How The Insurance Companies Delay Claims in Virginia

In expensive TV commercials, America’s big insurance companies portray efficiency and great customer service. However, injury lawyers who deal with insurers every day are well aware of how the insurance companies delay claims in Virginia.

If you are fighting for compensation after a serious car crash, the last thing you want is delaying tactics. You may be out of work due to your injuries and in need of compensation.

About a decade ago, The American Association for Justice published Tricks Of The Trade : How The Insurance Deny, Delay, Confuse and Refuse.

The report is as relevant now as it was then. It highlighted six tactics in which policyholders are targeted for poor practices.

The report highlighted how some of the nation’s biggest insurance companies including Allstate, AIG, and State Farm as well as other insurance giants rejected valid claims to improve their bottom lines. The report noted the companies rewarded employees who were successful in denying claims. Some employees who did not deny claims were replaced. The report claimed some companies even engaged in fraud to avoid paying up.

Some insurance companies were found to be routinely delaying claims, knowing policyholders would give up. Some locked up paperwork in safes, the report stated.

The AAJ said the most shameful delaying tactic used by long-term care insurers is to take advantage of their policyholders’ age and poor health. One regulator said the bottom line is that insurance companies make money when they don’t pay claims.

“They’ll do anything to avoid paying, because if they wait long enough, they know the policyholders will die.”

Other tactics include confusing customers to get out of paying claims.

Insurers may also cancel calls. Many homeowners are reticent to make small claims on their homes because of hikes in premiums. However, few people realize insurance companies frequently refuse to renew a policy merely because a policyholder asked about the possibility of making a claim. On occasions, an insurance company counts a phone inquiry as the same as a claim, doing everything in its power to drop the policyholder.

Why Insurance Companies Delay Claims in Virginia

Mary Beth Senkewicz, a former senior executive at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, (NAIC), was quoted in the report saying the bottom line is that insurance companies make money if they don’t pay claims. She said:

“They’ll do anything to avoid paying because if they wait long enough, they know the policyholders will die.

Sadly for consumers, making an insurance claim usually happens when they are at their most vulnerable. They have been injured in a car crash or in a slip and fall accident.

At Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers, we will help you in the unequal battle against the insurance companies. Call us at 757-455-0077.