How Do You Deal with the "Delay, Deny and Defend" Strategy of the Big Insurance Companies?
As mentioned in our blog on March 5, the major insurance companies (State Farm, Allstate and the others that insure the majority of Americans) now use a strategy designed to pay you less than fair value on injuries sustained in auto accidents --- even when you are not at fault. This covert plan was revealed by CNN last month on the Anderson Cooper 360° television show and website. The large insurance companies deliberately “delay, deny and defend” against your honest claim until you give up and take less than fair value on your injury case.
So what should be your strategy if you find yourself in a fight for fair compensation with a major insurance company after being injured in crash? Well, we recommend that you begin by doing the following:
1. Don’t talk with the insurance company yourself. Forget about reasoning with those folks. That “sweet talking” claims rep on the other end of the phone is most likely is an experienced battle-tested professional whose entire game plan is to get you to accept a meager settlement without calling your lawyer. For any claim involving injuries that require you to see a doctor over a series of visits (and keeps you out of work for a week or so), you will lose serious money by believing this person and agreeing to settle your claim over the phone. This is what insurance companies do every day --- get innocent people to settle claims over the phone without the advice of counsel. Imagine saving a $1000 (or even $100) per claim on millions of claims. The evidence suggests that by not paying a fair price per claim, these insurance companies are keeping your money in their pockets. Don’t fall for it.
2. Get an attorney experienced in personal injury and medical claims. Many lawyers say that they handle these cases --- most don’t do it regularly. Find someone who knows the business, knows the medicine and knows the tricks of the insurance companies.
None of this should convince you to give in or give up if you truly have serious injuries that were caused by some careless person. A lawyer experienced in handling similar lawsuits will know how to respond. But you must hang in there and fight back. Additional points on how to fight back in a future blog.
Stay tuned!