Personal Injury Attorneys

After you get into a motor vehicle collision, the insurance companies involved will attempt to contact you to take a recorded statement about the wreck that they can use to determine if they will accept or deny a claim. As our friends at Garrett, Walker, Aycoth & Olson, Attorneys at Law can explain, it is important to speak to personal injury attorneys before talking to the insurance company, as the adjusters will typically ask questions in a manner to help them to deny your claim if possible. There are several common reasons that insurance companies will use to deny claims, and if your claim is denied it usually means you have no choice but to file a lawsuit to recover.

Fault determinations

When a motor vehicle collision occurs, the insurance companies will first try to determine who is at fault, or negligent. Some states allow you to recover for your injuries even if you are partially at fault, and others do not. Our personal injury lawyers at Garrett, Walker, Aycoth & Olson, Attorneys at Law can discuss the facts of your case with you and help you to understand fault based on your specific situation. If the insurance company believes that their insured is not at fault, or that you are at fault, they will deny your claim.

Minor damage to vehicles involved

Although we do not believe this is a valid reason to deny claims, insurance companies will sometimes deny claims on the basis that there was little or no visible damage to your vehicle from the collision. They will argue that the damage was so minor, nobody could have been hurt in the wreck and you are therefore making up or exaggerating your injuries. It is important that you take photographs documenting damage to your vehicle and get any estimates or repair bills showing what components of your vehicle were damaged in order to refute these denials.

Delay in seeking medical treatment

Another common reason that injury claims are denied by auto insurance companies is that there was a delay and gap in time from the date of the collision until you received medical treatment. The insurance company will argue that if you were hurt in the wreck, you would have sought medical treatment quickly rather than waiting. This is why it is crucial for you to seek medical treatment immediately after an accident where you are hurt. Some folks will wait and see if they get better before going to a doctor, which can sometimes lead to the insurance company denying their claim and complicating their ability to recover.

There are other reasons that insurance companies will deny claims, and sometimes they will deny claims that they should not. It is important that you contact a lawyer after you have been hurt in a car wreck to make sure that you are doing everything possible to avoid a denial in the case, or, if your claim has been denied, to evaluate whether litigating your claim is worthwhile.