage in exchange for a full and final release of all claims," etc.
We are broke. We have nothing. I am a father of four and the soul breadwinner for our family of six. The only items we have one might consider assets are our 17-year-old Ford Taurus and my job, a job I am struggling to keep with my worsening young onset of Parkinson's disease. My wife has not worked for years, at first to stay home with our autistic child, and more recently because of her disabling COPD and near deafness from a worsening hearing problem. This past March she was hospitalized with flu and pneumonia and nearly died.
I was laid off from my job of 18 years at the end of 2015. After that, my Parkinson's worsened, and my wife's health declined. Because of this we relocated to Florida since our doctors thought the warmer climate would be good for our health. But, I did not feel up to working with my Parkinson's symptoms, and neither did my wife, so neither of us earned any income for around a year and a half. We quickly blew through the proceeds from the sale of our home, my severance pay, my 401K, any other funds we had and used pretty much all the credit we had just to survive. Eventually we were on "food stamps" and Medicaid and going to a local pantry for the poor for some of the basic necessities. I made a sign to go out in the streets begging at one point, although I did not end up using it. Ultimately, because of all of this, we are $40K-$50K in debt, and a huge chunk of what I make goes towards those bills, along with thousand of dollars in hospital bills.
But now, I have been feeling a little better and working again, trying to dig us out of a massive hole knowing I will become too disabled to work eventually (although I have no idea how we would survive on disability either), and then this happens.
So, what all could happen to us here in this situation in Florida, and what if anything, can we do to protect ourselves, e.g. my income, from this legally?
After the rear-ending the lady she rear-ended got out of her car, walked over to my wife who was in a confused state still sitting in her driver's' seat. She walked normally to my wife's window, stood there and then spoke normally with my wife. But shortly thereafter she began to cry probably due to the shock of the situation.
A few weeks ago we learned from our insurance company that the driver whom my wife rear-ended hired an attorney, and just yesterday we heard from our insurance company that "the value of the bodily injury claim(s) of relating to XXXXXX may exceed the limits under (our) policy." The limit we have at the insurance company's suggestion is $50,000.
Our insurance company also stated we have the right, if desired "to hire an attorney of (our) own choosing and expense for advice and counsel… (we) face personal exposure for liability for any damages above (our) insurance protection…a jury could determine that (we) are liable for all or a part of medical bills incurred to date, any future medical bills, any wages lost in the past or in the future as a result of the injuries from the accident, as well as any compensation for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, inconvenience and loss of enjoyment of life…but we will make every effort to settle this case within your insurance coverage in exchange for a full and final release of all claims," etc.
We are broke. We have nothing. I am a father of four and the soul breadwinner for our family of six. The only items we have one might consider assets are our 17-year-old Ford Taurus and my job, a job I am struggling to keep with my worsening young onset of Parkinson's disease. My wife has not worked for years, at first to stay home with our autistic child, and more recently because of her disabling COPD and near deafness from a worsening hearing problem. This past March she was hospitalized with flu and pneumonia and nearly died.
I was laid off from my job of 18 years at the end of 2015. After that, my Parkinson's worsened, and my wife's health declined. Because of this we relocated to Florida since our doctors thought the warmer climate would be good for our health. But, I did not feel up to working with my Parkinson's symptoms, and neither did my wife, so neither of us earned any income for around a year and a half. We quickly blew through the proceeds from the sale of our home, my severance pay, my 401K, any other funds we had and used pretty much all the credit we had just to survive. Eventually we were on "food stamps" and Medicaid and going to a local pantry for the poor for some of the basic necessities. I made a sign to go out in the streets begging at one point, although I did not end up using it. Ultimately, because of all of this, we are $40K-$50K in debt, and a huge chunk of what I make goes towards those bills, along with thousand of dollars in hospital bills.
But now, I have been feeling a little better and working again, trying to dig us out of a massive hole knowing I will become too disabled to work eventually (although I have no idea how we would survive on disability either), and then this happens.
So, what all could happen to us here in this situation in Florida, and what if anything, can we do to protect ourselves, e.g. my income, from this legally?
