• 26
  • May
    2010

Why You Need an Attorney to Be Treated Fairly

When you are suffering the physical and emotional effects of an injury, you need to focus all of your time and energy on healing and getting your life back on track. You certainly do not need to endure the stress and worry that comes with being mistreated by an insurance company, whether it is your own insurer or that of the person or business responsible for your injuries.

Unfortunately, insurance companies have a financial incentive to settle claims quickly and cheaply. This tempts many of them to act in bad faith.

How Do I Know if I Am Being Treated Unfairly?

There are many "sneaky" and just plain illegal actions that could be considered bad faith on the part of an insurance company that is seeking to protect its bottom line. Several of them include:

  • So-called "low-balling" of settlement offers - proposing to pay much less than the claim is actually worth to quickly resolve it
  • Purposely "dragging their feet" to lengthen the claim investigation time - this often prompts a claimant to agree to an essentially unfair settlement just to get some compensation
  • Denying valid claims in an attempt to frustrate a claimant enough to give up pursuing the claim
  • Denial of claims for inconsequential technicalities that could have been easily remedied
  • Failure to pay the full amount covered by the policy, despite injuries warranting such compensation

What Can I Do?

Many insurers will not hesitate to treat individual claimants unfairly, but are much more reluctant to do so when an attorney is handling the claim. To relieve yourself of the pressures of dealing with dishonest and potentially unlawful actions of an insurance company, especially during an extremely difficult time in your life, you should seriously consider seeking the counsel of a lawyer with in-depth knowledge of bad faith practices common in the insurance industry.