Quick Report: What an Ex-Insurance Lawyer Knows about Insurance Companies

With over two decades of experience as an insurance defense lawyer, the insight I have gained may be helpful to you in deciding whether or not you need your own legal representation.  The following are a few considerations about Insurance Companies:

• Insurance Companies are primarily concerned about their own profitability. They do not profit from settling claims for their full value.
• The Insurance Company’s lawyer is paid to ensure the company pays the smallest possible amount for your claim.
• The Insurance Adjuster will encourage you to quickly settle the claim before you experience any long-term health effects resulting from the accident.
• The adjuster from the Defendant’s Insurance Company is seeking to discredit your case and even seemingly innocent statements made by you can be used against you later.
• Your Insurance Company may use detectives with surveillance cameras to monitor your activities, especially if you are claiming a long-term disability.
• Once you have an attorney representing your claim to the Insurance Company, the insurer knows they must make a reasonable offer or face the costly prospect of defending themselves in court.
• If you sign the Release of Claim form, even if you have future medical problems and may even need an operation, the Insurance Company has no obligation to pay for any further treatment.  Without representation, you may find that you have run out of money before your treatment is complete.  Your attorney will ensure that the full cost of all your present and future damages is part of the claim.  The proposed insurance settlement may seem reasonable, but unless you are an expert in the field of insurance law and the settlement of claims, you will never know if you guessed wrong.  For further information, click here to see our article “The Insurance Shell Game:  Are You Their Next Mark?”