Q: I am being sued for a car accident 2 years ago and I cant afford an attorney. What do I do?
I was in a car accident in 2017 and now I received a court summons that says I am being sued for over $50K. I had auto insurance at the time but they aren’t responding to me now. I am a single mother living in a low wage job, I can’t even afford an attorney. What do I do??
A: I think that you should call the plaintiff's lawyer as soon a possible and let that person know you are uninsured. Most lawyers will then request from the Illinois Secretary of State a form letter that in fact you are uninsured and proceed not against you, which would be fruitless, but instead proceed under the plaintiff's uninsured motorist policy of that person's auto insurance. I'm surprised that the lawyer for this plaintiff doesn't already know that.
Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer
A:
You mention the possibility of coverage at the time of the accident. If you reported the accident at the time and it was assigned a claim number, the carrier should be able to retrieve it. If coverage was not in existence at the time of the accident, carriers would still generally respond that there was no coverage in place for the loss. Either way, a response is generally standard procedure. If no coverage was in place at the time of the accident, it looks like it will go through the plaintiff's UM policy. Good luck
Tim Akpinar
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