Following a car accident, you will likely have to speak to two insurance companies to report the accident and give your account of what occurred: your own insurance company and the insurance company of the other driver. As the policyholder, your own insurance company will probably treat you better – at least that’s the way it should be.
You are the customer whenever you purchase an insurance policy from an insurer. On the other hand, the other driver is the customer of their own insurance carrier and therefore, that insurance company’s loyalty lies in the other driver.
As the customer of your insurer, your insurance provider is required to treat you with equal consideration when you make a claim for damages. This means that your insurance company is under an obligation to treat your financial interests the same as the company treats their own financial interests. Not better, not worse. However, when dealing with the other driver’s insurance company, the other driver is entitled to equal consideration from their insurer. Consequently, do not be surprised when the other driver’s company low-balls your damages, makes you severely reduced offers and/or denies to pay your claim altogether.
Unfortunately, many insurance adjusters fail to treat their customers with equal consideration. They like to depreciate and deny all claims, whether or not the person making the claim is a policyholder. Much of this has to do with the fact that insurance companies are in the business of making a profit, and insurance adjusters are trained to have the bottom line in mind at all times.
Nevertheless, you are entitled to equal consideration and you have legal options if your insurance company fails to treat you with such. Specifically, you can hire a personal injury attorney to file a bad faith insurance lawsuit against your insurer under a theory of unreasonable delay or denial of benefits. If successful, you could receive up to three (3) times the value of your insurance policy coverage limit!
If you have filed a claim with your insurance company and feel that they are unreasonably delaying or denying your claim, you should speak with a personal injury attorney right away. The personal injury lawyers at the Law Office of Jeremy Rosenthal have experience representing clients in bad faith insurance lawsuits, and all types of personal injury cases, and will fight hard to obtain the compensation you deserve. Call us today for a free consultation at (303) 647-4511 or visit us online.
