Injured?
Before you communicate with any insurance company, read this report from the Consumer Federation of America.
The unfortunate reality is that as the victim of an injury caused by another’s negligence, you are at risk of becoming a victim twice as a result of the aggressive posture that insurance companies adopt in resolving bodily injury claims.
This posture has been reinforced through a propaganda war waged in the press and in popular culture that with very little exception paints injured persons as malingering whiners.
You will be made to feel as though you are somehow at fault for seeking treatment for your injury, and that your treatment providers are dishonest; that they have over-treated you in order to line their pockets.
The insurance company will put it’s own bodily injury adjuster’s judgment, assisted by a computer, over that of a medical professional, who actually treated you.
To become a licensed insurance adjuster in Texas requires forty hours of study, completion of a form and taking a test. There is no requirement an adjuster have even a high school diploma.
To become a doctor it takes about seven years.
It beggars belief that insurance companies afford their adjusters equivalent authority and credence in assessing the appropriateness of medical treatment.
Dr. Arthur Croft, a well-respected chiropractor and director of the Spine Research Institute of San Diego, says this:
“The insurance industry has developed a number of strategies over the years to attempt to control or contain what they view as runaway costs. Most recently, Farmers Insurance has been misquoting the above-mentioned Reed Group as a justification for claim denial beyond an arbitrary point. Letters are being generated from the Farmers National Document Center in Oklahoma City which state that the Reed guidelines report that, ”the standard practice for length of treatment for the type of injury your patient sustained is from 2 to 12 weeks.” In truth, the Reed guidelines look only at the duration of disability in the workers compensation world, and there is no reference to 2 to 12 weeks. They also do not discuss treatment.”
The take away from all this is simple: YOU WILL NOT BE ADEQUATELY COMPENSATED BY A LIABILITY INSURANCE COMPANY WITHOUT RETAINING AN ATTORNEY.
There is simply no incentive for an insurance company to be reasonable with you, because it has nothing to lose.
Moreover, you will become increasingly frustrated by trying to deal reasonably with it, when you should be focused on repair of your mental and physical well-being after a traumatic incident.
That’s why retaining a lawyer to get you the compensation you deserve is one of the first things you should do if you’re hurt because of another’s negligence.
