Insurance companies are for-profit businesses. Their primary goal is to maximize earnings and stockholder dividends.
Therefore, they can play tricks to deny your claim or avoid paying it out. These are some tactics they use.
Feigning interest in your recovery
After your initial claim, you may receive consistent phone calls from your insurance company. They often contact you immediately after an accident to get you to settle right away, and in ongoing calls they may state that they want to check your progress or make sure you are alright. They may draw you into conversations about your treatment. However, their primary goal is often to get you to open up and share something that they can use to deny your claim. You may admit that you have not followed your doctor’s treatment suggestions, allowing them to get out of paying your claim.
Offering lowball settlements
Your insurance company may offer you an initial settlement right after an accident. Unfortunately, these offers rarely cover your medical treatment, especially if you have injuries that require long-term care. This trick can be especially devastating because the quick settlement may help in the short term to get you compensation to pay your medical bills, but they do not factor in the ongoing costs that pile up. It is always suggested you speak with a personal injury attorney before accepting any offer to determine what your case is really worth. At Trecker Fritz & Williams, Attorneys at Law, our attorneys have a vast network of support we have built over the years to ensure you are not financially burdened while we pursue a claim on your behalf.
Drawing out the process
In contrast to the initial offer happening quickly, you may not hear from your insurance company for long periods of time in some cases. When you do hear from them, they may confuse you with legal jargon or tell you that the process is a long one, delaying the finalization of your claim. In these delays, their goal is to get you to settle or give up on what they owe you. They may wait so long that you experience bill collector harassment or lawsuits.
To get the best outcome to your injury case, avoid speaking with insurance companies and get help from a qualified legal team to review any settlement offers and identify any bad faith settlement offers that might come through after an accident.