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.
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