Is the Insurance Company Stalling?
Since insurance company delays are planned 90%+ of the time, I don’t want to give them any benefit of the doubt.
However, this indicates that occasionally the insurance firm is not acting in bad faith.
In this post, I’ll go into it in more detail for you in order to assist you to determine whether an insurance company is stalling your discussions and, if so, what you should do.
WHAT IS CAUSING YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY TO STALL?
Not all insurance providers are deplorable. Although the corporation is like any other business (built to make a profit), not all businesses consciously attempt to avoid paying you the appropriate reparations.
Insurance companies delay settlements for a variety of reasons, not all of which are unjustifiable.
There are a few reasons why an insurance company can delay paying you:
- To support your claim, they require further evidence, such as the accident report.
- There are some questionable insurance policy incidents. Companies might carry out an investigation to demonstrate that you are not fabricating an assertion.
- It’s possible for an insurance company to have a policy of rejecting all claims.
- It is simple to pay out less by discouraging clients until they give up on their claim or settle for far less.
- As a result of the stalling, part of the evidence may be lost or destroyed.
- The first two justifications fall wholly within the purview of the insurance company. Any paperwork you can provide to support your claims for the insurance payout is required by every insurance company. The insurance provider would investigate the situation if the incident occurred under unusual conditions. Instead of purposefully delaying, they are ensuring the legitimacy of your claim and guarding against false claims.
However, when dealing with some insurance firms, the last three justifications are a few of the reasons why many consumers seek legal counsel. These are all sorts of stalling that damage the reputation of insurance companies: acting dishonestly.
If your insurance provider behaves dishonestly, they are not attempting to assist you in resolving the situation. The exact opposite. They’re attempting to demoralize you so that you give up on the claim or accept a settlement that is well below what you deserve.
WHAT MAKES AN INSURANCE COMPANY OBLIGATED TO RESPOND TO YOUR CLAIM?
When you are unfamiliar with the law, it is easy to become confused about what is right and what is wrong or what is and is not within your rights. One of the things that many insurance firms take advantage of is this ignorance.
You must realize that every insurance provider has their own interests at heart. Good or terrible, they are not anxiously waiting to give money to each and every accident victim. Professional businesses with years of experience might also make every effort to prevent paying a penny more than necessary. This is another reason why it’s so important to know what to do if an insurance provider delays.
Some insurance companies would undoubtedly never pay out a single claim if they were allowed to operate outside the law. However, rules exist to regulate these businesses. State laws mandate that insurance companies reach a quick settlement with you.
From one state to the next, this period varies. It often lasts between 10 days to a month. In addition to the interest accruing on the claim you made, the insurer may even end up incurring financial penalties if they fail to respond to your claim after the grace period has passed.
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY IS STALLING
Make every effort to ensure a quick and easy process every time you file an insurance claim. Never put off delivering needed information, supporting documents, or any other necessary information. Documents disappear over time, and witnesses forget what happened. If your insurance provider is being uncooperative, you must take immediate action.
First, gather and arrange all the accident records, then preserve them together. These records could consist of, but not be limited to:
- medical history,
- report of the accident,
- a report from the adjuster
Witness information.
Some insurance adjusters might consciously request one document at a time from you. The likelihood that you may lose or misplace important documents increases as time goes on. As an alternative, the business might conveniently lose one or two of your documents in a busy setting where there is a lot to do and a lot of paper flying around. When you maintain duplicates of everything in one location that is both secure and accessible, you can provide them whatever they require right away without taking any chances.
There are additional effective ways for you to monitor the status of your claim. Note down the names of all the insurance company representatives you speak with. You can jot down a brief rundown of any calls. Any correspondence you have with an agent via email should be saved, printed, and kept in your accident file.
And finally, you must offer full collaboration. Make yourself accessible to the representatives of your insurance company if you want your claim to be settled quickly. Always be prepared to give them whatever information or paperwork they request.
Additionally, you ought to use caution while dealing with any additional accident participants’ insurers. Keep in mind that they too have a goal.
They might be using you to gather the data they require in order to use what you say against you.
Causes Of An Insurance Company’s Stalling
Let’s first list the several explanations for why an insurance provider might be delaying. From there, we can focus on the factors that suggest the insurance firm is delaying action to gain a competitive advantage.
Some of the causes are as follows:
Taking Too Long to Do Your Research
To decide whether to accept or reject a file or claim, the insurance adjuster must gather evidence. Perhaps the insurance provider is carrying out such due diligence.
Bad Adjusters Stall
Let’s face it, there are those that perform poorly in any career. The same goes for adjusters and insurance firms. The adjuster might just be slothful.
Busy Adjusters Stall
The adjuster, though, can feel overworked. The business of insurance firms is to squeeze everybody, including their own employees. Perhaps your adjuster is overwhelmed by the volume of claims he or she must manage.
Stalling to Burn Your SOL.
Your statute of limitations gives you a filing deadline. Your SOL is beginning to lapse since you delayed filing your claim. The adjuster can get lucky and procrastinate for so long that you miss your SOL and your claim is no longer viable. This is a shady move, and the insurance company will use any unfair tactics they can to take advantage of you.
Stalling to Discourage Claims
By making you wait and jump through hoops, you can become weary and give up on the claim. The insurance firm knows that a certain proportion of people will take that action, thus postponing is a feasible business strategy for them.
Stalling as Company Policy
Some insurance providers encourage waiting in order to prolong claims and prevent paying claims. There is a very good likelihood that the insurance company is stalling your case in this way if you don’t have any other data.
Stalling by Asking for Irrelevant Things
Another warning sign is if it is clear from the demands that the insurance company is looking for information that will not truly help them assess your claim.
These foolish errands are designed to keep you busy and exhaust you; they are wild goose chases.
Stalling by Switching Adjusters Repeatedly
Be extremely suspicious if the insurance company is stalling by continually changing adjusters on you. What happened to the previous adjuster, ask the adjuster. If there isn’t a compelling argument, something is probably wrong.
Stalling to Fade Evidence
Certain evidence, such as tire prints on the road, unphotographed bruises, and other proof, will vanish if the insurance company drags its feet for too long. The adjuster can manipulate the situation such that your claim is less strong regarding the evidence.
Signs that An Insurance Company is Stalling
Let’s now go over some of the stalling tactics used by insurance firms that point to deception.
Stalling via Piecemeal Evidence Requests
Every time you interact with the insurance company, if the insurance adjuster asks for evidence and documents one slice at a time, this raises suspicions of fraud.
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