Over the years, insurance companies have discovered various ways for avoiding or delaying the need to pay a policyholder or a claimant that has sought coverage of claimed damages.
How denial might allow an insurer to avoid delivery of an anticipated payment
By telling the policyholder or claimant that the policy issued by the insurance company did not cover accidents of the type reported. Sometimes, an adjuster might say that the policy would not cover an accident that took place in the reported location.
By denying awareness of the accident’s occurrence: This tactic might cause a claimant to witness the passing of valuable time. In other words, there would be no action until after the deadline, the one that had been established by the statute of limitations.
By asking the claimant to sign various forms, each of which contains fine print: The signature on that document with the fine print could be used as evidence that the claimant/policyholder had reported a falsehood, when filing the original claim, as per personal injury lawyer in St. Catharines.
How delay could help an insurer to put off paying for claimed damages
By not responding to a demand letter in a timely manner: The frustrated claimant might feel ready to accept almost any offer. At that point, the adjuster could come forward with a low-ball offer. That would be one that the insurance company could easily handle. Still, it would not be fair to the accident victim, the person that wrote the demand letter.
By undertaking a long review of the claim: The adjuster could work with the insurer to make sure that the review did not end until after the deadline, the one established by the statute of limitations.
Other actions that could save an insurance company from the need to cover the damages reported for a given claim
Alleging misrepresentation by the claimant: This tactic might be tried, if the insurer felt that it would not be unreasonable to suggest shared blame. For instance, a policyholder might hear that allegation, if the policyholder’s vehicle had been damaged by a rear end collision.
In such a situation, there might be more than 2 cars involved, all part of a multi-vehicle collision. The insurance company might allege that the driver of the impacted vehicle should have prevented any further collision.
Telling a claimant or policyholder that a lawsuit, if attempted, would be likely to end with a victory for the insurance company: This approach has the adjuster and insurer presenting their own defense, and asking the claimant or policyholder to accept their unverifiable statement.
Defenses that limit effectiveness of the above tactics
Hiring a personal injury lawyer. Other than that it helps to have a minimal acceptable compensation in mind, when composing the demand letter.