subject: Insurance Companies Try To Delay Or Avoid Settling Legitimate Claims [print this page] Insurance companies have been known to use many different delay tactics when it comes to settling or paying out on an insurance claim following an injury accident. It is often said that insurance companies possess two faces, one outward and one inward face. An insurance company's outer face is its insurance agents. The insurance agents exist to sell you your policy and answer your questions and alleviate your concerns regarding your insurance coverage. An insurance company's inner-face is its insurance adjusters. These are the men and women who many people feel, and sometimes justly so, exist solely to diminish and tear down claims. Insurance companies make use of a multitude of superior and usually unreasonable devices aimed at escalating their profits, something that anyone who has ever been the victim of an injury accident knows full well.
It is a shock to no one that the insurance companies are in the business of earning money; nevertheless, the roster of tactics employed to refute claims (and as a result guaranteeing a profit on their end) appears to have increased enormously as of late. With the downturn of the American economy over the past year or so, insurance companies are being unusually aggressive with their tactics. According to the American Association for Justice, a report titled "Tricks of the Trade: How Insurance Companies Deny, Delay, Confuse and Refuse", the insurance industry's numerous attempts to maximize their profits are becoming a negative for their customers.
Below you will find a description of some of the more aggressive tactics currently being employed by the insurance companies, according to the American Association of Justice's report.
Denying Claims is becoming the first line of defense for insurance companies trying to maximize profits. Large companies such as Allstate, AIG and State Farm will deny legitimate claims no matter how much evidence supports the customer. They are even going so far as to reward employees for denying claims in which a customer could receive a huge pay out. The most penalized sufferers of the denied claim tactic are our most-mature citizens. Insurance companies are known for stringing-out payments for older injury victims, waiting for the victim to pass away, which allows the insurance companies to get out of paying the claim at all.
Another way insurance companies are able to avoid ugly settlements that can lower their profit margin is by writing confusing and hard to understand policies. Be honest. Have you actually read your entire insurance policy? If you haven't, now may be a good time to have a go at it. Insurance companies sometimes intentionally word their policy so that it is hard to understand the technicalities of the legalities. They're also counting on you not reading the fine print.
Low credit scores for customers is becoming an increasingly easy way for big insurance companies to justify increasing premiums and denying injury claims. An additional harmful consequence of the recession is that consumers who at one time maintained reputable credit scores are now watching their credit scores fall for a multitude of reasons. This is giving insurance companies all the cause they require to drastically raise your premium despite you having done nothing to violate the terms of your policy.
One of the most seemingly unjustified ways companies are saving a buck is by abandoning sick customers. At some point in time we've all questioned why we need insurance if we are healthy but we all appreciate having solid insurance when we do fall ill. Insurance companies today are finding loopholes in policies that unfairly or not is allowing them to cancel polices or deny claims when a consumer becomes sick, at a time when they need the backing of their insurance company more than ever.
by: George Murphy
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