Going back and forth with insurance adjusters is a hassle, but it may feel like the only way to get your case paid. When they ask you for your damage appraisal or medical bills again, maybe for the third or fourth time, it can feel like you are going in circles. This is often because the insurance company is giving you the runaround.
Asking for documents again is a common delay tactic. Along with other strategies, like saying your policy was canceled or that your premiums were not paid, are strategies to avoid looking at the case on its merits. Instead, they may constitute insurance bad faith and allow you to file a lawsuit.
For help with your claim, call the insurance bad faith lawyers at The Queenan Law Firm today at (817) 476-1797.
How Repeat Document Requests Are a Delay Tactic
Insurance companies are supposed to make a good-faith effort to pay any claims that are valid under the insurance policy. This means they need to take steps to investigate a claim – which may take a while.
However, insurance carriers also use common tactics to delay the case. This can help them in a few ways:
- They delay the case so much you forget about it or get frustrated and move on.
- They make it so hard that when they do give you an offer (often a low-dollar offer), you just accept it to end the case now.
- They hope they can string you along forever and never have to issue an affirmative denial.
Requesting documents they know you already sent them is just one delay tactic.
Other Tactics Insurance Companies Use to Delay Cases
The following are some other common tactics insurance companies use to give you the runaround:
Problems With the Policy or Claim
Insurance companies may say that they cannot continue the case because of these kinds of problems with the policy:
- No policy with that number exists.
- No policy under that name exists.
- The premiums were not paid on that policy, so it was canceled.
- The policy was terminated for other reasons.
- That claim number doesn’t exist.
- This claim was already closed or settled.
Especially when they terminate the policy after the claim was filed, this is incredibly suspicious activity and may be illegal.
Arguing Over Policy Terms
Sometimes insurance companies deny that a claim fits under the policy. For example, if you are filing a homeowners claim for a sewer backup, they might say it isn’t part of your policy because it is “flooding,” despite the fact that you specifically added sewer backup protection to your policy.
If there is a good-faith reason to make the argument, this might be a reasonable delay, but most of these delays aren’t reasonable. Your policy documents can show this.
Communication Breakdowns
Sometimes insurance companies will – intentionally or otherwise – allow communications to fall through with these tactics:
- Changing your point of contact to a different person
- Changing the phone number you should call
- Emailing you from different email addresses or new email threads
- Contacting you with “no reply” emails that you cannot respond to
- Having no record of prior communications
- Having no record of prior documents you already gave them.
Investigation Delays
Sometimes insurance investigations can take a long time, but the insurance company is legally obligated to keep you informed of the process and delays. If they just keep sending you the same delay notices, it can get tiring.
At some point, you should have your personal injury lawyer step in and deal with them.
The Right Way to Deal with Insurance
If you have an injury case on your hands or you are filing with your homeowners or disaster insurance, the best way to deal with insurance is to let someone else deal with them.
Do Not Talk to Insurance
Do not talk to insurance adjusters on your own. Even if it is your policy and you are filing a claim through first-party benefits, do not do it on your own.
Go Through Your Lawyer
If you have a lawyer – which you should, especially for an injury case – let your lawyer handle all communications with your insurance company. In fact, once you are represented, the insurance company should not contact you directly anymore.
We can send demand letters, negotiate claims, and go directly to the right people in the insurance company to get your claims addressed.
Document Everything
If you did already talk to the insurance company, that might be okay. Just take the following steps to preserve evidence:
- Save all letters and emails.
- Keep a record of who you talked to.
- Keep all claim numbers.
- Keep a record of the dates of communications and promises.
- Get copies of your payment receipts, policy documents, and anything else you have access to.
Then call a lawyer for help going forward.
When Can You Sue Instead of Using Insurance?
While insurance might be available, it isn’t always the best way to get your claim paid as an injury victim. Instead, a lawsuit might be. If you are relying on your own insurance, you may also turn to a lawsuit if the insurance company isn’t following its obligations.
Suing for Third-Party Claims
When someone else injures you, you can file through their insurance. This might be faster, but it often results in the runaround, delayed payments, and low-dollar offers.
Instead, you do not have to do this. You can often call a personal injury lawyer and just sue the person who injured you directly. Then, their insurance is obligated under the policy to provide them with a lawyer and defend the claim. That gives us someone we can actually negotiate with directly.
Breach of Contract Claims
When it is your own insurance company giving you the runaround, you can potentially sue them. Breach of contract claims are available if they violate the terms of your policy – which is, after all, a contract.
Insurance Bad Faith Claims
However, many insurance claims see insurance carriers go above and beyond mere mistakes. If they do not even make a good faith effort to pay claims under the policy, usually through delay tactics discussed above, we may be able to sue them for insurance bad faith.
This can get the damages under the policy, plus punitive damages, in many cases. But remember, insurance bad faith claims are filed against your own insurance when they refuse to pay a claim.
Call Our Insurance Bad Faith Lawyers Today for Help
If insurance is giving you the runaround, call The Queenan Law Firm’s insurance bad faith lawyers for a free case review at (817) 476-1797.