December 29, 2022 | Insurance Disputes

If you’ve been injured in an accident, you may be dealing with the far-reaching impact of the accident. Accident victims are not only faced with the psychological and physical trauma of the accident, but also the economic burden that it can cause. You may be facing mounting medical bills, lack of income for the period of your recovery or even the inability to ever return to work and earn a living. Many accident victims are in desperate need of finances to relieve the economic burden they are under. It can therefore be a great relief to know that you will receive compensation for your damages after making a claim. However, insurance companies can sometimes delay the payment of damages. Below we discuss what you should do when this happens.

Why Do Insurance Companies Take So Long to Pay Out?

There are several factors that may influence the length of time it takes for the insurance company to pay out. The following are some factors that can cause delays in the claims process.

1. Involvement of multiple parties

If there are multiple parties involved in the accident, then you can expect the claims process to be delayed. Determining liability in an accident involving multiple parties can take longer. It can also take a longer time to process claims in multiple insurance companies at once.

2. Investigating the claim

Insurance companies must carry out their own investigation in order to determine liability. These investigations include gathering more information about the claim, reviewing the evidence presented amongst many other tasks. The insurance company must do this to determine the validity of the claim. It is important to ensure that you have submitted all the necessary documentation to facilitate this process.

3. Evaluating damage

The insurance company must evaluate the damages in your claim in order to determine the value of your claim. This often means working with medical experts and other experts in the field. This can take some time especially in a case involving serious injuries that will require future medical treatments.

4. Arranging for payments

It can take some time to arrange for payments to be made. Every insurance company has a process that must be followed. It may take a while for your payments to be made available to you.

5. Contested claims

If the insurance company disputes your claim, the settlement process will be delayed significantly. A disputed claim will mean that the insurance company has refused to make a settlement. You may have to file a lawsuit and take your case to trial in order to secure compensation for your damages.

Is the Insurance Company Stalling?

While the above are legitimate reasons why insurance payouts can sometimes be delayed, there are times when insurance companies stall the claims process intentionally. Insurance companies can do this in order to frustrate claimants and force them to accept lower settlements. If the insurer is taking too long to pay, they may be stalling. Some signs that the insurance company is stalling include:

• Taking a long time to respond to your claim
• Asking for more information after several weeks or months
• Repeatedly sending you more forms to fill out and claiming to have lost your paperwork
• Repeatedly changing insurance adjusters
• Requesting for extensions without the provision of a sensible reason
• Avoiding your emails, calls and other communications

What to Do If the Insurance Company is dragging their feet?

If you haven’t hired a personal injury attorney by now, you should do so. If you already have an attorney, you should stay in touch with them and ask them to follow up with the insurance provider. A knowledgeable attorney will know exactly how to handle an insurance provider that is dragging their feet to make payments for a claim. They will work to speed up the claims process.

There are several things that an attorney can do to help speed up the claims process:

• Contact the insurance company

Your attorney will contact the insurance company to determine the cause of the delay. If they are not making progress with the insurance adjuster responsible for your claim, they will speak to their supervisor to determine what the issue is. Your attorney will keep in regular contact with the insurance company.

• File a personal injury lawsuit

If your attorney is not able to reach a reasonable settlement with the insurance company, they will file a lawsuit and take your case to trial. They will represent you in court and fight to recover compensation for your damages.

• File a bad faith claim

Your attorney may also file a bad faith claim if the insurance company is taking too long to process your claim or is undervaluing your claim.

Talk to an experienced attorney from our law firm to learn about your rights and options.

Insurance Disputes