5 Ways Insurance Companies Avoid Paying and How We Combat Them

29th February 2024

Insurance companies are notorious for using bad faith tactics in an effort to avoid paying injury victims their rightful compensation. That’s the case whether someone is hurt in a truck accident, a car accident, or they’re injured because they slip and fall on someone else’s negligently maintained property. Insurers typically care about only one thing – protecting their profits. They couldn’t care less about how badly you’ve been hurt, nor do they care that your suffering is not your fault.

If you find yourself in this frustrating, unfortunate situation, get in touch with a Sand Law personal injury attorney as soon as possible. We’ll take away a lot of the stress you’re experiencing, because we are extremely familiar with all the tricks insurance companies use, and we know how to defeat them. Our team will keep you informed through the entire process, and will always be here to answer your questions.

The following is a look at five of the most common dirty tricks an insurance company will use in order to keep from paying injury victims what they deserve. If you would like a free case review, use our online contact form or give us a call at 701-609-1510.

1. Deliberately Delaying Your Claim

This is a tactic insurance companies have used for a long, long time. Suppose you’ve suffered a severe injury in a car accident, and you’re wondering how long it will take to settle your claim. Your medical bills and lost wages keep piling up, and you’re starting to get nervous.

That’s exactly what the at-fault driver’s insurance company is counting on. They want you to get impatient, even desperate. If that happens, then they assume they’ll make you a low-ball settlement offer and you’ll jump at it.

But if you do, that could prove to be one of the worst decisions you’ll ever make. You might still be going through treatment, and you might need a lot more down the road. This could mean more surgeries or other types of procedures.

If you accept this offer, there won’t be any going back. You won’t be able to sue the insurer again because you realized the money you received won’t come close to paying for your ongoing medical treatment.

This is one of the many reasons you’re going to need a skilled personal injury attorney by your side. At Sand Law, we know how to speed up insurance companies so they can’t keep drawing out a claim.

2. Disputing Your Medical Treatment

Insurers are also notorious for disputing the severity of a victim’s injuries. You could have been severely hurt after being hit by a drunk driver – so badly, in fact, that you’ll never again be able to do the things you love. But that doesn’t mean the insurance company won’t claim that you’re not really as injured as you’re claiming.

This is an incredibly disgusting tactic, but one our law firm expects. That’s why we have relationships with expert medical witnesses who can testify in court regarding how badly you’ve been injured. If the insurer continues to question this, we’ll deliver the evidence that will blow their false claim out of the water.

3. Requesting Unnecessary Information

Insurers will often ask for information they don’t really need. This is just one type of stall tactic they’ll typically employ. Say you’ve been hurt in a motorcycle accident. The insurance company of the driver who hit you might claim they can’t make a settlement until they receive more information regarding the medical treatment you’re receiving. On the surface, this might actually seem to be reasonable.

It’s not. What they’re doing is trying to prove that you had a pre-existing condition, and that condition – not the accident – is the reason why you’re experiencing symptoms.

You don’t have to give them anything. In fact, you shouldn’t unless you talk to an attorney first. We can shield you from this and other methods of harassment insurance company adjusters will typically use. We’ll tell them all the information they need is in the police report.

4. Making False Promises

Speaking of adjusters, you might have already been contacted by one. They probably acted very friendly, wanting to make you think that they’re on your side. The adjuster assigned to your case may have tried to calm your fears by saying they’d take care of your medical bills each month until you recover fully.

This is nothing but a trick. We’ve seen a lot of instances where insurance companies actually do pay bills – for a certain amount of time – and then they suddenly stop doing so, without giving the injury victim any sort of warning.

You should never have any sort of communication with the other driver’s insurance company without having your attorney present. Better yet, simply refer all insurer requests to your legal representative. That way you won’t need to deal with any hassles. You can put your whole focus on recovering.

Read More: Can an Insurance Company Hire a Private Investigator to Deny Your Accident Claim?

5. Lying About Available Insurance Coverage

Insurance companies are oftentimes not above flat-out lying in an effort to do whatever they can to keep from paying what you deserve. They may cite “exclusions” to the at-fault driver’s insurance policy that don’t even exist. This is an attempt to get you to drop your case, and to make you believe you’re not eligible to receive any money.

Again, our attorneys will be anticipating this ploy, and we’ll know how to defeat it with tactics of our own. We’ll take a magnifying glass to the policy in question, and poke holes in whatever kind of exclusions the insurer tries to claim.

Contact Sand Law Today to Ensure You Get the Best Settlement Possible

The personal injury attorneys with Sand Law have seen far too many instances where injury victims fell prey to the unethical actions of an insurance company – and were unable to obtain the compensation they deserved as a result. We’ll know exactly how much your case is worth, and we won’t stop until we help you get every penny you have coming.

Schedule a free consultation by calling 701-609-1510 or contacting us online.