Because insurance companies are the ones who will in the end have to write the check for the verdict or settlement in a personal injury case from a car accident, they have a huge economic incentive to do everything that they can to limit the amount that you will have to be paid. Their economic interest colors every action that they take with regard to you and your case. You need to be aware of this in every dealing that you have with them.
Is this view about insurance companies a little more cynical than the average consumer? Sure, but then again, we work against them every day. Yet, we are still surprised by the number of people who trust that the at fault driver’s insurance company will treat them in a decent and honorable way. Perhaps our experience trends in a different direction from most, but we find that few people have satisfactory experiences with automobile liability insurance carriers. This hold true even when the at fault driver has the same insurance company that you have had for years. Certainly, endless television advertising helps. Suppose that when the largest insurance companies spend well in excess of $5 Billion dollars in 2022, that’s right that’s billion with a B, promoting themselves with catchy phrases, paid celebrities, actors, professional athletes, or cute animals that becomes the reality for the majority of the viewing public. Couple that with people’s decent and natural instincts to resolve conflict in a reasonable kind of way and you have a winning formula. But the winner is the insurance company, that is, not you.
Once a claim is opened up with an insurance company, your case will be assigned to an employee of the insurance company. That person is called an adjuster, and he or she is the one who will make decisions for the company regarding your case. (Some insurance companies have started to use the term “customer” to refer to the people making claims against them and calling insurance adjusters “customer service representatives”. I find this incredibly deceptive – a customer is someone who seeks out the goods or services of a company, and I know that when I get rear-ended, I did not seek anything out from the insurance company for the guy who hit me!). Insurance adjusters are well-trained in a set of procedures and tactics that have been developed over the years to minimize the amounts that an insurance company will have to pay. Some of the adjuster’s favorite tactics are listed below.
Develop a personal friendship with the injured person
Many insurance adjusters are fairly personable and have well-developed skills for developing a good relationship with people quickly. By doing things liking being sympathetic to an injured person, discussing common interests or events from their own lives, insurance adjusters are able to make an injured person feel like they are friends, and the adjuster can use that to develop information that will help the insurer minimize the value of the case and to get the injured person to accept a lowball offer once it is made.
Require a recorded statement
Insurance adjusters are skilled interviewers, and they will often request a recorded statement from the injured person “for the file.” What they are trying to do is elicit information which will hurt the victim’s chances to ultimately prevail in court or to justify a lowball offer or denying the claim altogether. Questions that may seem pretty innocuous over the phone may look damning indeed when seen written out on paper. Oftentimes, adjuster will tell an injured person that they cannot settle the case without a recorded statement. From a legal standpoint, that is simply not true. Their company guidelines may require it, but there is no legal requirement for you to give a recorded statement.
Require blanket signed medical authorizations
One of the first things that an adjuster will do is ask you to sign a blank medical authorization which will allow them to order copies of your medical records from your doctors or from the hospitals where you were treated. Since it will save you from having to get the records yourself and mail them to the insurance company, this is often an appealing idea. However, an adjuster may use that authorization to get medical records not just from the accident, but also for before the accident and for other, unrelated medical issues.
Nickel and dime charges on medical bills
Part of your case will involve medical expenses, and some automobile liability insurance carriers will review your bills for reasonableness. Of course, there is no real explanation for how they reach the conclusion that a bill is unreasonable, just that it is and will not be included or accepted into a settlement offer.
Require unreasonable proof of wage loss
Some insurance carriers will not consider wage loss claims without a note from a doctor, even when you are plainly not able to do your job. Others will require to the penny documentation, even when it is not really possible, as is sometimes the case with people who are self-employed, or who work for tips or commissions. Without a mountain of proof, they will simply say that nothing can be offered for wage loss, even when it is clear that there has been a significant wage loss.
Press for a quick settlement at the outset
Once a case is settled, it is over forever, even if it turns out that you were more seriously hurt than first believed. Quick settlements are often cheap settlements for the insurance company, and if the case can be closed quickly and cheaply, so much the better for the insurance company, especially when someone has serious injuries.
Delay settlement as long as possible if no quick settlement
Failing to settle the case quickly, insurers will frequently drag the case out for a long time before making an offer, frequently by demanding unrealistic amounts of proof the damages and by claiming that there is an ongoing investigation. People who are hurt frequently tire of the process and decide to simply get the case over with out of frustration, even when it is not for the full and fair amount that they are due.
Fail to disclose the full amount of insurance coverage
One important variable, especially in cases where there are serious injuries, is the amount of insurance coverage that is available, and insurers will sometimes “forget” to disclose all of the coverage which is available. In one case I handled for someone who was involved in a very serious accident, the adjuster claimed that there was only $250,000 in coverage and did not admit that there was a $1 million excess umbrella policy until we filed suit. Most consumers do not know how to find out this kind of information.
Discourage you from hiring an attorney
Statistics show that on average, people who are represented by an attorney recover more money than those who are not. Not every case requires a lawyer, and not every injured person will come out ahead for having hired a lawyer, but when an injured person hires a lawyer, the adjuster knows that this will probably cost the insurance company more money and will limit the ability of the adjuster to influence the outcome of the case. Because of this, adjusters will strongly discourage you from hiring a lawyer.
