{"id":26334,"date":"2019-10-10T11:20:27","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T16:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abconlinehold.wpengine.com\/?post_type=faq&#038;p=26168"},"modified":"2023-01-30T10:49:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T15:49:02","slug":"counter-claim-to-my-car-accident-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"faq-article","link":"https:\/\/mcdonaldworley.com\/es\/faq\/counter-claim-to-my-car-accident-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the Other Driver File a Counter Claim to My Car Accident Lawsuit?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you ask the people involved in a car accident who\u00a0was at fault, they\u2019ll both point to the other person. Nobody is going to stand up and admit that they were at fault. Why would they do this? It can\u2019t possibly lead to any good. This is why there are so many car accident lawsuits in Houston, Texas. One driver insists the other party is at fault and demands compensation. The other driver hires a car accident lawyer in Houston to file suit. What usually happens is that the two sides have to come to some agreement on how to settle\u00a0the matter.<\/p>\n<p>When you file your insurance claim, the claims adjuster is going to review your case. They\u2019re going to try to\u00a0determine who was at fault. Financially, it makes more sense for them to hold you accountable. Why would they want to pay a claim if they don\u2019t have to?<\/p>\n<p>This is why you need an experienced <a href=\"\/houston\/car-accident-lawyer\/\">car accident lawyer in Houston<\/a>. They\u2019ll negotiate with the insurance adjuster to try to\u00a0settle your claim. If they\u2019re unable to do this, they\u2019ll have no other choice but to file suit on your behalf.<\/p>\n<h2>Who Files Suit First?<\/h2>\n<p>The outcome of any car accident lawsuit may come down to who makes the first move. The person who files a lawsuit is sometimes given the benefit of the doubt. Why else would someone file suit if they weren\u2019t the victim, right?<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not necessarily\u00a0true. Sometimes, a driver files suit in order\u00a0to force the other side to settle. For example, the insurance company may truly think you were at fault. But that may not be true. They may know their client is at least partially at fault. However, they know they can settle for less than the full amount if they deny your claim.<\/p>\n<p>If your claim is denied, you should\u00a0be the first to strike. Your Houston car accident attorney can file suit against the other driver. Their insurance company is required to defend the lawsuit on behalf of their customer. This means that\u00a0they\u2019ll have to respond to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>If they decide to\u00a0push back, they may file a counter-claim.<\/p>\n<h2>What is a Counter Claim?<\/h2>\n<p>If someone is sued but believes the other party is at fault, they can file a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nolo.com\/legal-encyclopedia\/filing-a-car-accident-counterclaim.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">counter claim<\/a>. When they are served with your complaint, they not only answer your complaint, but they file a complaint of their own. This is called a counter claim.<\/p>\n<p>Basically, this is the insurance company\u2019s way of telling the court that their client is not only not liable\u00a0\u2013\u00a0but they\u2019re actually the victim! They\u2019ll demand that you pay their client damages. While your Houston auto accident attorney may not be surprised that they filed a counter claim, they\u2019ll still be frustrated.<\/p>\n<p>What this may be is an effort to initiate settlement negotiations. As soon as your lawyer receives the counter claim, they\u2019ll do two things: First, they\u2019ll file a response to the counter claim. Second, they\u2019ll contact the insurance adjuster and start settlement negotiations.<\/p>\n<h2>Can You Settle a Counter Claim?<\/h2>\n<p>You can settle a counter claim the same way you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nolo.com\/legal-encyclopedia\/resolving-car-accident-claim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">settle your lawsuit<\/a>. In fact, more than 90% of all car accident lawsuits eventually settle. Very few of them go to trial. So, the fact\u00a0that the defendant files a counter claim doesn\u2019t mean you won\u2019t settle your case. It just means that you\u2019ve lost a bit of leverage.<\/p>\n<p>Your attorney will still work hard to negotiate a settlement of your case. They&#8217;ll try to get the insurance company to agree to a fair settlement amount. Your attorney\u2019s goal is still to get you as much money as possible.<\/p>\n<p>It will really come down on the facts. If your attorney believes that you have a strong case, they\u2019re not going to be willing to\u00a0accept a low-ball offer. However, if your lawyer truly believes your odds of winning in court are less than 50%, they may encourage you to accept a settlement for less than an ideal amount.<\/p>\n<h2>Contact an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer in Houston Today<\/h2>\n<p>If you or your loved one have been injured in a car accident, you need to call a <a href=\"https:\/\/mcdonaldworley.com\/houston\/personal-injury-lawyer\/\">Houston personal injury attorney<\/a>. They can review your case and let you know what it may be worth. They can also answer any questions you may have.<\/p>\n<p>Call\u00a0McDonald Worley today and schedule your initial consultation. It\u2019s absolutely\u00a0free and you pay nothing unless you settle your case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":25748,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"practice-area":[578],"class_list":["post-26334","faq-article","type-faq-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","practice-area-car-accident"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcdonaldworley.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq-article\/26334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcdonaldworley.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcdonaldworley.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/faq-article"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcdonaldworley.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcdonaldworley.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"practice-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcdonaldworley.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/practice-area?post=26334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}