Insurance companies have a bottom line to protect and will find reasons to avoid paying you for valid claims. The largest to smallest insurance companies engage in unethical and often illegal practices to deny your claim or reduce the amount they pay you. These are the tactics employed by insurance companies to save money and prevent you from getting the compensation you deserve.
Denying Claims
Insurance companies frequently deny legitimate claims. According to the American Association for Justice, insurance companies will intentionally deny legitimate claims to protect their profits. Insurance companies as large as State Farm have engaged in this activity. Employees have been pressured to deny certain claims under threat of reprimand. Farmers even launched an employee incentive program that rewarded employees with the lowest claim payouts.
Delay Until You Give Up or Even Pass Away
Insurance companies are not beyond resorting to despicable methods to avoid paying you. Some insurance companies will delay a claim until you give up and stop pursuing it. Some have even taken advantage of illness or advanced age by delaying until the person passes. Insurance companies will do this by first denying your claim and then demanding numerous documents over a long period of time until you have either given up or passed away.
Credit Score Discrimination
Your insurance company could use your credit score as an excuse to deny you coverage. Things seem fine with your auto insurance until you are surprised with a substantial increase in your premium as you renew your coverage. When asked the reason for this, your insurance company cites your credit score. You may pay all your bills on time, but insurance companies will use your lack of credit against you. So instead of dropping you, they will conduct a random credit check and use your score to get you to drop them.
Narrow Policies
You get into an accident only to find out your collision insurance only covers you in a specific set of circumstances. Now you are out a car with no money to get a new one, yet you believed you were covered. Insurance companies will trick their insured with attractive policies that have low premiums but hide just how narrow their coverage is. Insurance companies can keep premiums low knowing that, in most cases, they can refuse the claims of their insured. Insurance companies also use hidden clauses to avoid paying you. Insurance companies have no problem tricking you into believing you are covered, only to deny your claim when you need them.
Undervaluing Total Loss Claims
You may be grateful to receive a check from an insurance company, but you may not realize just how much you were underpaid. Insurance companies will underestimate the value of your loss in order to avoid paying the full amount you are owed. According to Top Class Actions, a consumer group that tracks class actions, Progressive, State Farm, and AmFam are some of the worst offenders in undervaluing claims. Most people don’t have time to learn how to assess damages or appraise a car, and insurance companies will take advantage of that to undervalue your claim.
Reject Medical Claims
Imagine going through numerous treatments to find out you are forced to pay for them out of pocket. Even though your injury is not your fault, the at-fault party’s insurance is claiming your injury is fake or exaggerated and refusing to pay you. Insurance companies will attempt to underplay the seriousness of the accident you went through to avoid paying your medical bills. This is particularly egregious since medical bills can be higher than auto damages.
Let Us Get You the Money You Are Owed
Garrison Law Firm is here when Insurance companies try to under pay or avoid paying you all together. Don’t let insurance companies protect their bottom line at your expense. Since 1994 we have helped Arizona residents receive the money they are owed. You deserve justice, especially after going through a crash. Reach out to Garrison Law Firm so we can fight to ensure you receive justice.