Witness being sued?

[mana14]

Jurisdiction

Georgia

My husband was on a street and The speed limit is 25. A lady came around the curve very fast and it was raining. She swerved to not hit my husband. She hit a wall and totalled her car. Air bags deployed.
She was ticketed for her accident and the police officer only took my husbands name and listed him as a witness. We received a notice from her lawyer wanting our insurance info for her injuries. It was a single car accident. What do we do now?

 

[justblue]

My husband was on a street and The speed limit is 25. A lady came around the curve very fast and it was raining. She swerved to not hit my husband. She hit a wall and totalled her car. Air bags deployed.
She was ticketed for her accident and the police officer only took my husbands name and listed him as a witness. We received a notice from her lawyer wanting our insurance info for her injuries. It was a single car accident. What do we do now?

Define "on a street". Was he crossing the road? Walking in the middle of the street? What was he doing "on the street"?

 

[adjusterjack]

What do we do now?

Take out your homeowner's insurance policy papers. Somewhere in there is a toll free phone number with which to report claims. It may be a 24 hour number. Call it and report the notice.

Both of you, do not respond to the attorney. Do not talk to him if he calls. Do not give him any information. Just say "you'll be contacted by my insurance company." That's it.

Your insurance company will handle this for you.

Since your husband wasn't driving anything, it's not a vehicle liability claim, it's a personal liability claim. Personal liability is what your homeowner's policy is for.

My guess is that the attorney will allege that your husband's position "on a street" was negligence.

Just because they allege it doesn't mean they will get any money for it.

I can't comment on that, though, until you answer justblue's questions.

 

[mana14]

Define "on a street". Was he crossing the road? Walking in the middle of the street? What was he doing "on the street"?

Sorry. He was driving.

 

[army judge]

Sorry. He was driving.

Time for him to report the legal papers you received and the incident to your auto insurer.

Don't delay, do it before COB on Monday.

Your husband might not be what he says he is, witness.

In the interim, discuss this with no one except the insurer and their representatives.

 

[adjusterjack]

Sorry. He was driving.

That doesn't answer the questions posed by just blue. Details count.

My advice is the same, except substitute auto for homeowner.

 

[zddoodah]

Witness being sued?

Is this a question? Are you not sure if your husband is or isn't being sued?

My husband was on a street

You've already clarified that he was driving. Was his vehicle in motion at the time? Describe the scene and who was doing what at the time that the other driver lost control.

She hit a wall and totalled her car.

I'm curious how you could possibly know that the car was totalled.

We received a notice from her lawyer wanting our insurance info for her injuries. It was a single car accident. What do we do now?

Your husband should contact his auto liability insurer and request that the insurer retain legal counsel to deal with this on his behalf.

 

[adjusterjack]

request that the insurer retain legal counsel to deal with this on his behalf.

Z, that rarely happens at this level until a lawsuit is filed.

Claim reps can handle "notices" from attorneys just as well as "notices" from anybody else.

I'd say that a majority of liability claims are handled by the claims department without the involvement of the company's attorney.