by Guest » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:14 am
I was the driver of a vehicle that was owned and insured by my ex, listed as a driver. I was "given" the vehicle to transport our children to school etc. In September 2009, a restraining order was placed on him due to a home situation. In October 2009, my sticker was about to expire so I went to the auto insurance company to make the payment and get everything up to date. By chance, he was there, so I motioned the insurance agent outside to explain the situation, she took pictures, and assures me my ex had paid up and I was good to go. I took care of the stickers and thought all was well.
In Feb 2010 at 9am, I was on the way to my college. It was the beginning of bike week and there was tons of tourist traffic on the busy road I was traveling. I was coming up to a dangerous intersection when suddenly I saw a car coming head on in my lane...I was going to pull right but there was a vehicle there. To my left was an upcoming turn lane. There did not appear to be oncoming traffic, so in my panic thats where I steered my car. Unfortunately, I had not seen the car that was turning into that same lane and we collided. The car I was trying to avoid never stopped. My car was totalled, and I suffered 2 broken legs, a broken hip, all my ribs fractured, one lung was punctured by a rib and the other collapsed. Luckily, no one else was hurt, but there was property damage. I almost died.
My hospital bills, as you can guess, are more than I could afford in a lifetime...and just as I was coming out of my coma I discover my insurance had been cancelled 3 months prior. My ex blew off the payments and now I am being held at fault for everything. I can't get a lawyer at all and I don't know the first step to take to make things right and also so I don't lose everything I have. Thank you ahead of time for your assistance.
In Feb 2010 at 9am, I was on the way to my college. It was the beginning of bike week and there was tons of tourist traffic on the busy road I was traveling. I was coming up to a dangerous intersection when suddenly I saw a car coming head on in my lane...I was going to pull right but there was a vehicle there. To my left was an upcoming turn lane. There did not appear to be oncoming traffic, so in my panic thats where I steered my car. Unfortunately, I had not seen the car that was turning into that same lane and we collided. The car I was trying to avoid never stopped. My car was totalled, and I suffered 2 broken legs, a broken hip, all my ribs fractured, one lung was punctured by a rib and the other collapsed. Luckily, no one else was hurt, but there was property damage. I almost died.
My hospital bills, as you can guess, are more than I could afford in a lifetime...and just as I was coming out of my coma I discover my insurance had been cancelled 3 months prior. My ex blew off the payments and now I am being held at fault for everything. I can't get a lawyer at all and I don't know the first step to take to make things right and also so I don't lose everything I have. Thank you ahead of time for your assistance.
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 04:51 pm Post Subject:
Lori...I think I'm going to have to end up getting a lawyer, one appointed by the court. But first, I need to respond to the summons by mail (or fax)...do you have any idea who the best person would be to help give me an idea what to say? Do I respond one by one to the supposed reasons listed stating why I am guilty or percieved to be guily? I am so confused.
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 05:12 pm Post Subject:
Lori...I think I'm going to have to end up getting a lawyer, one appointed by the court
From what I recall, this is a civil matter nit criminal. The court does not pay for attorneys to defend in civil matters (this is why people have insurance... it pays for a defense).You mentioned that you received a Summons... was this a Complaint and not a Summons? It should say in the upper right boxed area. If this is a Complaint you have so many days to file a legal Answer otherwise you may loose by default.
I did not mention this before but it seems like you may have a case against your ex if he was supposed to maintain insurance on the vehicle. He could (should) be brought into a legal matters regardless.
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 09:59 pm Post Subject:
jeni-as Tcope said, we need to really know 'what' this is, and how it's filed.
Did a process server come to your house and serve you? Do you see a COURT (or docket), date, time, which court, etc? What is the date you MUST respond by?
We need more info to be able to help you Jeni.
Oh, and Todd, re:
The court does not pay for attorneys to defend in civil matters (this is why people have insurance... it pays for a defense).
I would've said the same thing, but, just within the past three months in my own family, I learned different....get this.. :x ..My adult, niece's piece of well you know...'father' (aka: sperm donor) of her five year old son..hasn't seen the child since he was six months old, NEVER paid child support EVER, has served time in prison (not jail, and not child support related)..real piece of work...anyway, niece marrys a great guy that she has been with since baby was about 9months old...been married two years, so she and husband get atty and go to court to allow husband to legally adopt son, (clearly civil)...well sperm donor fights it...AND is given a state appointed, FREE atty to do so with (legal aid, court appointed)! We were all just floored! Had no idea this could even happen! He fought it for six months, until it was found there had been a child support order, he'd just never paid any, and niece and husband agreed to sign off on it if he would just agree to the adoption...well, mr. "that MY boy, I'M his FATHER, I'll NEVER sign over my parental rights" all of a sudden agreed to quit fighting...so niece and husband had 8k in their own legal fees, then had to pay the state back for his 'court appointed' atty! (had he 'won' they would not have had to pay his atty fees, the state I guess would've ate it then)...Now you talk about a bunch of huey! sooooooooo maybe the OP can get free legal aid...certainly worth checking on OP!Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 01:33 am Post Subject: accident
Thank you again for your responses, I have been busy trying to look up laws and find out what to do....and t-cope, yes I learned I can't get the court appointed attorney. Unfortunately I'm still looking at this through a victim's eyes, I've never been in trouble before and I don't know what to do. And Lori, I am sorry to hear what happened in your family...it just seems so wrong:(
About the summons...I was served by the sherriff by the papers, it has a Case number and a judge...but reading it through it is just a complaint with an order to respond by 7/16/2010 with a written response to the court. My ex has also been served. There is no trial date yet.
Complant says I am being sued for damages greater than $5,000 but no more than $15,000. States insurance company at all times pertinent to the accident was authorized to and doing business in the state of FL. At all times defendent (me) has been a resident of this county, FL. At all times my ex was a resident of this count in FL. At all time subroger was a resident of this county, owner of the vehicle subject to the action, and the she and all occupant were covered by Insurance company at time of accident. It states on or about Feb 26 my ex was the owner of the vehicle. It states on that date I was driving the vehicle. It states at that time and place, defendant (me) negligently operated or maintained an automobile so that it collided with subrogers vehicle. It states as a direct and proximate result of defendants negligence pursuant to terms of her ins. co. she was forced to pay $10,000 for property damage. As a result of that payment and under terms of her policy, plaintiff has become subrogated to the rights of the above named subroger. It satates plaintiff has performed all conditions precedent required of it for bringing in nthis action against defendants. It states no facts exist that would setoff this debt, or to allow a counterclaim to be entered...
So...a lot of the facts such as where I live and the date of the accident is true. But how do I know which vehicle she was in proximate to the accident, how much she was charged to fix her car, and most importantly..I was never charged with negligence (carelessness) and was told by the traffic clerk I could try to fight that too. I am truly sorry that she obtained damage, but personally, if it were *my* way, everyone involved should be subjected to the burden that I do of finding the original perpetrator who tresspassed head on into my lane which caused this whole domino effect. As of now, I am looking at bankruptcy, trying to raise 4 kids on my own, while he mooches off a trust fund and just does as he pleases all day. What he does is beyond negligence, he just doesn't care..and that's why I left him. I tend to think he didn't pay the insurance on purpose...he could have afforded it...but I guarantee in court he'll stand up and say "but judge, SHE was the one driving the car"....
Thanks for your help...~Jen~
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 01:36 am Post Subject: accident
Sorry about the typos!
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 04:41 am Post Subject:
but reading it through it is just a complaint with an order to respond by 7/16/2010 with a written response to the court.
A legal Answer needs to be filed before the end of that date! If you don't file an Answer then the other party will probably obtain a default judgement (you loose... and their will be little dispute as to what they are asking for. You _don't_ want this to happen!If you don't file a legal Answer the other attorney will simply submit _any_ info they want to support their claim. The judge will review it but will probably have little interest in confirming that it's correct... this is your job.
If you can research on the web and obtain enough into to file an Answer you can do this. But you may want to pay an attorney a hundred dollars or so to help you with this. At least that way you will be able to present your info to a judge.
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 01:32 pm Post Subject:
Oh Jen! as T posted, honey you HAVE to have an answer to the court BEFORE the 15th...you might even go to the court house, t/w the clerk, explaine you have zero money and will need to defend yourself, can they help you with filing the answer...also ask if you need to appear at this time, or if filing the answer is sufficient...(if it's a 'choice' then go, and do all you can to make a great impression on the judge), also did you call your local 'legal aid' office? if not do it NOW...I would guess that all you need to file in the answer is basically your plea, which will be that the 'phantom' vehicle NOT you were responsible for this accident..they should then set a trial date...you can defend yourself then if need be, if that happens let us know and we'll help all we can with telling you what you need to have and take to court with you to present.
Do you have communication with your ex? has he hired an attorney? if so will this atty defend you as well? will the ex pay this bill?
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