Signs That a Georgia Auto Insurance Company is Undervaluing Your Car Accident Claim
Are you concerned the Auto Insurance Company Isn’t Offering You Fair Compensation?
Victims of car accidents must eventually wade into the hassle of the complicated business of making and settling an insurance company claim. This Georgia legal guide explains some of the common tactics insurance companies and adjusters may try to use to attempt to lower the value of your car accident claim.
It is at this point when the victims – people like you – learn that insurance companies are not primarily concerned with YOUR best interests. At this chaotic time, when you are looking for help and support from the insurance company, you may learn that the insurance company is most interested in their own bottom line. Unfortunately, all too often this process can feel like the insurance company is adding insult to your injury.
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Insurance Companies Try to Minimize Accident Payouts
Insurance companies make their money by taking your premiums, then promising to take care of you if an accident happens. The sad truth is, their profits depend upon not paying out a penny more than absolutely necessary, so when an accident does occur, many insurance companies will use tried and true tricks to keep from paying you the compensation you deserve.
Tactics Insurance Adjusters Use to Lower Claims
Timing
It sometimes happens that the insurance adjuster will be quick to come to your rescue….too quickly.
Your bodily injury compensation will depend in very large part upon the extent of your injuries and the prognosis for your full recovery. These assessments can take time – weeks or months – before a solid determination about your injuries can be properly completed. If your insurance company urges you to settle before this assessment is complete, you may be walking into a trap and your settlement may be being undervalued.
Unnecessary Delays
Alternatively, sometimes insurance companies just drag their feet and assign no particular urgency to getting your claim handled. While it can take time to investigate your accident, understand that some insurance companies will deliberately slow down their investigation and or settlement in order to discourage you from proceeding with the claim. This might mean they are looking for ways to cut down on your compensation. For example, if you are feeling pressure to settle because of medical bills or other financial concerns, you might be convinced to settle for less.
Using Pre-Existing Conditions as an Excuse
It’s not unusual for an insurance company to try to deny all or part of your claim. They may tell you that the injuries you suffered were there before the accident happened. Sometimes that can be true, but it does not necessarily mean you can’t be compensated for your injury.
What the insurance company depends upon, is that you won’t know this about the law in Georgia: when a pre-existing condition is aggravated, exacerbated or otherwise made worse because of the accident, it is most likely a legitimate part of your claim. You may need to provide medical records and expert testimony to prove that your injury was made worse by the accident, but to do so is not at all unusual.
Incorrect Evaluation of the Medical Bills
It is critical that you carefully review the insurance company’s evaluation of the medical bills you’ve submitted. Here are some of the costs can be understated:
Ignoring Follow-Up and Future Medical Costs:
Insurance companies may only consider the medical expenses incurred to date and neglect the costs of ongoing or future treatments such as surgeries, physical therapy, medications, or assistive devices.
Misreading or Disregarding Costs:
It’s not unusual for insurance adjustors to gloss over information on the severity of your injuries or the need for specialized or future care.
Incorrect Billing Codes:
If the wrong billing codes are used by the insurance adjustor, it can translate to a significant lowering of your settlement. It’s imperative that you check these codes.
Overlooking Psychological Injuries:
Pain and suffering as well as psychological injuries such as PTSD, depression and/or anxiety as a result of your accident are legitimate damages that should be included in your insurance claim
Ignoring Follow-Up Care Costs
Depending upon the extent and severity of your injuries, your full recovery may take a very long time. In some severe cases, it can mean that you will require medical help for the remainder of your life. This future care is also an important part of your compensation.
If the insurance settlement offer makes little or no provision for your future follow-up medical care, know that those things are benefits to which you are entitled and should insist upon.
Downplaying or Denying your Injuries
Insurance companies will often try to argue that your injuries aren’t as severe as you claim. This is most likely a sign that they’re trying to minimize the payout. As happens to so many accident victims, you may need to prepare for a legal battle. At the very minimum, please consider speaking to a lawyer with experience in personal injury claims.
Claiming You Made Driving Mistakes
Sometimes the at-fault driver may not be entirely to blame for the accident. You may, indeed, bear some part of the blame. Nevertheless, if the insurance company attempts to say that you are responsible for much of the accident,it may be a tactic to reduce the value of your claim. This is particularly true if the police report does not say that you are at-fault.
In Georgia, the law follows the Comparative Negligence principle. This principle reduces the amount of damages you, as plaintiff, may recover in a personal injury claim if you are partially responsible for the accident. Here in Georgia, you can recover damages as long as you are less than 50% at fault for the accident. Your compensation will, however, be reduced by the percentage of blame for which you are responsible .
Excessive Documentation Requests
It sometimes happens that the insurance company will insist that you provide an excessive amount of documentation. They may request such irrelevant or excessive documentation as a tactic to delay the claims process or to make it more challenging for you in hopes that you’ll just give up and agree to a lower settlement.
Ignoring Evidence
When an insurance company pushes you to settle your claim quickly, before all the evidence has been gathered, you should be very wary. Such a rush to settlement is a common tactic used by insurance companies to pay you less than you deserve. Also, if during the process of negotiating your settlement, the insurance company seems to ignore or disregard key evidence supporting your claim, it is probably a sign that they’re undervaluing your claim.
Failing to Negotiate in Good Faith
If the insurance company representatives seem unwilling to negotiate in good faith, or refuse to reconsider their initial settlement offer, it can be a sign that they’re not taking your claim seriously or that they’re undervaluing it. In these situations, it might be advisable to call in a lawyer who is trained and experienced in the negotiation of fair settlements.
Downplaying Damages
Insurance companies will often undervalue the damages to your vehicle, claiming they are not as extensive as they appear.
The law in Georgia is established in order to compensate you for what you’ve lost. It’s a sad fact of life that sometimes insurance companies are not always eager to help you through the trauma in the aftermath of an accident. If you are aware of this fact, you are better able to do what is necessary to preserve your legal rights.
The Millar Law Firm – Atlanta, Georgia Car Accident Specialists
If you suspect that an insurance company or adjuster is deliberately undervaluing or delaying payment of your personal injury claim, contact The Millar Law Firm today for a free evaluation of your case. Call us today at 770-400-0000 and speak with our friendly legal team at no charge or obligation.
