Getting injured in a car accident is a stressful and traumatic experience, causing long-term health, financial, and emotional consequences. People injured in car crashes sometimes spend years recovering and getting their life back on track.
Being involved in a car crash gives you the right to fair and just compensation for the personal injuries you sustained. Illinois car insurance laws require drivers to purchase insurance coverage for bodily injury and property damage other drivers suffer due to their negligence. In other words, the insurance system enables car crash victims to claim damages against the at-fault party, and force their insurance companies to pay for your damages.
Although the coverage system is vital for providing rightful compensation to car accident victims, insurance companies play by the market rules, meaning their interests are opposite to those of a person injured by their client’s negligence. Despite their job being to pay you the compensation you deserve, they profit by paying less in damages than the premium they receive. The adjusters working for the insurance companies are skilled in finding ways to deny or devalue your compensation claim.
Therefore, claiming damages after a car accident can be challenging. To help you get the compensation you deserve, we analyze the top 5 tactics insurance companies use to deny claims.
Insurance companies seek ways to avoid paying compensation or, at least, to devalue your claim. The most common tactic insurers use for denying compensation claims is blaming the victim. In other words, insurance companies argue that the accident is exclusively your fault (denying the claim) or that you have partially contributed to the accident by your own negligence (devaluing the claim). Illinois adopted the modified comparative fault model (51 percent rule), meaning that the injured party can claim damages only if they are less at fault than the defendant.
To avoid paying the compensation, insurance adjusters use specific language to imply fault on your part. For example, if you got rear-ended, insurance companies argue that you made a “sudden stop,” even if you did not. Or, if someone darted out from a side street and collided with your car, insurance companies argue that you were the one that was not “looked out” for other vehicles.
Suffering an injury in a car accident inevitably causes a lot of stress. You will suddenly face an increased financial burden due to medical bills, car repair costs, lower income because of time off from work, etc. All aspects of your personal and work life become disrupted.
Insurance companies know your vulnerability during this challenging period and will try to use that to their advantage. The typical delay tactics are unreasonably slow processing time, taking several weeks or months to respond to your claim. The other tactic is dragging out negotiations until you lose interest in pursuing your position. They wait until the level of your financial pressure reaches the point of desperation, hoping you will settle without negotiation and accept whatever they offer. In some cases, victims get overwhelmed by the length of the process, giving up on their claims entirely.
Instead of succumbing to pressure, you should remain firm and accept no less than what you deserve under the law. Consulting with an experienced personal injury attorney can help you save a lot of time and money.
Getting appropriate medical attention after suffering bodily injuries in a car accident is crucial. When an accident occurs, seek medical treatment immediately, even if you do not think your injuries are severe. Very often, the severity of your injuries may be hidden by your body’s adrenaline, and may manifest themselves days, or even weeks, after the initial accident. If you have a long “gap in treatment,” (the time between the accident and your first medical treatment), insurance companies argue that your injuries were not caused by the accident, but by something else. Or insurance companies devalue your claim by arguing that if you did seek medical treatment immediately, your injuries would not have been as severe as they are.
While proper medical care is vital for your physical and emotional well-being, insurance companies will use every opportunity to question the medical treatment you received (or still receive). Their adjusters will attempt to devalue your claim by arguing that your treatment is unnecessary, unreasonably long, or more expensive than it should have been. Their goal is to convince you to stop the therapy. Insurance companies use such tactics to their advantage by establishing a negative record in your medical file.
Your priority as a car accident victim is to take care of your health by undergoing proper medical therapy and taking time to recover. Never trust insurance adjusters questioning your medical treatment because their job is to save money by paying you less.
The best practice is to hire an experienced personal injury attorney right after the accident. With experience, your attorney knows how to speak with insurance companies, and to explain your particular situation.
One of the tactics insurance companies use to deny or devalue your compensation claim is minimizing the severity of injuries you suffered. Insurance adjusters use various methods, ranging from denying the existence to disputing the seriousness of the symptoms.
In the eyes of the insurance company, your claim is always exaggerated. Despite knowing that some minor injuries can worsen over time, they tend to ignore that by arguing that your symptoms are temporary or that the worse condition is a consequence of improper treatment. In any case, they try to blame you.
To prove you are exaggerating the severity of your injuries (what they call “injury magnification”), insurance company will send you to a doctor for evaluation. But remember that doctors working with insurance companies are more interested in their profits than in an accurate and unbiased diagnosis. They will almost always offer an opinion confirming the insurer’s arguments.
Claiming that your damage or injuries existed before the car accident is perhaps the favorite tactic insurance companies use. By arguing that there is no causal link between the accident and the injuries you suffered, insurance adjusters will assert that your injuries “preexisting.” In pursuing such a claim, they will use all available means, including your previous medical record, witness statements, and any previous insurance claims.
To combat this tactic, claimants must offer credible evidence proving their claims. Because collecting witness statements and medical records can be challenging after experiencing severe injuries, you should always seek help from a well-versed personal injury attorney.
Combating tactics insurance companies use to deny or devalue your injury claim is a daunting task. Insurers will take advantage of your vulnerability, trying to catch you off guard during a difficult period after the accident.
Fortunately, you are not alone. At Kaplan Law Offices, P.C., we have over 20 years of experience dealing with insurance companies. We know insurance companies’ tactics inside out, and we will use all means available under the law to help you get the compensation you deserve.
Contact us today at 847-509-9800 or at info@kaplanlawoffices.com to schedule your free consultation.
