When you’re hurt in an accident, all you want is to get back on your feet. You’ve got a long, hard and expensive road to recovery ahead of you, and you rightfully expect that the responsible parties will be held accountable and pay for your injuries.
Unfortunately, that’s when the insurance companies step in and try to strong-arm their way out of payment. What can you do to make sure you get justice and compensation? Learn about the tactics insurance companies use to try to undercut and avoid payment on an injury claim, and how a personal injury attorney in Charleston, Huntington, Dunbar, or elsewhere in West Virginia can help you fight.
Strong-Arm Tactics
The first classic method many insurance companies use are veiled threats and strong-arm tactics. They’ll try to trick or pressure you into signing away your rights, make lowball offers and intimate that you won’t get anything if you decide to fight. They tell you it’s the best you’re going to get, and that fighting is just going to be a long battle that you don’t want to face. Never sign anything an insurance company pressures you to sign.
Denial of Liability
Another common insurer tactic is to nullify your claim by attacking the idea that their client is liable. In order to get compensation, you need to prove negligence on the part of the defendant. Insurance companies attack this negligence in a number of ways. They might claim that you accepted an assumption of risk, that you were behaving irresponsibly, and that you were, in fact, the negligent party.
Denying Your Injury Claim
Many times, the insurance company will attack your injury claims directly. They’ll say that you’re not hurt nearly as badly as you claim. They might even claim that you’re not injured at all, and are just faking it. They’ll look for evidence that can damage your injury claim, sometimes hiring their own medical doctor to offer a conflicting opinion to yours.
Another approach to this injury denial tactic is to claim you already had the injury for which you’re seeking compensation. Since you generally can’t sue for aggravation of an existing injury, if they can demonstrate that the condition was pre-existing they can get out of payment.
Lack of Evidence
A basic truth of any legal case is that without evidence, there’s no case. Insurance adjusters will often attack the evidence presented, claiming there’s just not enough there to substantiate the claim of an injury.
Battling These Tactics
Combating these non-payment tactics requires a wealth of evidence and supporting documentation. You need to be able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are hurt, and that your injury was the fault of another person. Often, successfully fighting insurance companies requires experienced legal assistance. That’s why the Charleston personal injury attorneys at Stewart Bell, PLLC are here. We have a wealth of experience and knowledge in fighting insurance companies, and we’re more than willing to fight for you, protect your rights, and see you get the compensation you deserve.
If you’re having difficulty with your personal injury claim, don’t wait and don’t do it alone. Contact us today to talk about your case, and get the legal help you need.
