Who Should I Or Can I Trust Through This Personal Injury Recovery Process? The Insurance Company Seems Nice Enough. They Seem To Be Concerned With My Recovery And Care.

When you are going through the recovery process in your personal injury case, you have to trust your doctor and lawyer, if you have one. Your doctor and lawyer have your best interest in mind when they make decisions about your case, medical care, and treatment. If you cannot trust your doctor or lawyer, find one that you can trust. However, you cannot trust an insurance company or its representatives to have your best interest in mind. This is an adversarial relationship.

Insurance claims departments are not the nice people you see in their friendly commercials on television. Insurance claims personnel have one job, and that is to pay you as little as possible on your claim. They are allowed to lie to you. There’s no bad consequence to them when or if they do. They do not have to tell you what your rights are, and they will not do so. No matter how nice they seem to be, you cannot rely on them to do what is right or best for you or your family. Yes, most insurance claims personnel are nice decent people who have lives and families to raise and they are trying to do a good job for their employer. However, their job is to pay as little as possible on your claim and certainly to not pay a penny more than they have to. Insurance claims is a business. You can rely upon an insurance company to conduct itself like a business and treat your claim like a business transaction. Therefore, you have to do the same and keep this fact in mind at all times.

How Soon After I File A Personal Injury Claim Will A Claims Adjuster Reach Out Or Get In Touch With Me?

Generally, insurance companies are pretty quick in opening a file and reaching out to all the parties involved in a claim or incident. If you don’t get a call from an insurance company after an accident, it may be because their insured didn’t report it to them, in which case, you’ll have to find out who they are and track them down. The insurance company’s speed in contacting you, however, is not a sign that they want to assist you in achieving the best, highest, or fastest resolution of your claim. An insurance company’s haste is based upon their desire to get the facts quickly so that they can decide how to handle your case, evaluate their financial exposure, and look for evidence that supports their insured, not you.

You can expect the claims representative to contact you early for a recorded statement – perhaps before you have an understanding of the nature and extent of your injuries and losses, or prior to hiring an attorney. A recorded statement that indicates that you’re not sure about your injuries or fault are golden nuggets for an insurance claims department. Disturbingly, insurance companies have revived an old practice of sending a representative to your home to speak to you in-person in a friendly manner and offer money to you right on the spot, for your medical bills. They’ll ask you to sign a piece of paper as acknowledgment and acceptance of the money, and pay you right then and there. But, there’s a catch.

Most people do not take the time to read what they are signing when the insurance representative hands them a check. When the few hundred dollars proves to be insufficient for the medical care you actually need, and you ask for more, they’ll show you the fine print on the document you signed. The document will say that you accepted the money they gave you as payment in full for your entire bodily injury claim. At that point, you may wonder why they didn’t tell you that you’re legally entitled to more money. Its because they don’t have to. It’s absolutely true. I’ve had meetings with very upset potential clients that come into my office and tell me the same story over and over again. They tell me how someone went to their house friendly, offered some money, led them to believe that more was coming if needed, and that they wanted to help. When you are injured this is almost always a horrible mistake. You must be aware of these tactics and, just as important, you must be aware of your rights as a victim of a collision that was not your fault. You have to understand that the insurance companies will do what is in their best interest to do. Unfortunately, in some cases, that includes getting you to sign away your rights.

For more information on Personal Injury Insurance Laws In California, a personalized consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (818) 530-1770 today.