Insurance Claims

Medical Record Release

In the majority of cases, you will not want to sign a medical record release form. A medical record release form allows the insurance company access to all your medical history, even if it is unrelated to the injuries sustained in the accident. Every doctor’s visit and hospital stay will be available to them. The insurance company can then put this information in a database for other insurance companies to utilize.

The insurance company will attempt to use your medical history against you. They will try and attribute your past medical history to your current injuries or pain in an attempt to reduce your claim.

There will undoubtedly be some medical information that is necessary to provide to the insurance company. In that case, give them specific documents that they request instead of providing them unfettered access into your personal medical history.

Property Damage Release

This kind of release form is most commonly used after a car accident in which your vehicle was totaled. When the insurer determines that your car is totaled, you will receive a check and a property damage release. By either cashing the check or signing this release form, you are agreeing that the insurer does not owe you anything else from the accident with regard to your property.

After this is signed, you are barred from asking for more money or replacement property from the insurer. Because of this, it is important to ensure that you are comfortable with the amount of money they send you. If you don’t believe the amount is fair, don’t cash the check or sign anything.

You will also want to ensure that you are not releasing the insurer from your personal injury claims. Before signing the release, make sure there is a clear indication that you are only releasing the insurer from property liability.

Understand Your Rights Before Signing

It is always good practice to understand what exactly each document is before signing it. If you are not sure what the document means or what the consequences of signing are not, you should ask the insurer additional questions or contact a personal injury lawyer who can explain all your legal rights and guide you through the process.

Our Tucson Accident Attorneys Can Help

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, you may be left with physical, emotional, and financial burdens to bear. However, you are not alone.

At Zinda Law Group, our Tucson injury lawyers have helped thousands of injury victims recover compensation for such damages as medical bills, property damage, lost wages, pain and suffering, and much more.

We will fight tirelessly to protect your legal rights and seek the maximum recovery you are entitled to under the law. And as one of our clients, you will pay nothing until we achieve a favorable settlement, judgment, or verdict for your case.

Call Zinda Law Group today at (800) 863-5312 for a free consultation with one of our Tucson personal injury lawyers. Meetings with attorneys by appointment only.

Filing a Claim with Progressive

Most insurance companies operate in the same fashion in terms of filing a claim. Once you have reported the accident and Progressive is made aware the claim exists, they will use their claim adjusters to determine the value of your claim and what share Progressive is responsible for paying you.

Progressive is a for-profit business, and its claim adjusters share the same interest as the company it works for: to keep settlement costs as low as possible.

As a popular insurance company, settling claims is an integral function of the company, and something they have more experience and expertise in than the individual filing a claim. Therefore, it is important to not only keep their superior experience in mind, but to also understand how to negotiate a fair claim to compensate you for your injuries.

How to Negotiate

In general, the first offer you receive from Progressive will be much lower than what you are fairly entitled to receive. If you choose to negotiate the claim without the assistance of an injury attorney, you should know what specifically you can recover damages for besides only the medical bills associated with the injury. In most states, you can recover damages for:

• Pain and suffering
• Property and vehicle loss/damages
• Lost wages
• Lost economic opportunity
• Future medical expenses

You should gather any evidence you have and submit all documents to the claim adjuster. These documents will show Progressive specificities of your suffering and give the company incentive to increase their settlement offer.

Hiring a Car Accident Attorney

Personal injury lawyers work on contingency, meaning they are only paid if they win your case. Progressive will try to settle your claim early and in the least costly manner possible. With the help of an auto accident lawyer, filing a lawsuit can force Progressive to face the possibility of damages being assessed by a jury for much higher than their settlement offer, and will likely result in a much higher settlement offer.

Consulting with a San Antonio car accident attorney before entering settlement discussions will help you to understand the nuances of your claim, and hiring an attorney can help you establish your damages. With the help of an attorney, you are more likely to be fairly compensated for your injury and ease your suffering.

Get Help from Experienced San Antonio Car Accident Lawyers

At Zinda Law Group, our car accident attorneys have helped thousands of injury victims take on the insurance companies and seek maximum compensation for medical bills, property damage, lost income, pain and suffering, and other damages stemming from their auto accident.

Call Zinda Law Group today at (800) 863-5312 for a 100% free consultation with one of our skilled San Antonio personal injury lawyers. Meetings with attorneys by appointment only.

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TYPES OF INSURANCE LIABILITY CLAIMS

In the event the insurance company denies coverage for your injuries, keep in mind that this doesn’t mean you don’t deserve coverage. If your insurance company denies your claim, you may file a lawsuit for breach of contract or bring an action for bad faith. Specifically, a breach of contract claim is brought when an insurance company fails to make payouts it is obligated to make under a binding contract signed by both the insurance company and the policyholder. A bad faith claim is made when an insurance company wrongfully denies coverage by claiming that an event is not qualified for coverage under the insurance policy. Bad faith cases often involve debates over legal semantics in the policy, so it’s important to have an experienced personal injury lawyer on your side.

REASONS INSURANCE COMPANIES DENY OR DELAY CLAIMS

Insurance companies deny claims for a variety of reasons; some reasons are valid, while others are not. Some of the more common reasons insurance companies deny claims include:

Lack of Coverage

Your insurance company may argue that your claim isn’t covered by your policy.  Examine your policy’s exclusions section to better understand what’s not covered.  Keep in mind that ambiguities in the policy are judged in favor of the policyholder, not the insurer.

Late Medical Attention

Your insurance company may deny your claim if you are unable to prove that your injuries were a result of the accident.  An immediate doctor’s visit often serves as proof that your injuries occurred at the same time as the accident.

Pre-existing Conditions

Your insurance company may also try to deny your claim if you suffer from a pre-existing condition. It may argue that your condition caused your injury rather than the accident. For example, if you have a pre-existing neck injury but you suffered additional or new injuries to your neck because of the accident, the company may deny your claim and argue that your new injuries did not result from the accident.

Timeliness Errors

Your insurance company may set time limits for notifying the company of your claim. Check your policy to see what the requirements are for notifying the insurance company of a claim. Some timelines may be as short as 24 hours.

Bad Faith Denial

Remember that an insurer might offer many justifications, often with confusing insurance policy jargon, to disguise the fact that they just don’t want to pay for the claim.

HOW TO NEGOTIATE A CLAIM AND OR SETTLEMENT WITH YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY

Insurance companies are businesses and operate as such.  While insurance companies may claim to have your best interest in mind, your insurance company may still try and award you with as little compensation as possible.

Insurance adjustors are aware that the more of a financial bind you’re in, the more likely it’ll be for you to accept a low, but immediate payment on your claim, as opposed to waiting for a higher settlement.  Even if you tell the insurance adjustor the minimum amount you’re willing to settle for, you may still be offered less.

Below are some tips that may help you negotiate with an insurance adjustor:

1. Document as Much as Possible

Take as many photographs as possible of the accident scene, including any visible injuries you may have. In some instances, an insurance adjustor may not visit you until days after the accident, which could provide time for your wounds to heal and any property damage to be repaired. Photographing and documenting evidence immediately after an accident may assist you in proving the severity of the accident and help you negotiate a more appropriate settlement amount.

2. Determine a Minimum Settlement Amount

Once you have understood the scope of your losses, you should use this information to determine a settlement amount that could adequately cover your damages. Be sure to make an added effort to describe and calculate all the damages you suffered due to the accident. This may include medical bills, treatment costs, pain and suffering, and loss of wages.

3. Keep Your Story Straight and Emphasize Emotional Points

It may be helpful to write down the details of the accident to keep your story straight when negotiating with an insurance adjuster.  The insurance company may attempt to have you change your story of how the accident occurred or claim that you were responsible for your injuries as a way to justify paying you a lower settlement amount.  It may also help to emphasize any emotional points that support your claim.  For example, if your injury has interfered with caring for your family, mention how your family has suffered as a result of the accident.  While there is no definite way to place a dollar value on pain and suffering, describing these types of damages to an adjuster may help the insurance company make a fair settlement offer.

4. Expect the “Back and Forth”

While you may expect your initial settlement offer to be turned down, you should not feel obligated to accept the insurance company’s counteroffer if it’s too low.  This tactic is common amongst insurance adjusters to determine how much you may fight against their offer and whether the claim may be settled quickly.  It is highly recommended that you ask your insurance adjuster to justify their offered settlement amount.

5. Remain Calm and Patient

Remember that insurance adjusters are people too, which means that they probably won’t respond well to aggression or threats.  Even if you have to work with a difficult insurance adjuster, stay calm and don’t let your emotions get the best of you.  Your job is to show the insurance adjustor that your claim is a valid one and that you believe in the facts you have presented.  If you can show the adjuster that you are making a good faith claim, you may be offered a fair settlement offer in return.

Although these tips may help you seek a fair settlement amount for your damages, the assistance from an experienced El Paso attorney who knows how to negotiate an injury claim is crucial to helping you seek a favorable outcome for your case.

HOW AN ATTORNEY MAY HELP

Insurance companies know that many accident victims are unaware of how much their claim may be worth. Because of this, insurance companies typically offer unrepresented victims a settlement that is lower than the actual value of their claim in the hopes that a victim may take the offer and forfeit their right to a legal claim.

It’s important to contact an attorney before accepting a settlement amount from the insurance company. An experienced personal injury attorney may calculate the value of your case, which an attorney may use in negotiating with the insurance company.

In addition to your financial costs, a settlement may cover pain and suffering resulting from the accident. Generally, there are two methods commonly used to calculate damages for pain and suffering: the per diem method and the multiple method. The per diem method calculates the dollar amount the victim makes in a day multiplied by the number of days the victim continues to suffer after the car accident. The multiple method is more commonly used and is made by totaling the victim’s economic damages and applying a multiple from 1 to 5.

Learn More: Why Hiring a Lawyer Will Help Your Case

BE AWARE OF THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

If you are unable to reach an agreement with the insurance company, you may want to file a lawsuit to seek compensation for your injuries.  The statute of limitations provides a deadline by which an accident victim must file a lawsuit.

Once this deadline passes, the victim is barred from bringing their legal claim in court, so a victim shouldn’t wait too long while negotiating with the insurance company.  Negotiating with the insurance company is not enough to beat or extend the time limit.  Filing your summons and complaint in the right Texas court of law is how you’ll meet the statute of limitations.  In Texas, the statute of limitations for most personal injury claims is two years.

GET HELP FROM ZINDA LAW GROUP’S EL PASO PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS

At Zinda Law Group, our personal injury lawyers have the experience and knowledge that has helped injured victims seek compensation from their insurance companies after suffering an injury from an accident.

If you or a loved one is unsure how to negotiate their injury claim with the insurance company after suffering injuries from an accident, call Zinda Law Group at (800) 863-5312 for a 100% free case evaluation with our El Paso personal injury attorneys.

Meetings with attorneys by appointment only.

How to File a Claim

If you’ve been injured in an accident, you may be required to file a claim for compensation with Liberty Mutual Insurance. A claims adjuster from Liberty Mutual will then be assigned to your case and be responsible for attempting to settle your claim. The adjuster’s job is to attempt to successfully settle your claim with Liberty Mutual Insurance, while paying you as little as possible. This can result in you being paid far less than what you actually need for your medical expenses, property damage, lost wages, and other losses you experienced.

It is possible to negotiate a fair settlement with Liberty Mutual Insurance, with or without the assistance of a personal injury attorney. However, some have reported that Liberty Mutual Insurance is more stubborn than some other insurers and may not be as willing to settle. Nevertheless, the following tips can help you in your negotiations with your Liberty Mutual Insurance adjuster:

1. Know what your claim is worth: As much as possible, quantify your claim. This requires you to add up the expenses you have already incurred, such as medical bills and lost wages; the expenses you expect to need in the future, such as continuing medical care or lost earnings in the future; and other damages that may be hard to quantify, like physical pain and suffering. If you are uncertain as to an amount, err on the side of overestimating the loss, as you can always adjust the figure downward if necessary. Communicate this figure to the adjuster in a letter.

2. Expect your initial settlement figure to be rejected: In most cases, Liberty Mutual Insurance adjusters will reject your initial settlement offer. Do not get discouraged and do not assume that this is a reflection on the strength of your claim. Remember that your adjuster works for Liberty Mutual and is attempting to settle your claim for as little as possible.

3. Do not jump at the first offer: Your adjuster may counter your initial settlement offer with what may appear to be a ridiculously low offer. View this as a test: your adjuster is attempting to see if you know what you are doing or if you are not willing to negotiate. If your adjuster makes such an offer, ask them to describe how they arrived at that figure.

4. Highlight facts and circumstances that are in your favor: Your insurance adjuster likely knows the basic facts of your case. What they may not know is the extent of your pain or how your injury has impacted your life. Highlight these aspects of your claim. When a person can no longer care for their children or provide for their family due to injuries resulting from an accident, they will receive more sympathy from a judge and jury at trial, making it more likely that Liberty Mutual will settle on your terms.

Get Help from Experienced San Antonio Car Accident Lawyers

At Zinda Law Group, we know that a personal injury incident can be devastating. The last thing you might want to do is negotiate with an insurance adjuster who is trying to get you to settle for less than you deserve under the law.

We have negotiated settlements on behalf of our clients with Liberty Mutual Insurance in the past and can help you settle your claim so you can get the compensation you need. If a settlement cannot be reached that is in your best interest, we can help advise you of the next steps.

We will help you seek compensation after your injury incident, whether it is through a settlement with Liberty Mutual or a lawsuit. Call us today at (800) 863-5312 for a 100% free case evaluation with one of our San Antonio personal injury lawyers.

Meetings with attorneys by appointment only.