My family has a vacation home in Wisconsin. (We live in Illinois). Last summer, my uncle let a neighbor in WI borrow his trailer. The trailer was still parked at the neighbors house when my uncle's niece called my uncle to ask if she and her boy friend can go pick up the trailer and use it. He said yes. So she and her boyfriend went to pick up the trailer. When they got there, the neighbor was helping hook up the trailer, when according to my cousin and her boyfriend slipped and fell into the trailer as the boyfriend was backing up to hook it up and injured his leg. This is the story of my cousin and her boyfriend. My uncle was at home in IL at the time. They where the only ones in WI at the time, so they are the only witnesses to it.
So a little time went by and one day when my uncle was in WI, my uncle ran into the neighbor in a bar and they got into an argument. The neighbor wanted money for his injuries. My uncle informed him that he had had nothing to do with it and he needed to talk to the boyfriend because he was the one who was involved in the accident.
Some more time went by and the neighbor got in touch with my cousins parents. They ignored him. For whatever reason they are protecting the boyfriend and won't give up his name. Yesterday, a letter arrived at my uncles sister's house where my uncles parents lived but have both died within the last few years. His parents also owned the property in WI, but now the property is in a trust. The letter was in my uncle's name. It is from the neighbors lawyer threatening legal action against my uncle. My uncle told his sister that the boyfriend would have to take care of this because he was the one who was there. But they still refuse to get the boyfriend involved.
We haven't seen the actual letter yet, but we found out today that the letter says that the neighbor was on our property when this happened (it happened on his property) and it says nothing about his leg getting hit by a trailer, it says he was run over by an ATV! Not only is this guy going after the wrong person, he is telling a complete lie. We don't know yet who's ATV he says it is yet or who was driving it.
So what does my uncle need to do? Does this sound like something that would get thrown out of court or does he need to hire an attorney? Should he give up the guys name? Thanks in advance.
?
I think it will get thrown out in court. Get your uncle's insurance company in the loop. Have him notify them on what is going on. They'll either pay damages if they feel it's warranted OR fight it in court if not.
Louise
The actual fall occurred on the neighbor's property. No negligence or assault was perpetrated by your cousin or her boyfriend. Not sure what the guy and his lawyer have in mind, but it seems to me there is no liability to place.
A letter from a lawyer means nothing but to make one aware there may be a lawsuit forthcoming. Until your Uncle is served with court documents he needs to do nothing. If he does get court papers, he needs to get some legal advice. My best guess is the guys fishing for money, he doesn't want to actually sue because that will cost him money and he knows he will lose.
Co D
An attorney would be able to tell you exactly what to do... it might cost you a small amount of money but would save in the long run. Calling a lawyer and asking how much their advice would cost is free!
Janez
As in most cases it is always a good idea to hire a lawyer.
MrCool1978
Your Uncle should contact a lawyer on this one.
I remember in the late 80s when my cousin slipped on ice at my house even though my Mom warned my cousin about it.
So she wound up staying at our house while she recovered from her injury.
I remember my Parents and my cousin tried to get my cousin to sue my Parents in name only, so that my Parents insurance company would pay out to my cousin, but that did not work because since my Mom warned my cousin, that meant my Parents were legally absolved of any wrongdoing, and the incident was constituted as an act of God, and insurance doesn't normally pay out for what they call acts of God.
Orignal From: My uncle is being sued for something he had nothing to do with?
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