After a serious car accident, you need compensation to offset your losses and secure the financial stability necessary to allow you to focus on your recovery. But where are you going to get this money? It can be hard to cover your car accident expenses on your own, especially given that the damages associated with these wrecks can easily be worth tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, of dollars.
If your crash was caused by someone else’s negligence, then your first stop is probably an insurance company. Although you might think that your claim will be quickly granted, the truth of the matter is that insurance companies often look for any justification they can find to deny a claim. So, as you prepare to move forward with an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit, you should be aware of the common strategies that insurance companies implement to try to deny claims.
Top strategies for denying insurance claims
Insurance companies are slick, and they know where to look for reasons to deny your claim. So, as you move forward with your case, be on the lookout for these tactics:
- Requesting a recorded statement: Insurance company personnel might come across as friendly and as if they’re looking out for your best interests, but the truth is that they’re trying to find a way to deny your claim. One way they do this is by locking you into a recorded statement. If you give a recorded statement, then you might say something based on poor recollection or incomplete information. The insurance company will then use these statements against you to show that you’re partially at fault for the accident or that your injuries aren’t as bad as you claim them to be.
- Asking for an independent medical examination: The insurance company might claim that getting evaluated by an independent medical examiner will give a fair assessment of your injuries and a realistic perspective on your recovery. But these medical examiners are oftentimes contracted to work with the insurance company, and their assessments tend to be favorable to the insurance company. So, you’ll want to avoid this type of examination if you can, otherwise you might end up getting less than you deserve out of your claim, or your claim may be denied altogether.
- Misrepresenting the policy in question: Insurance policies are fraught with small print and exceptions. That makes them hard to understand, and purposely so. Insurance companies want you to be confused so that they can deny you certain coverage without having to answer a lot of questions. So, if a portion of your claim has been denied, then you should scrutinize the policy to see if there’s an opening for you to argue that the insurance company acted contrary to the policy’s terms.
- Requesting a release of information: The insurance company might claim that it needs access to your medical records to gauge the validity of your claim, but you don’t have to give up your privacy rights. In fact, doing so could leave an opening for the insurance company to argue that you had pre-existing conditions that result in a limited or denied claim.
Know how to aggressively pursue compensation after your car accident
If you want to recover the compensation you need and deserve, then you have to know how to present an aggressive legal claim. To do so, you should gather crucial evidence, review the insurance policies in play, and understand how to present your case in light of the law. Fortunately, this isn’t something that you have to do on your own.
