if my insurance claims agent decides my fault in an accident is 50/50 and the other party sues me how do I defend myself
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if my insurance claims agent decides my fault in an accident is 50/50 and the other party sues me how do I defend myself
We were in a parking lot at walmart I was backing out of my parking space and the other person was backing out of her space. I have a copy of the video from walmart and it shows that I started backing out of my space, I had to stop for a car to go by, then I continued backing out, after the car went by that I had stopped for the other person started backing out of her space. I didn’t see her begin to back out, so I continued backing out. she was completely out of her space before I was due to the angle of her parking space and the size of her car, so my car hit the back end of her car while it was at a standstill and I was traveling about 3 miles per hour. My insurance claims agent determined we were both at fault. She disagreed and believes I’m 100 at fault and is now suing me and seeking liability limits. What can I do?
Asked on October 20, 2018 under Accident Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
Your insurer should be defending you and/or settling the case, at least up to the limits of your policy; this is what you have insurance for. If and when she does file a new lawsuit against you, contact your insurer and make sure they are defending you. While they can try to settle the case for less than your limits, they are obligated to spend up your full policy limits to defend or pay on your half. If you have $20,000 single accident limits, for example, they should spend up to $20k on legal fees and/or on paying the other side--that's what they signed up for when the sold you your policy. So if you are sued for less than your policy limits, your insurer should handle this for you.
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