5 Clever Tactics to Use When Dealing with an Insurance Company

The purpose of an insurance company is to provide financial compensation that will allow you to get on with life after an accident. However, these companies aren’t eager to meet their obligations, so they often resort to a variety of tactics in order to minimize or even deny your claim completely.

Please note that in some cases, a denied claim is considered an administrative problem and might be taken to court. There is an official appeal process you can follow that would force the insurer to respond. The company should provide you with a guide to the appeal procedure.

The state insurance department can consult you regarding how to behave in this situation. Usually, it’s best to hire a personal injury lawyer who would be able to get your settlement more effectively. Legal professionals have experience in dealing with insurance companies and have a counter for every tactic those use to deny claims.

5 Ways You to Deal with an Insurance Company

You should be aware of some commonly used tactics that insurance adjusters employ to reduce the size of your settlement. When you know what you are going to be dealing with, you’ll be able to fight for your rights (and money) more effectively.

1. Trying to be friends with you

An adjuster is usually a friendly and sympathetic person who can get the claimant to like them. This tactic is used for two purposes. One is that the insurance company’s representative is trying to fish out information they can later use to reduce the value of your case. The other is to talk you into accepting a smaller settlement.

How to deal: Maintain an impersonal, professional tone in all your interactions with the adjuster. Minimize personal meetings with the insurer and direct them to your lawyer.

2. Requiring a recorded statement

Never agree to have your statement recorded by an insurance adjuster, even if they claim this is necessary. Legally, they have no right to demand a recorded statement. However, if you do provide one, they would use it against you in court. Even the most innocuous questions from this ‘interview’ can look damning in the context the insurer would put them into before the judge.

How to deal: Refuse to give a statement and redirect their inquiries to your attorney.

3. Asking you to sign a blank medical authorization

Adjusters ‘sell’ this under the pretense of saving you the time and effort of getting your medical records and filing them yourself. However, it’s a nasty trick that can be used with a devastating effect. For example, the insurer can request your earlier medical statements and make a case that your health problems existed even before the accident.

How to deal: Either manage the records yourself or entrust this task to your lawyer.

4. Requiring unreasonable proof

Insurers often make unreasonable demands, especially regarding proof of wage loss. For example, they might require a mountain of paperwork that specified every single dime you lost due to an accident.

How to deal: Simply bring a legal professional to them and they would force the insurer to abide the actual laws regarding such matters.

5. Pressing for a quick settlement

In many cases, time might show that your injury is more serious than it occurred to be at first. For an insurer, quick settlements are always cheaper.

How to deal: Don’t agree to the first adjuster’s offer. Instead, go through the proper settlement process after your doctor gives you the ‘all clear’.

Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer to Get Your Rightful Settlement

Insurance companies use a variety of tricks to reduce settlements, but they can succeed only because people don’t know the laws well. Hiring an attorney will make it impossible for adjusters to prey on you.

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