Whats the point of getting your LLc if you are lease on with a company?? Jus asking

The problem with what you are saying is you are giving half information. If you are a professional, and unfortunately, drivers don't count, and you under pay yourself, then you will have major problems with the IRS. PCs come to mind, such as doctors, lawyers and accountants. Any of them should be knocking on 6 figure, so if they pay themselves $50,000, the IRS wouldn't consider that reasonable. If an o/o pays him or herself what Stevens is paying their rookie drivers, well he's cheap, but that's reasonable. Subchapter s or c doesn't change a thing, except that you will pay income tax both as a corporation and as a shareholde.

 

We have a lot of chatter of how a LLC may or may not help you if you are sued in an accident.

My question is what do you have insurance for? Yes, you CAN get sued. But why not ask an attorney that specializes in civil lawsuit/compensation for injury accidents? I'm sure he will tell you what I would say, and that is what assets does that person have worthwhile to go after and don't go thinking all lawsuits end in favor of the plaintiff's, and what exactly do the plaintiff's want for reasonable compensation. There are many lawsuits filed which are denied or dismissed from the onset.

There is a reason why LLC's have become so popular. And those letters stand for Limited Liability Corporation. So yes, it's designed to separate personal from corporate assets. It won't stop an ambulance chasing lawyer to file against on behalf of neck brace wearing scammers form naming you personally in the lawsuit. Most of the time it's a scare tactic and most lawyers have never been to a trial. A judge will ask that lawyer to explain why if the LLC agent who is also listed as being sued personally. Doesn't make sense. I mean do you own several LLC's live in a mansion and drive a Lambo to and from your house and the yard? AND a court will ask why the lawsuit if the defendants have insurance.

I've dealt with criminal defense and civil litigation attorneys. Generally speaking you will get exactly what you paid for when it comes to attorneys. As a "victims" a good attorney will tell you to deal with the insurance company. A crappy attorney will tell you all the wonders how the "victim" will soon own the other guy's house and truck only to later find out billable hours add up pretty darn quick and in the end when they get that settlement check from the insurance company they may just endorse the thing and hand it right back to their attorney.

Litigation process is lengthy and costly and the risk of defense attorney cost can come back on the plaintiff's if they don't succeed and deemed to be malicious or unnecessary.

 

All this varies state by state Im told as well...

Im gonna bow out...lol, seems like a few guys know way more than me, and a few know way less...So not much value from in the middle guy..LOL!!
Just gonna tick off the smart ones and mislead the lessors!!!

 

This post one that is full of missinformation! First, LLC stands for Limited Liability Company, not corporation. Second, I used to be an insurance adjuster. I did workers' comp and worked with the liability adjusters. My clients included a mega based in Des Moines, IA with red trucks. The adjusters' job is to act in the best interest of the insured, not the injured party. An adjuster makes a settlement offer to the injured party that is not necessarily good for the injured party. An advocate for the injured party will try to get the settlement that will be good for the injured party. PI attorneys get paid on contingency. You don't win, they don't collect attorney fees. They will put as much work into your case as it is worth.
I think you have also missed the fact that the owner of the company, in the case of a one truck DRIVEN by the owner is being sued as a separate entity because he involved in the accident himself.
Judge; "counselor, why are you naming the owner of bonehead trucking company, llc as a separate defendant? It's an llc."
John Dewey, of Dewey, Cheatum and Howe; "Rick Bonehead, of Bonehead, llc, was in fact operating the vehicle in question."
Judge; "ok, Mr. Bonehead is accepted as defendant"
LLCs are advertised by companies who make hundreds of dollars filling out a template. They are not offering advise if you need one, they're only doing what you asked them to do.
Finally, defending a bogus case takes money. Lawsuits are rarely deemed frivolous that the risk of paying falls on the plaintiff. One case that was for our insured, the driver missjudged a right turn, and had to back up, tapping the plaintiffs car. By the time we billed the file, it settled for $60,000! You and I know that a guy backing up doesn't cause that kind of damage. For a large company, with attorneys billing on the case, that was nuisance value.

 

One thing I've learned on this forum is that there's a lot of lawyers, doctors, CPA's, psychologists, etc, posing as truck drivers

I set up my LLC, filing as an S corp with counsel of my CPA. He knows a lot more than I do about it.

He advised me not to set up as a C Corp because of the potential for double taxation.

Other than that, I'm satisfied with the way it's going for me and say more power to whatever structure someone else wants to operate under.

 

+1 on the LLC, filing as an S corp. That's what I am as well.

The guys who went this route in hopes of shielding their personal assets from lawsuits were given some terrible advice. As long as you're the driver, you will be sued as well as your LLC.

The best reason to go this route is the tax advantages. Period

 

There can be some liability protections with the corporation, but most of the time everyone involved in a situation will be named in a lawsuit. Most lawyers will attempt to pierce the corporate veil so they can sue the shareholders in a lawsuit. They are not always successful. Something as simple as signing a document without putting your title could allow a lawyer to penetrate the corporate veil. There are also requirements about keeping minutes for annual meetings or stockholder meetings and if those are not kept up to date, it could allow lawyers to penetrate the corporate veil. In any case, if you are personally involved in an accident, for instance, you could still be named in a lawsuit. It depends on the situation or circumstances. For me, I find the most benefit has to do with taxes. There are some annual fees that must be paid to the state, but they are much less than I can save on other taxes. I think the minimum tax I pay in my state is about $130. Fees will vary from state to state. One other advantage is that having a corporate structure helps to keep the business separate from personal expenses.

 

G/MAN is right on. In my state, I paid 50 bucks for the initial LLC startup with a recurring 25 dollar renewal fee every year. The only other thing I have to pay is 380 dollars per year to the state to cover my company's share of unemployment insurance for me as the employee. In return for paying those extra expenses, I saved about 5,500 bucks in social security and medicare taxes thanks to the S Corp tax structure.

 

OK, Freudian slip. Company not corporation. My bad on a grammatical miscalculation. No one is losing their shirt on that.

What else makes you think I don't know something about this? LLC are best suited for small business, sole proprietor companies, like a O/O with one or few, or more trucks. The biggest advantage to do a LLC, because it's simple and easy to distinguish business and home/personal. You as an individual, that's something else.

Your reply also eludes that a tap on a person's car will cost you $60K. That is rare, if ever otherwise courts would be inundated with these "mental anguish" payout cases, and that is simply not happening in real life. Perhaps your observations have seen larger damages turn into lawsuits and I never eluded that driver's won't be named as defendants and your example above mention's a mega, not Rick Bonehads Trucking, LLC. This is automatic. The company will also try to point the finger in the named driver if they find something they did that caused the accident to be out of policy, but the company is still on the hook. And if you should know the reason to name a defendant would be articulated in the allegations of factual statements. The only way a judge would ask would be if he/she saw something that didn't jive in the lawsuit filings.

Perhaps you as a insurance adjuster deals with this on a common basis but check with your local superior court clerks or judges secretaries who see mountain of filings. The lack of experience of attorneys is surprising when you see what they see. Perhaps your involvement comes in at a later level during the court process.

And no, not all personal injury attorneys work on contingency. That's where you are misinformed. Few will, AFTER they look at many facts. 1st thing they will look at is the defendant's capability to pay, or at least their insurance ability to pay. Then they will see if your claim has merit. Only then will they take it on contingency. They only take cases they know there would be a settlement. Maybe the "victim" won't see much after all said and done. Other PI attorneys, will look at the plaintiff's ability to pay and it's not uncommon to see people insist on a lawsuit regardless on the attorney's advice. They will find that attorney who will represent them and usually by those who seem they would never be suspended or their license revoked by the bar association. I will tell you it has never ceased to amaze me how many attorneys simply throw their license away on some of the most stupid crap they pull with their clients.

Naming the driver is a given. And many franchise style businesses list each individual location as a LLC. Doesn't make is a sure bet the "corporation" doesn't get named. More than likely it will but that has to be listed in the factual statements as to why. Look at the people who get sick from eating at a Jack In the Box. They will list all the employees to include "Rick Bonehead Restaurant, DBA Jack In The Box, employee #4, only known as Jesus, last name or residence unknown". Then, as a LLC, maybe that particular JITB gets shut down, the others stay open.

But to do the sky is falling chicken little dance every time we hear how we can be sued, an O/O should take whatever action they deem to prevent this. Yes, I give you that many pay those hundreds to fill out documents that I can copy from someone else for free, and do. But I see that as a failure to understand why they do it and how to best utilize by doing so. What would be your suggestion if an O/O has one or two trucks? From what you say sole proprietor over LLC? Me? I put my home under a family trust and one truck under its own LLC and have a good prepaid attorney and do more than just bare minimum insurance limits (when I can). If I didn't have a house... I'm not sure if I would do that merely because of insurance reasons but there are tax advantages not by a whole lot but more than I would if I didn't go LLC.

This job has a high liability risk, so why wouldn't you do a LLC?

 

Yogi Berra lives! I have no idea what you are saying, but you took a lot of words to do it.
I do understand your last statement, and you have said it yourself; there is no reason, as far as protection of assets to file llc for a one truck operation. It may protect you as owner, but you will still be on the hook as the driver. You have no protection of your personal assets.