I speak with insurance adjusters nearly every day of my life on behalf of my clients. Let me explain how the game is played. My client is injured in a car accident, trucking accident, or some other catastrophic accident. The driver that hit them was properly insured. They paid their bills on time, they thought they had a very reputable company like Allstate, GEICO, and Progressive and they generally thought that if in the unfortunate situation they get into an accident they would be covered.
WRONG
In my experience insurance companies follow the three D’s: Delay, Deny and Defend. The insurance company will delay paying out the money to the person that is hurt in the car accident. They want to hold onto the money as long as possible that way they can invest it into the stock market or do whatever mischievous things insurance companies do.
They also deny the claim outright. I have a case currently where the insurance company has only offered $1,500 dollars to my client in a case where the damage is at least $30,000. They say there is no damage to the property. In the same breath they will not renew her insurance because there is substantial damage. This is not a typo. Do you see how absolutely ridiculous that is?
Even if the insurance company comes to grip that their insured is at fault and they are supposed to pay—they will defend. They will dig in their claws and fight to the bitter end to hold onto every dollar.
We battle against insurance companies every single day. We work on setting them up to penalize them when they are acting against their insured’s interests. We hold them accountable when they delay, deny and defend in bad faith. Missouri law is very favorable in punishing an insurance company who simply does not want to pay. We use that law in order to hold the insurance companies accountable.
How Can You Protect Yourself Against Insurance Companies?
- Write down everything they tell you
- Get a lawyer involved early if there is a lot at stake
- Know your coverage- you should know whether you have uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, an umbrella policy, and/or phantom motorist coverage.
- Get more coverage!
Working with an insurance company can be absolutely frustrating. Our law firm has the experience to get the compensation that you deserve. We will go to bat for you against large, greedy companies to make them pay what is deserved. Let us know if you need help and we will be happy to give you a free consultation.
Have you had any bad run-ins with insurance companies? Tell us about it below.
