i was hit by a motorize bicycle.need advise and suggestion please！

Risk Man said:
Time for the "Risk Man" to chime in....

If you have auto insurance and limits of at least $100K / $300K for bodily injury and $100K for property damage (most times it is broken down this way but some times you may have a "Combined Single Limit" (CSL) you should be fine from what ever suit this claimant brings. Your insurance company will provide full defense of any claim and payment of any damages up to the limits mentioned above. You should NOT need to hire your own counsel unless you truly believe the claim will exceed the limits of your insurance policy on your auto.

The process is usually this like this:

1. You file the claim (and you should) with your insurance company
2. They contact the claimant and see what he "Wants" ( property damage payment... is bike, and or bodily injury for medical bills). If he is reasonable on both of these, they pay and get a full release of further liability.
3. If he wants excessive money for either, they will make an offer and wait.
4. If he does not respond, they will hold the claim until they hear from him or an attorney representing him ( any communication from him you should direct to your insurance company adjuster and not respond personally so as not to jeopardize your coverage)
5. If he hires a lawyer, they will send a demand package to the insurance company.
6. They will evaluate the demand and respond. If not acceptable to claimant attorney, then attorney will file a "suit".
7. Insurance company will respond to their "claim" in the suite denying most of the clams
8. Eventually within a year, after some "discovery" (of facts and evidence) the court will require a "mediation" (I am a mediator and have mediated over 1000 cases).
9. Your insurance company adjuster and or attorney if they have assigned one, will attend and negotiate at the mediation.
10. 75% of the cases will settle at this first mediation
11. If not settlement, the case will be set for trial within about 1-2 years of initial filing (unless it is so small and it falls into small claims court then it will be withing 5 months)
12. More discovery, depositions and then to trial before a judge
13 outcome at trial?????

Best of luck and if you have questions on procedure, let me know

Dennis
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thank you so much for all the valuable information, Dennis. i have body injury liabilty of 25000 per person and 50000 per incident and property is 100000. thats why i worried abt that may not be enough..do u think if the person hired lawyer and they will go for maximum？i know i will get increase on my insurance definitely after this car incident. do u know how much i will expect it to increase？thank you.
 
Your own insurance company has a whole team of lawyers at their disposal. Could you still face a civil suit? Sure, it's possible, and that is why it is a good idea to at least consult a lawyer about it, just in case. That being said, if the insurance company investigation reveals that the vehicle was not legal for road use and was missing an piece of required safety equipment (lights, etc.) they can overturn the liability and deny coverage to the individual.

This is one of those cases where nobody was really in the right, but you were technically at fault for crossing the lane of traffic the other vehicle was in and causing the incident. Pleading no contest on that citation is the smart way to go. You aren't admitting guilt, but stating that you have no reasonable way to contest the fault of the citation and are willing to accept the fine or other punishment. Definitely plea no contest as a guilty plea is what can really open you up to litigation. They can still pursue litigation against you with a no contest plea, but it involves more work on their part snice you didn't admit guilt.
 
ImpulseRocket said:
Your own insurance company has a whole team of lawyers at their disposal. Could you still face a civil suit? Sure, it's possible, and that is why it is a good idea to at least consult a lawyer about it, just in case. That being said, if the insurance company investigation reveals that the vehicle was not legal for road use and was missing an piece of required safety equipment (lights, etc.) they can overturn the liability and deny coverage to the individual.

This is one of those cases where nobody was really in the right, but you were technically at fault for crossing the lane of traffic the other vehicle was in and causing the incident. Pleading no contest on that citation is the smart way to go. You aren't admitting guilt, but stating that you have no reasonable way to contest the fault of the citation and are willing to accept the fine or other punishment. Definitely plea no contest as a guilty plea is what can really open you up to litigation. They can still pursue litigation against you with a no contest plea, but it involves more work on their part snice you didn't admit guilt.
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To be as strict as Florida is on gas powered vehicles they're fairly lienent on electrics. Some of the few requirements are 750 watt limit on motor and 20 mph speed limit.
 
ImpulseRocket said:
Your own insurance company has a whole team of lawyers at their disposal. Could you still face a civil suit? Sure, it's possible, and that is why it is a good idea to at least consult a lawyer about it, just in case. That being said, if the insurance company investigation reveals that the vehicle was not legal for road use and was missing an piece of required safety equipment (lights, etc.) they can overturn the liability and deny coverage to the individual.

This is one of those cases where nobody was really in the right, but you were technically at fault for crossing the lane of traffic the other vehicle was in and causing the incident. Pleading no contest on that citation is the smart way to go. You aren't admitting guilt, but stating that you have no reasonable way to contest the fault of the citation and are willing to accept the fine or other punishment. Definitely plea no contest as a guilty plea is what can really open you up to litigation. They can still pursue litigation against you with a no contest plea, but it involves more work on their part snice you didn't admit guilt.
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thank you for your advice. i dont see this as option when i look at the ticket. so do i need to request a court hearing and plead no contest on the court date..but would i lose my point and also i have to pay the fine plus court cost if i do that？
 
eunice said:
thank you for your advice. i dont see this as option when i look at the ticket. so do i need to request a court hearing and plead no contest on the court date..but would i lose my point and also i have to pay the fine plus court cost if i do that？
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Call the DA or court representative that should be listed on the ticket itself and see what your options are. It varies from state to state. In my state the paying of a fine/citation is not an admission of guilt and is treated as a "No Contest" by default.
 
Risk Man said:
I have a personal umbrella $1M over my cars and home liability insurance... cheap... about $400 per year
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A little different here in that car and house insurance are separate but having over a mil liability each is minimum.
Now costs are different here as well. Cars are at least 1000 and full coverage on a house is over 2500 and goes up every year.
Screw deal, but what can you do? Pay up and hope you never need to try and claim.
 
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