Insurance is set up to provide you with protection when something goes wrong in your life. Unfortunately, many insurance providers will fight to do what they can to deny you the coverage you deserve. This situation is one that Rieders Travis law firm and other legal professionals see far too often and upsets these professionals because their clients usually end up unfairly struggling.

Typically, these companies try to pursue a handful of different questionable tactics that may be technically legal but which leave you without much recourse beyond calling a lawyer to help. Understanding these methods will make it easier for you to avoid falling victim to them and struggling to handle the demands that they put on you as a person.

No. 1 – Pursuing Your Claim Aggressively

Your insurance company has the right and the privilege to pursue your case as far as they want to ensure that you aren’t lying to them. Many companies don’t bother with excessive investigatory periods because there isn’t much of a point in many scenarios. However, other businesses may hire private investigators to show that you were lying to them and do not deserve your claim. Some may even try to invalidate your policy or cancel it, using this as an excuse to stop your coverage.

And they may use flimsy evidence in an attempt to prove their point. For example, if an investigator says that you were shopping after an injury – even if you were using a powered cart or a wheelchair to get around due to the pain – they might attempt to state that you weren’t seriously injured and deny your claim. It isn’t lying per se but a questionable interpretation of evidence.

When this happens, you may feel like you have little recourse but to accept their denial. However, you don’t have to take this situation lying down. You can talk to a lawyer who can appeal your case and even take it to a criminal court if your insurance company behaves in a bad-faith manner. They can only investigate to a reasonable point before many courts decide they are acting unfairly to you.

No. 2 – Trying to Delay Payments As Long as Possible

Another common tactic that insurance companies attempt to deny payment is delaying your judgment as long as possible. Typically, companies must respond to your payout by a set date according to law. Some may wait until that very day before they make a judgment, sometimes approving your statement or deciding that it needs more time to investigate the situation. Doing so may drag out payment indefinitely.

Some companies attempt to use this approach to get their policyholders to accept a smaller payment in frustration. For instance, they may delay a long time, forcing a consumer into a challenging financial situation. And when they finally reply with a smaller amount, the customer may just take it out of desperation. Once the claim has been accepted, the customer is stuck with it and cannot ask for me.

If you feel you are a victim of this approach, you need to talk to a lawyer right away to fight for your rights. Some companies may use “claim investigation” to indefinitely elongate your approval process. But a good lawyer can show that the provider is not acting in good faith and may make this situation one that gets reversed by forcing the company to make a decision and pay you the money owed.

Read More: The Most Common Personal Injury Claims

No 3 – Changing Policies After an Accident

One of the trickiest and most nefarious ways insurance companies get out of paying claims is to change a person’s policy retroactively. For instance, a homeowner’s policy may have been purchased to cover flood damage. But after a person suffers a flood, they suddenly find that their policy does not cover this damage anymore. Can companies do this type of retroactive changing to a policy?

The frustrating thing is that many policy providers create loopholes that may allow them to change your policy without warning you. And they can retroactively claim that they changed the policy – and even claim that they told you – before the incident occurred. Technically speaking, such changes are often illegal, but insurance law often makes it hard to prove this situation as much as you may like. Policyholders need to hold onto all their policy documents, keep copies of any changes made by the provider, and work with a lawyer to see if they can’t get the money owed to them. Sadly, this step is often tough to fight because the company may just change its internal paperwork and make your policy null and void for that protection. However, the legal fight is still an important one to take because you may win and get back at these cruel businesses.

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