If you have ever been in an auto accident, then you know that insurance companies can be difficult to deal with. On the other hand, you probably feel like you should not have to sue your own insurance company to ensure they pay up on a policy you have been paying into for years. Yet, every year, insurance companies deny claims filed by their own policyholders to avoid the costs associated with fulfilling the policy. In some cases, the insurance company may have a valid legal reason for denying the claim. In other cases, the insurance company may just be testing the waters to see how much they can get away with.
The Ohio insurance claims attorneys at Lafferty, Gallagher, & Scott have represented individuals filing claims on their own insurance policies. In this article, we will discuss various insurance claims and how we fight them.
These are among the most common insurance claims we handle. Insurance companies are not happy about being forced to pay for uninsured or underinsured motorists, yet Ohio law requires them to pay it when their customer has purchased it as part of their automobile insurance. However, insurance companies can use deceptive tactics to avoid paying claims. These include:
Having an attorney handle your claim prevents the insurance company from using underhanded tactics to leverage you into an early settlement or denying your claim in bad faith.
For those who have purchased a long-term disability insurance policy or have a long-term disability policy through their employer, you may find it extraordinarily difficult to receive a recovery on these policies. The policies offer disability payments for a set amount of time to cover shortfalls emerging from injury or illness.Â
In these cases, the insurance companies will hire doctors to review disability claims and even perform examinations on claimants. Since the doctors are hired by the insurance company, their job is to come up with some reason to deny the claim. Further, insurance companies often make requests for the same information over and over again saying that they never received the information that was already sent. Having an attorney litigate your claim will prevent the insurance carrier from denying, delaying, and fighting your claim.
Insurance companies, by design, have a conflict of interest. They are at once beholden to their stockholders while at the same time owing a fiduciary duty to their policyholders. Even municipal companies deny claims in bad faith. In cases where insurance companies deny claims to avoid liability, they can be sued for denying the claim in bad faith.Â
Lafferty, Gallagher, & Scott protect the interests of policyholders in disputes with their insurance carriers. Call today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can help.