LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME INSTANCES:
- Often, people believe that just because the insurance company or representative is asking you for information/records, that means they are on your side. This could not be further from the truth, and you need to be protected. The representative of the insurance company is more than likely looking to find evidence that can sway any sort of decision or payment, out of your favor. They will look for past injuries, medical records, anything that can make the judgment go negatively for you. When supplying records and past medical history to insurance companies, you need to be aware that 99% of the time, the more you give them, the more ammo they have against you. For example, if your neck hurts as the result of an auto accident, they will try to connect a past back injury to justify not having to pay any sort of settlement. So check with your legal counsel before providing any info.
- Most of the time, insurance companies will offer you a settlement upfront making you think that it is more than you deserve, tricking you into accepting. This can be bad for a number of reasons. One is that you could suffer from residual injuries during the recovery, which COULD HAVE resulted in further payment. Another common trick in the payments department is the final print on the back of the check they give you. There will be something along the lines of “The cashing of this check indicates final payment of claim”. When you go to cash this, they trick you into closing the claim and there is nothing you can do about it. It is as if you signed a contract.
Brown and Crouppen offers free consultations year round. With that in mind, before you reach out to any insurance company, file a claim, seek a settlement, contact us for a free sit-down. We can assess the situation and see what the next steps are for you before we take any action at all. The best thing is, we don’t get paid until you do!
Check out our roundtable discussion of this topic –
