How Insurance Companies May Attempt to take Advantage of Car Crash Victims

Photo by Clark Van Der Beken on Unsplash

Some people feel like insurance companies inherently operate from a place of dishonesty. That’s probably not the case. However, the insurance industry does have an unsavory reputation in certain circles.

That’s because some insurance companies will try to do all they can to avoid paying out any claims. If you understand an insurance company’s structure, you will start to see why. 

For instance, you might have a situation where you’re in a car accident, but your insurance company or that of the other driver might not want to pay you the money that you feel you’re due. Car crash injury victims should understand insurance company strategies and know about them going into any communication that you may have. 

With that in mind, we’ll talk about some insurance company techniques that you might run into after a car accident. Some will prevent you from getting any money, while others might work by decreasing the amount that you will eventually receive.

Why Do Insurance Companies Not Want to Pay Out Any Claims?

We should start by explaining that insurance companies have for-profit status. They’re not charitable organizations that can’t wait to pay out a claim if you feel that you have a valid one. 

No matter what kind of insurance company you’re dealing with, whether it’s life insurance, car insurance, homeowner’s insurance, etc., the company wants to keep as much money as it can. The money the company keeps probably won’t do much for the individuals working at the bottom of the corporate ladder.

However, if you start to climb the rungs, and you get to the positions of CEO or CFO, you will often start to see individuals getting huge bonuses every year. Those bonuses typically increase the more money the company can keep and the less it has to pay out. 

You can usually point to greed as a reason why some insurance companies will do anything to avoid having to pay out very many claims, or any at all. Now, let’s get back to car insurance companies and how one might try to avoid paying you after you’re in a motor vehicle accident. 

They Will Ask You Who You Think Caused the Accident

If you get in a car accident, then it’s only natural that it will shake you up. Even a simple fender bender can upset you, even if it doesn’t physically injure you.

After the crash, you might feel like you’re in a vulnerable state. It’s normally at that time, though, that you will have to call your insurance company to tell them what happened. You may also have to speak to the other driver’s insurance company.

During that phone call, the agent you talk to might ask you who you think caused the accident. Maybe you’re pretty sure the other driver did, but you’re not 100% certain.

In such a situation, it’s natural that you might use some language indicating that you’re less than sure about who should take the blame for what occurred. The individual you talk to might press you on this point. 

If they can get you to say that you caused the accident, at least in part, then maybe they can get away with paying you less money. That’s why you should never admit you caused the accident over the phone when speaking to an insurance company representative, even if you suspect that’s actually the case.  

They Will Record Any Phone Call with You 

You should also realize when you call any car insurance company that they’re recording all calls that they get. They might try to use that recording in court later if you decide to sue them because they won’t pay out your claim, or if they try to get you to take less money than you feel you’re due under the circumstances.

Assume that the insurance company records any calls that you make to them or that they make to you. Go into these calls with caution for that reason. 

They Will Ask “Gotcha” Questions

When you talk to someone from the insurance company on the phone, maybe you’ll already know about some of these tactics. You might stick to the facts and not admit that think you caused the crash. You might repeatedly say that you think the other driver caused it.

It’s still possible that the individual to whom you’re speaking might try to trip you up with some “gotcha” questions. They will usually try to ask questions that steer you in the direction of admitting at least partial guilt for the crash, even if you went into the call feeling certain that you didn’t cause it.  

They Will Give You a Lowball Offer

A car insurance company that decides it needs to pay you at least something to satisfy you might also try to get you to take as little money as possible. The person to whom you speak might start by offering you a pittance in the hopes that you’ll take it.

If you feel strongly that what they’re offering won’t cover your economic or non-economic losses, you can always say no. However, without a lawyer, negotiating with the insurance company becomes quite difficult. Keep in mind that they hire and train individuals who want nothing more than to reject your claim or to get you to agree to a tiny amount and to consider the matter closed. 

They’ll Stall

The car insurance company may try to stall for time. They might insist that you resubmit some paperwork or that you go through several long phone calls where they try to hash out the smallest crash-related details. 

They’re hoping that you will get so frustrated that you will accept a much smaller amount of money than you want, just to put the whole business behind you. It often works.

When you think about all of these tactics, it makes sense that you will often want to hire a lawyer after a car accident.