Insurance Costs

Auto accidents can be a nightmare, leaving victims with severe injuries, a useless car, limited ability to work, and emotional trauma. Unfortunately, some victims of auto accidents are victimized a second time when they turn to their own insurers for help. In a cynical effort to make money, some insurers hike victims’ insurance premiums or refuse to fully pay claims, regardless of whether or not the victim was at fault. Victims with serious injuries and mounting bills find themselves trapped in a cycle of bureaucracy and red tape, unable to get on with their lives.

When you pay your monthly insurance bill, you’re holding up your end of a contract that also says an insurance company will reimburse you for the costs of auto accidents. In California and Nevada, drivers are required to carry liability insurance, at the minimum. That type of auto insurance covers another driver’s costs in a crash that was your fault; it does not cover any of your own costs. However, many drivers carry additional insurance, which can include:

California and Nevada are both fault-based states. That means that in a car accident, insurance companies determine how much fault each party involved bears and pay their claims accordingly. Depending on fault and on what type of insurance you have, you may be legally responsible for all of the costs involved in the accident, some of the costs or none at all. However, some unscrupulous insurers deny claims that they are legally required, by their own contracts, to pay. They may say the accident was your fault when it was not, or say a policy does not cover your situation, even though it does. This is called “insurance bad faith,” and it’s illegal. If you’re a victim of insurance bad faith in an auto accident, you may have to file litigation to recover the costs that you’re entitled to -- and that you’ve already paid for.

When you call your insurance company and report an accident, you’re putting in a claim for the costs you incurred. An insurance company employee called an adjustor will look at the facts behind the accident, then determine how much you’re entitled to receive. Unfortunately, because an insurance adjustor’s job is to save money, they usually offer accident victims the lowest possible settlement. If it does not cover all the costs the accident created, you are entitled to reject it. Instead, you should negotiate with the adjustor, using bills, accident reports and other written evidence to prove that your costs are higher than the offer they gave you.

Under pressure to keep costs low, adjustors also don’t always assign fault in the same way accident victims -- not to mention witnesses and accident reports -- would. This can also be insurance bad faith. If an adjustor incorrectly determines fault in your accident, they could stop you from collecting on policies that you’re legally entitled to. Even victims who have written evidence from police reports, witness statements and so on may find themselves arguing with an insurance company about fault. Victims of a hit-and-run driver or uninsured motorist are at special risk for this type of bad faith. Without the other driver’s account of the accident, some insurers decide you were partly at fault. Others may deny claims because an underinsured motorist had enough to cover some -- but not all -- of your costs. If you cannot reach an agreement with an insurance company on these matters, you may have no choice but to file a lawsuit to hold them responsible for the accident costs they agreed to cover.

And to make matters worse, some insurers add insult to injury by hiking their customers’ premiums after an accident, on the basis of their own incorrect determination of fault. Drivers who have been injured or suffered the complete loss of their vehicles may already have financial troubles from the insurance company’s refusal to pay; those troubles are only compounded when their monthly insurance premiums go up. Legally required to carry car insurance, they have no choice but to pay up while they continue arguing with their insurer, often while dealing with miles of bureaucratic red tape.

BISNAR | CHASE has decades of experience representing auto accident and insurance bad faith victims. We have recovered literally tens of millions of dollars for our clients, including a one-million-dollar insurance bad faith settlement for auto accident victims who needed two spinal surgeries. Another client settled on the eve of trial for $750,000 with an insurance company that had previously refused to pay her the full amount of her policy. If you’re considering an auto accident or insurance bad faith lawsuit, we can help you negotiate with the insurance company, navigate the court system, and get the best possible financial return for your efforts. For a free, no-obligation consultation, call us today at 1-800-561-4846 or click here to fill out our convenient online case evaluation form.

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