For you, making a insurance claim is likely to happen at a time when you are most vulnerable. Filing a claim with your insurance company usually follows an upset to everyday life, that could involve a car accident, a tree falling on your house, or hospitalization from a serious illness. For the insurance company it is business as usual. Many insurance companies routinely delay claims to try to avoid paying. By delaying as long as possible, the insurance company knows many of its claimants will eventually give up, or in some cases die.
Internal documents from Allstate featured an alligator and the caption "sit and wait" -- a reference to delaying claims to increase the likelihood that a claimant would give up.
Claim supervisors at AIG have reported locking checks in safes until claimants complained, delaying payments until they were a year old, and disposing of important correspondence during routine "pizza parties."
Employees at long-term care insurer Conseco and its subsidiaries have testified to a variety of tricks used to deny claims: deliberately mailing the wrong forms and then denying claims on the basis of incorrect paperwork; declaring policyholders have abandoned the claim if they fail to submit forms within 21 days; and withholding payment until the policyholder submitted documents not even required under the terms of the policy. In the words of former agent Betty Hobel, the company "made it so hard to make a claim that people either died or gave up."
Because insurance companies often delay claims or make it difficult for people to file and receive a payout on a claim, insurance attorneys must get involved on behalf of customers.
Have You Been Injured In A Charleston South Carolina Area Car Accident?
If you've been injured in a car accident you should speak with a car accident lawyer as soon as possible. Contact us online or call our Charleston, South Carolina office directly at 843.488.2359 to schedule your consultation. We are also able to meet clients at our Conway, Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Mt. Pleasant, North Myrtle Beach or North Charleston office locations.
