I am being sued...Can I pass the court summons to my Insurance?

[dgrins]

I got into an accident sometime in June 2015. A metro bus clipped the back of my car, the bumper was pulled out partially. We did not call the police, but an officer came from metro to record the accident and we exchanged insurance information. I reported the accident to my insurance through phone but I did not go ahead to file any claim because the damage was not much.
Apparently, after more than one year of the accident, one of the passengers in the metro bus has gone ahead to sue metro for a claim on personal injury. Today, January 3 2018 (two and half years after the accident) I received a court summons indicating that I am being sued by metro as "Individual cross defendant". I am requested to file a written response within 30 days of receipt of the summons

Now I am faced with the challenge of providing any information. I can not remember the bus driver's name nor the bus licence plate. I have searched my entire house and i can no longer locate the paper that contains those information. Even the photos I took on the scene is no longer available, its gone with my old phone which got damaged and I discarded it....sounds stupid right? But that is the situation I am in right now. I dont know what to do, I need some candid advice.
Can I pass this summons to my insurance? Do I stand a chance if I am not able to provide them with the details like name of bus driver, licence plate, name of street where the accident occurred and pictures.
Again I am confused as to why metro is sueing me as an "individual cross defendant" when they have my insurance information. Why not deal with my insurance provider...i am just thinking.
Please your contributions and suggestions will be very helpful and highly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[NSRH]

I got into an accident sometime in June 2015. A metro bus clipped the back of my car, the bumper was pulled out partially. We did not call the police, but an officer came from metro to record the accident and we exchanged insurance information. I reported the accident to my insurance through phone but I did not go ahead to file any claim because the damage was not much.
Apparently, after more than one year of the accident, one of the passengers in the metro bus has gone ahead to sue metro for a claim on personal injury. Today, January 3 2018 (two and half years after the accident) I received a court summons indicating that I am being sued by metro as "Individual cross defendant". I am requested to file a written response within 30 days of receipt of the summons

Now I am faced with the challenge of providing any information. I can not remember the bus driver's name nor the bus licence plate. I have searched my entire house and i can no longer locate the paper that contains those information. Even the photos I took on the scene is no longer available, its gone with my old phone which got damaged and I discarded it....sounds stupid right? But that is the situation I am in right now. I dont know what to do, I need some candid advice.
Can I pass this summons to my insurance? Do I stand a chance if I am not able to provide them with the details like name of bus driver, licence plate, name of street where the accident occurred and pictures.
Again I am confused as to why metro is sueing me as an "individual cross defendant" when they have my insurance information. Why not deal with my insurance provider...i am just thinking.
Please your contributions and suggestions will be very helpful and highly appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds like a professional plaintiff. This will likely be settled outside of court.

Regardless, you need to seek legal advice from an attorney.

 

[VolAgent]

It is the legalities of it. You were there and were involved in the accident, your insurance company was not. Thus you are sued, even though you have insurance which will defend and indemnify you per the terms of the policy.

It looks like the bus company and their insurance company is looking for someone else to spread the love. You should notify your insurance company and follow their advise. It is likely they will send an attorney to represent you, you may or may not have to appear as well.

Should they choose not to represent you, because they feel you are not entitled to a defense under the policy, then I recommend you obtain your own attorney.

 

[adjusterjack]

Can I pass this summons to my insurance?

You absolutely must do so and do it now. That you phoned in a report back then could mean that the insurance company already has a claim file on record with the information you provided then even if the claim was closed because nobody followed up on it.

Again I am confused as to why metro is sueing me as an "individual cross defendant" when they have my insurance information. Why not deal with my insurance provider...

Because your insurance company was not a participant in the accident, you were, so you are the one that gets named. If you were suing another driver for an accident you would name the driver, not his insurance company.

Call your insurance company (the one you had back then) right now.

 

[dgrins]

Thanks everyone for your response and suggestions. I have called my insurance claims department and the claim process was initiated. I was given a claim's number and was told that an adjuster will get in touch with me within a period of 48 hours....still waiting.

I will keep you guys posted.
Thanks.

 

[adjusterjack]

Adjusters often have 100 claims pending and get 5 to 10 new ones a day while they are trying to close out old claims. The adjuster probably won't know you are being sued until he reaches the claim and reviews it.

Call him up today and arrange to fax or email him a copy of the court papers. If you get voice mail make sure your message includes the words "I was served a lawsuit on January 3."

If you don't make contact today, start again 1st thing Monday morning and ask for a supervisor or manager if you can't reach the assigned adjuster.

 

[VolAgent]

Yeah, you definitely need to make sure they know the date you are supposed to appear in court. The last thing you want is to show up without representation. I would leave it in every voicemail and include it on every fax, email and other communication.

Just to be safe, I would also document that I made the adjuster aware via email or fax.

 

[STIBROKER]

Yeah, you definitely need to make sure they know the date you are supposed to appear in court. The last thing you want is to show up without representation. I would leave it in every voicemail and include it on every fax, email and other communication.

Just to be safe, I would also document that I made the adjuster aware via email or fax.

good advice.......

 

[dgrins]

I want to thank everyone of you for your candid advice so far on this case. I really appreciate your time and effort.
Here is an update: I got a letter from a law office retained by the insurance company to represent me on this case. The content of the letter goes: "Dear Mr xxxxx, We have been retained by your insurance carrier to defend you in the above referenced lawsuit. It maybe necessary to contact you on short notice from time to time..........if you are served with any document concerning this matter, please contact our office and provide us with copies of same......you will find attached a client information form that we will like you to complete and return to us within the next 10 days......the trial has been set at September xx 2018 at xxxx court........because you are a defendant in this case, you will need to appear. The court will not grant a continuance of this trial because of your unavailability. It is mandatory that you attend during the entire pendency of the trial. It is estimated the trial will last 5 days."

My concern about this case is that I am armed with little or no details about this accident. The pictures I took at the scene of the accident is long gone with my old phone. I don't remember the license plate of the bus nor the name of the bus driver. I don't remember the exact street name but I can remember the area where it happened.

Is there any need to worry about this case? do I contact any other lawyer? I am really freaking out. I am 50 years old and I have never been to court in my life. This is the first time I will appear in court and it is making me navous.

Your candid advice will be greatly appreciated.
thanks.

 

[VolAgent]

Take a deep breath and calm down. It is six months away. You have lots of time to prepare.

You have an attorney, why wouldn't you ask them these questions? They are being paid to defend you and while they are being paid by the company the firm has a legal and ethical obligation to represent you. If you are concerned about this, make it one of your first questions.

And you are always free to seek your own legal counsel. Personally I wouldn't unless I felt uncomfortable with the firm retained by the insurance company. However, that right is always yours. If you have a personal attorney, a brief conversation about it and telling them who is representing you in this may ease your mind.