Being involved in a car accident can be scary enough on its own. The last thing you want to do is have the insurance company deny your claim. The good news is that if this happens to you, you can always call an Atlanta car accident lawyer and have them help you. They will file an appeal on your behalf and try to negotiate a settlement with the insurance carrier.
Here, we will discuss the more common reasons why your insurance claim may be denied. We will also discuss what your options are if this happens.
Did You File Your Insurance Claim on Time?
One of the tricky things about car insurance policies is that it can be hard to tell how long you have to submit your claim. Very rarely will an insurance policy come right out and say you must submit your claim in a certain number of days. Most of them require that you submit your claim within a reasonable time frame. The problem with this is that what’s reasonable to you may not be reasonable to the insurance company. If your claim is denied for timeliness, your Atlanta car accident lawyer will immediately file an appeal and either get an extension or demand that the insurance company pay your claim. If this doesn’t work, you always have the option of filing suit.
The Insurance Company May Think You Caused the Crash
The most obvious reason why an insurance company would deny your claim is because they think that you were at fault. When there’s a motor vehicle accident involving two drivers, one driver is going to be deemed primarily at fault and the other driver will be considered the victim. What your Georgia injury lawyer has to do is gather enough evidence to prove that the other party was the one who was primarily responsible for the crash. They will do this using the police report, eyewitness statements, and any other information they can put together. If your claim is denied, your attorney will submit this information along with an appeal to try to get your claim paid. Usually what happens is the insurance company will come back to your lawyer with a settlement offer that may be less than your initial demand. However, receiving a settlement for less than the full demand is better than receiving nothing at all.
The Insurance Adjuster May Think You’re Exaggerating Your Injuries
One thing that our Georgia injury lawyers see a lot are insurance companies saying that they don’t believe your injuries are as bad as you say they are. They may take a cursory glance at your medical records and think that you’re not really as hurt as you claim to be. While this may not be grounds to deny your claim outright, it certainly would give the insurance adjuster the idea of only approving partial payment of your claim. What your Atlanta car accident lawyer will do if this happens is go through the medical records with an expert. If they’re able to get an independent doctor to say that your injuries were as serious as you made them out to be, you may have a chance of negotiating a settlement of your claim.
Do You Have a History of Filing Auto Accident Claims?
One of the things the insurance adjuster is going to look for is your history of filing auto accident insurance claims. Most people aren’t aware, but the insurance companies share information with each other. If you have a habit of filing different types of insurance claims, then your name may be red flagged. When the insurance adjuster realizes that you’re filing yet another claim, they will be notified that you have a history of doing this. They’ll look back to see if the other claims were legitimate or if other insurance adjusters had their doubts as well. While your Atlanta car accident lawyer can’t change your history of filing claims, they can push back on the insurance adjuster to treat your claim like they would anybody else’s.
If this is the reason why your claim is denied, you still have the option of filing suit. If you’re Georgia injury lawyer feels that you have enough evidence to prove your case, they may decide to sue the other driver for damages. It all comes down to the facts surrounding your case.
Your Atlanta Car Accident Lawyer Will Do Their Best to Get You Compensation
If you were recently involved in a motor vehicle accident, it might be a good idea to meet with an Atlanta car accident lawyer. The attorneys who work for our firm have decades of combined experience handling these types of cases. They know how to negotiate with the insurance companies and will do their best to settle your case.
The thing about Georgia injury lawyers is that they have spent years figuring out why insurance companies really deny accident claims. Sometimes, it’s simply the size of your claim that convinces them to deny it. They figure they can settle for less down the road if the case goes to court. Other times, the insurance adjuster sees that you’ve filed several accident insurance claims in the past and they think you may be engaging in fraud. Even if that isn’t the case, the insurance companies would rather deny the claim and have you prove that it’s legitimate.
Our Atlanta car accident lawyers meet with accident victims all the time. We offer new clients a free, initial consultation so you can sit down with a Georgia injury lawyer and see if your case has merit. For example, if your claim is only a couple of thousand dollars, it may not make sense to sue. It could cost more to pursue your case than it’s worth. On the other hand, if you suffered serious injuries, then there’s a good chance your case is worth a significant amount of money. Since our Atlanta car accident lawyers work on a continency basis, they have to be careful about which cases they decide to pursue. The only way to know for sure if yours is worth pursuing is to schedule your free, initial consultation as soon as possible. You can reach our office by phone or through our website. You can bet the insurance company will have a team of lawyers working for them. It’s important that you have someone in your corner as well.
