We get a lot of calls from people in our office who are very distressed and upset because they believe that they’ve been sued in connection with a Florida automobile accident. Well, most of the time when we talk to people and ask a few more questions, we discover that all that they’ve really done is received a letter from an attorney’s office indicating that they want to open a claim regarding some sort of a car accident. This does not mean that you’ve been sued; it doesn’t mean that you’re going to be sued. In fact, most automobile accident cases resolve without any lawsuit being filed. All it means is that the attorney wants your insurance company to open a claim so that the attorney can communicate with your insurance company about potentially settling the case.
Does this mean that there’s going to be a claim or that money is going to change hands? No. It just means that their attorney wants to communicate with the insurance company. So, if you get a letter like that, don’t panic, there’s no need to stress out about it. Simply take it or send it to your insurance company, let your insurance company handle it. Your insurance company is charged, as a result of the contract between you and the company, they’re charged with trying to get you out of a claim, trying to get it resolved, trying to get it over with without any exposure to you or inconvenience to you or at least to the greatest extent possible. So if you receive a letter like that, no need to stress out. It doesn’t mean you’ve been sued; you’re not going to have to go Downtown to the courthouse or anything like that, probably but it could happen. But hand it over to your insurance company, tell them “Please get me out of this”, and then your insurance company should take over and do the right thing.
If you get a letter like that and you have questions, we’re always available to answer them. Just call me or my law partner, Robert Hemphill at
(407) 254-4901. If you have any questions about car accidents, you can call us, or visit our website at cullen-hemphill.com.
