Three Ways Insurance Adjusters Prevent Injury Victims From Obtaining Just Compensation
1. Prolonging the insurance companies “investigation” into the accident.
An auto accident occurs that is clearly not your fault. So why is it taking weeks to get into a rental car? Why is the insurance company not paying your medical bills? Automobile insurance companies are permitted to conduct an investigation into your claim. This usually includes talking to the person that hit you, obtaining the police report and possibly talking to witnesses. While this is something that should only take hours to complete, insurance company adjusters will prolong this process and “drag their feet” in hope that you will lose interest in your claim.
2. Offering you pennies compared to what your case is really worth.
If you indicate in your initial phone calls with the adjuster that you are injured, the adjuster will at some point offer you a small settlement offer. This can usually be as little as a few thousand dollars or less. Remember that your claim against the person that crashed into you will be forever and permanently barred if you accept a settlement. The insurance company adjuster hopes that you will settle your case for pennies, rather than seek the compensation that you actually deserve. Many injured people fall prey to this tactic usually for financial reasons. The concerns over bills not getting paid, missed time from work, and financial strain usually result in some victims taking these lowball offers.
“Countless times I have seen really hurt people take $1000 to settle a very large claim over concerns about the rent, their car payment and even an upcoming child’s birthday. While I understand their reasons, we have other options for them they just need to call us.” – Jason Ferguson
3. Strategically creating gaps in your medical treatment.
We have noticed over the years that insurance adjusters consistently cause delays in an injury victim seeking medical care in the days and weeks following an accident. Examples of this that we see are:
- Telling injury victims that they won’t pay their claim even when the law requires it,
- Discouraging injury victims from seeking additional medical care beyond an emergency room visit or maybe an initial visit to a general practitioner,
- Delaying their investigation in hopes the person will lose interest,
- Lowball offers,
- Claiming that the insurance company will pay for certain doctor visits but not others. We see many instances of insurance claims adjusters telling injury victims that they will pay for a visit to the doctor or just 5 visits to a medical provider but not 10. Remember that this is NOT how the law works. Insurance companies are generally required to pay ALL reasonable and necessary medical bills up to the limits of their policy. Automobile insurance is not like health care insurance. No insurance adjuster should ever tell you to stop or reduce the amount of care that you are receiving.
“Injured victims shouldn’t let an automobile insurance adjuster dictate what medical care they received. These folks are promoted and keep their jobs based on how little they pay not on how much better you get.” – Jason Ferguson
If you or a family member were injured by the carelessness of another person or company, please contact us immediately so that we can prevent the insurance company from either not paying you at all or paying you too little for your claim.