INSURERS DENYING LEGITIMATE AUTO CRASH CLAIMS
Why do insurers deny legitimate automobile crash claims? Because they can. Because they would rather keep the money as opposed to paying it out. Because they are betting the injured person is not going to do anything about the denied claim. The truth is when you present a personal injury automobile crash claim to an insurer they get time to study it, yes, but they also believe there is little you can do to immediately force them to pay a fair amount. This is especially true if you do not have a reputable attorney to represent you through the process. If the insurer knows your attorney is one who just accepts whatever the insurer flips their way, then there is little pressure on the insurer to do anything or worry about anything regarding your auto injury claim.
The Wall Street Journal just published an article which documented that insurance companies didn’t pay 45% of auto liability and medical claims last year. That is almost half of all claims the auto insurance companies reviewed that they did not pay anything on those claims. A person without representation has a slim chance of forcing the insurance company to pay on their claim. Why? Because most insurance companies understand that very few people would know how to handle their own auto accident case in court. And, the insurance company is going to have experienced defense attorneys to battle an auto accident claim that makes its way into court. So an unrepresented person versus an insurance company with paid attorneys does not seem like a fair fight.
What we see at www.FightingForFamilies.com is insurers trying lowball offers, or trying to convince injured auto accident victims to sign a full Release of all claims for what the person thought was just money for property damage.
WHY DID AUTO INSURERS REFUSE TO PAY 45% OF AUTO CLAIMS?
First, insurers are large contributors to politicians. Recently, in Florida, the legislators passed laws—signed by the governor—to make it more difficult to sue your insurer if they did not pay what they owed. One Florida law, known as HB 837 when it was signed into law, cut out attorney’s fees for insured claimants who were forced to sue their own insurer to compel the insurer to do what their insurer should have done before a lawsuit was necessary. So now when your own insurer will not pay to repair your car good luck finding an attorney who will fight for you to recover $5000.00 for property damage to your car. That same law also shortened the amount of time you have to sue on an auto injury or auto damage claim. That law was great for insurers, not so great for customers. Thank the politicians.
What is your recourse? First, if you have to fight the insurance companies you need to make sure you are choosing a law firm that is not just using cookie-cutter claims handling programs where the same demand letter goes out for every client. The insurance companies see that and know the law firm does not have the time to truly fight for the best result the client deserves. One big tip is to ask whether your case will be assigned a case number at the law firm. Or, will you be known by your name at that law firm. If you are assigned a case number it means your case is essentially being put into the assembly line with the other cases. That is not exactly the personalized attention you would want or expect.
At www.FightingForFamilies.com law firm that is not the way we our client’s case. Every client is known by their name. Each case we handle is known by the name of the person we fight for—not a number. Consider this quote from WallStreet Journal article about how little auto insurance companies pay on claims:
“We have to pay what we owe, not a dollar more,” Jess Merten, Allstate’s head of property-liability, told a conference in March according to the WSJ. “The better we are in claims, the less that we have to charge customers.”
Does that sound like: “We only pay what we can get away with paying”? Have you received a big refund check on your auto insurance costs or a big reduction in the premiums they charge? We know the answer to that question here in Florida.
That same WallStreet Journal article also quoted:
Douglas Heller, director of insurance at the Consumer Federation of America, told the WSJ that insurer behavior is a way for the insurance industry to make extra profit.
“The industry uses claim lowballing and denials to wring extra profit out of customers who don’t have the resources or, in some states, the rights to fight back,” Heller said in the article. Yes, we know that here in Florida.
At www.FightingForFamilies.com, we are not a cookie-cutter law firm. If you choose us to fight for you and your family, you will be known here by your name. You can trust 25 years of fighting insurance companies in Florida and holding them accountable for what they are supposed to pay. Google our reviews and see what clients have to say about us.
