Taking on the Big Bad Insurance Companies After a Car Accident

Filing car insurance claims is a routine part of life, and so is getting shortchanged on your claim. Almost any of us who has been driving for more than a few years has filed an insurance claim, and in most cases, the amount we received was not enough to cover our financial losses arising from the accident. Being adults, we took it in stride and used our own funds to cover the difference, even when it meant that we had to take on more debt and incur late fees. Perhaps the money you originally requested eventually arrived, but it took several months. By this time, you had spent so much of your own money on rental cars and rideshare rides that the insurance settlement check did not enable you to break even. If insurance companies’ dirty deeds cause you this much financial hardship with a property damage-only claim, imagine how bad it is for accident claims involving injuries. The best way to protect yourself from insurance companies skimping on their payments to you just to enrich themselves is to contact a Houma car accident lawyer.

Things Insurance Companies Get Away With Just Because They Can

Remember that when you file an insurance claim, you are one person requesting money; in doing this, you are working around your own work schedule, family commitments, and the time it takes to attend to your injuries. The insurance companies, by contrast, have enough money at their disposal to pay multiple employees to find excuses to deny your claim or, even if they approve it, to make it difficult for you to get your money. Jay Feinman described this phenomenon in his book Delay, Deny, Defend in 2010, and since then, the problem has only gotten worse.

These are some of the underhanded tactics that insurance companies use to avoid paying adequate and timely settlements:

• Waiting several days, or even longer, to respond to your communications
• Using algorithms to decide what percentage of claims to deny instead of fairly evaluating claims on a case-by-case basis
• Asking you to make recorded statements so that they can catch you contradicting yourself or saying things that they can interpret as an admission of fault
• Attributing your need for medical treatment to pre-existing conditions, whichever ones are plausible in light of your age and medical history, instead of to injuries arising from the accident

How Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help

Insurance companies try to wear you down, and it usually works.  You need a lawyer who has as much energy to put into pursuing your claim as the insurance company has to put into deflecting it.  It is possible to resolve most car accident insurance claims without filing a lawsuit.  You just need a lawyer with the skill and patience to negotiate for a fair settlement.

Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey About Car Accident Cases

A car accident lawyer can help you if you were injured in a traffic accident and the insurance company is denying all or part of your claim.  Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey in Houma, Louisiana, to set up a consultation about your case.

Sources

https://apnews.com/article/unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting-delay-deny-defend-depose-ee73ceb19f361835c654f04a3b88c50c