This content written for Willhoite Law, PLLC.
Hiring an attorney after a car accident is a great decision to take. You have the full freedom to speak to an attorney before you talk to an insurance firm. You may also deal with the insurance company by yourself. It is completely your choice to decide whether to hire an accident attorney or not but consider that we have mentioned below tricks that insurance firms use against injured people who don’t hire attorneys.
Insurance firms are there for-profit businesses. Their main goal is to make money, not to make friends. They will do anything to avoid paying you money. While an insurance firm spokesperson may act like your friend, remember it is their duty or work to act like a friend. Insurance firms want to pay a small portion to you so they can hold more money for themselves. In fact, some insurance cases spokespeople may get rewarded more if they pay you less.
There are chances you will be in an auto accident at any point or have been in one previously. In this article, we will talk about some common tricks that an automobile insurance company uses when the insured person is involved in an auto accident.
When an Insurance Firm Knows that You Won’t Take the Case to Trial
Many people don’t understand how valuable it is to prepare a case for hearing, even if your main intention is to resolve the case with an insurance company outside. Taking the claim in front of a panel is the last weapon, and it is the only real weapon an accident victim can use. If an insurance firm recognises that you or your accident attorney is willing to take the claim to the trial, then the insurance company needs to pay the full amount. But if an insurance company suspects that the injured person is unable or don’t want to take the claim to trial, the insurance company will not pay the full value of the case.
The insurance company wants you to believe that they’re doing what’s right and give the whole amount of the claim, even if you are not ready to take the claim to the hearing. The insurance firm usually says that because they’re hoping that they can offer less than the whole amount you’re qualified to, and you’ll take the money because you don’t realize they are offering a deceptively low amount to you. But think about the insurance company’s real goals of making money. Will the insurance firm make more money if it gives you the whole amount, or if it gives you less?
When an Insurance Firm don’t Pay Your Remaining Medical Bills
Hospitals, doctors, or any treatment provider send their treatment bills or medical bills in unusual ways. Like if you go to an emergency room or consult with a doctor, you probably have several medical bills resulting from that one visit. The ambulance will send one bill, the hospital will send a second bill, and the Emergency room duty doctors will send some bills. Operations work the same way: the doctors who did the surgery will send one bill, the hospital where the surgery was performed will send a second bill of their hospitality, and the senior doctor will probably send a third. You need to pay for all of those bills.
Auto insurance firms know all these things, but they seemingly will not tell you. They may consider only one or two bills then fill out a claim form and say that’s all they have to give you for. You may not find out all these things until after your claim is paid that the insurance firm didn’t cover all the bills that it was supposed to cover.
When Insurance Company Claim that the Accident Didn’t Create Your Damages
Auto insurance firms often try to make you believe they’re being helpful or fair by allowing certain things. They may agree that their driver made the crash, and say that they’ll repay you for the damages. They may realise that you had gone under the treatment after the accident. But later in the process, they may pull the so-called causation defence. That indicates they’ll show that your injuries were made by something other than the accident, and therefore they shouldn’t have to give you the whole amount that you want.
Insurance firms take this type of steps a lot. They’ll dig through your medical reports for years or even decades before the collision, working to find some medical report from your past that they can say show that you previously had this damage. Or they’ll claim that some situation after the accident is what made the injury, so they shouldn’t have to pay the amount for it. Sometimes they just tell your age is the cause of your illness or damages. In many claims, the insurance company will take help of a radiologist to examine your MRI reports and claim that the damage looks old, so it is not caused by this accident. Insurance firms pay these radiologists a very good amount so some mean radiologists will say pretty much whatever the insurance firms want.
When Insurance Firm Trouble You Before You Talk with an Accident Attorney
After an accident, you may be approached by your insurance firm as well as the other person’s insurance firm. Always remember you do not have to talk with the other person’s insurance firm before you talk with an accident attorney and no one can force you to do so. The insurance firm may force you into receiving a low amount that will not cover your real costs. They may also tell you to record what you say in hopes that they can find some paperwork to use against you.
The insurance firm may tell you that you must receive a settlement agreement by a given date. Don’t ever follow the other person’s insurance firm words, it may give you losses. Once the victim hires an accident attorney, the insurance company understands it’ll have to pay more.