Are You Buying Insurance or a Lawsuit?

Jun 7, 2010 by Andrew

Ask any personal injury trial attorney in Austin (not necessarily those guys who advertise on T.V. but don’t actually file suit or try cases) and you’ll find that an overwhelming number of lawsuits are filed against two particular insurance companies.

When you buy auto insurance, you’re supposed to be buying peace of mind.  But, there’s a built-in problem—your goal is to have the insurance company settle and pay any accident claim in which you were at fault, but the insurance company’s goal is to take in as much money as possible while paying out as little as possible.  When someone is making a claim against your policy, you fall on the “pay out as little as possible” side of the business.

So what happens is the insurance company tries to negotiate a quick, low settlement with the claimant.  If the person making the claim is representing themselves or if they hire an attorney who is known to settle quickly and not fight for top dollar (believe it or not, I have had one of the TV lawyers tell me that one insurance company told him they didn’t believe his threats of filing a lawsuit because he had never filed one before—and that was after handling hundreds, if not thousands, of claims).

But if the person making the claim against you is smart enough to hire an experienced accident injury lawyer, you may be on the receiving end of a lawsuit if you don’t have the right insurance company.

What is the right insurance company? The right one is one who will settle the claim for a fair value without forcing you into litigation.  The wrong company will force you to be served with a suit (possibly at work), then they will chose an attorney for you (though your policy will almost always allow you to chose an attorney), the attorney and them will convince you that they are doing the right thing and to let them handle everything (though the judgment, if it goes to trial) will be on your record, force you to take a day off of work for you deposition to be taken, and force you to take several days off of work to go to a trial you know you will lose.

My own personal survey of several of my peers and some mediators as well as reviews of the cases that I have filed suit on shows that if you have Allstate or Farmers insurance, you’re at a greater risk of being sued than with other insurance companies because they are the stingiest insurers.

I see ratings from time to time saying this insurance company or that is the best, but I’ve never seen ones for the worst.  Maybe I should start a survey to ask people who were at fault for an accident what insurance company they have and whether they were sued or it settled before suit was filed?

Legal Websites

Related posts:

1. How Insurance Companies Deny, Delay, Confuse and Refuse
2. Doctor Denies Health Insurance After Accident
3. Drive Less, Save on Insurance
4. Shopping around could save dollars on car insurance
5. The use of Insurance in the Court Room