Tricky Insurance Companies

By Ben Glass, Esquire

I am sick and tired of insurance companies taking advantage of people before they have a chance to talk to an attorney.

For years, one major insurance company encouraged claimants to not even talk to an attorney before settling the claim. They used fear “the lawyer will take one-third of the check we're about to pay you just for talking to them” to dissuade people from getting good advice.

You may not need an attorney to represent you in your case. No one, however, should settle a case without understanding the system. For example, the insurance adjuster isn't going to tell you that you might have to turn around and take the check they just paid you and pay it to your health insurance company.

Nor will they tell you exactly what you are entitled to or how to write a great demand letter that makes them pay attention. That adjuster just wants to close the file and get you to release all of your claims quickly. They may use

Deliberate Delay

They know that often you are in a financial squeeze. Even if you have good health insurance, the fact that you aren't working may make it difficult to pay co-pays and deductibles. The insurance company knows the doctors are dunning you, so they take their time with your claim.

Requesting Unnecessary Information

Insurance companies will insist that you track down every little piece of information before “we can evaluate the claim.” Even if the information they are now asking for would not add a penny to their offer, they are happy to wait another six weeks for you to track it down. Meanwhile, they are earning interest on the money they are NOT paying you.

Disputing Medical Treatment

Even though I've never met an adjuster who went to medical school, they seem to know just what treatment is right for you. Usually, they know that you were over-treated because “most people would be healed

by now.”

Nickel and Dime Medical Charges

Think about it. If they shave just five percent off your claim and can do that to the millions of claims made each year, they get richer.

Misrepresenting Insurance Benefits

This is a big one. They tell you that there's only $100,000 in coverage. We file suit and magically find an umbrella policy. Don't you think they knew that just by looking on their computers before we filed suit? Of course, they did.