I don't see a legal forum so I will pose this on H-Town since it is where I see this is going on. I have had several friends, relatives and acquaintances been in very minor auto accidents with barely any damages and the other party trying to get insane amounts of money. Frivolous lawsuits. My B-I-L had decent insurance who fought on his son's behalf for 2 years to an undisclosed settlement. Another guy I know recently has a similar scenario, but he told me his insurance co is a max 30K per person. Not sure if insurance co will go to bat for them. He is blue collar, wife admin asst. I doubt they could afford a lawyer or a huge lawsuit.

1. What would you do if you were him?
2. What do you do to prevent this happening to you?

Let the insurance handle it until they don't. Nothing to do until then, except maybe save money for a lawyer that they hopefully won't need.

Second dash cam.

And story time, my sister was in an accident in high school with multiple friends in the car. One of them was convinced by the local ambulance chaser to sue her. My parent's insurance was just going to pay it until my mom recorded her at volleyball games and practice and sent it to them. *She was wearing a neck brace when meeting with her lawyer lol

Long term: live and drive only in counties where the courts and jury pool don't look favorably on personal injury litigation. Unfortunately, that's become much more rare over the past 20 years.

Short term: carry minimum limits insurance. Most PI attorneys don't even want to mess with those cases. That's a double-edge sword though- you open yourself up to potential personal exposure if you have assets, so it's not a viable option.

I favor more tort reform. The changes made 20 years ago were huge and necessary, despite the gnashing of teeth from the plaintiffs' bar at the time.

It happened to me twice last year. It is bs that these insurance companies are paying these scammers yet we get to pay the insane rate increases.

dont own a house in a hurricane

Had this happen to me. I told the insurance company what happened. Told me it was my word against theirs. They could either deny the claim and I open myself up to a civil suit or they can go down the path of negotiating with their lawyer.

My insurance paid the scammed and I got hit with a higher premium.

Quote:

---

My B-I-L had decent insurance who fought on his son's behalf for 2 years to an undisclosed settlement.

---

The insurer is required to tell your BIL the amount of the settlement

Quote:

---

Another guy I know recently has a similar scenario, but he told me his insurance co is a max 30K per person. Not sure if insurance co will go to bat for them. He is blue collar, wife admin asst. I doubt they could afford a lawyer or a huge lawsuit.

---

The insurer is required to go to bat for the guy you know and pay for his lawyer if they do not settle the claim pre-case being filed