What You Need To Know About Dealing With Insurance Companies

Your Responsibility To Notify Your Insurance Company

Insurance companies require you to notify them of any incidents. And, of course, you are not going to get recovery if you don’t notify the at-fault party’s insurance company. This is another reason hiring an experienced personal injury attorney is in your best interest.

At a minimum, you should at least consult with an attorney before speaking to any insurance personnel directly. If there’s a claim, the attorney will make sure that that insurance company gets notified properly. This is because you have an obligation to notify your insurance companies of incidents and to cooperate with them throughout the process.

While it doesn’t happen often, there are some instances where the insurance company might deny you coverage. If you are in an accident, yet fail to notify your insurance company about a possible claim, you could deprive them of the opportunity to conduct an investigation. In some cases, their lack of ability to conduct a timely investigation to protect their interests could prejudice them. The duty to notify them is an explicit requirement of your insurance policy (which is a contract between you and your insurance company), and your failure to do what is required could be deemed a breach that relieves them of their coverage obligations to you.

Consider that you’re in an accident and you don’t notify your insurance company of the incident. After almost two years go by, you file a lawsuit for a claim that they knew nothing about. As a result, the insurance company may say you violated a policy obligation by not informing them about the accident.

Thus, if you are in an accident, especially if it might result in a claim, let your insurance company know.

The best way to inform your insurance company of your involvement in an accident is through your attorney. Once the other side realizes that an attorney is involved, they will not call you for information. Instead, they have to go through the attorney, which helps preserve the integrity of the case and prevents them from manipulating anything.

When The Other Party’s Insurance Company Contacts You For A Comment

Our recommendation is that if you’re going to get an attorney (or if you might get an attorney), do not talk to the other party’s insurance company: go through your attorney.

If you do not hire an attorney, we can almost guarantee that the other party’s insurance company will not offer a settlement if you do not talk to them. Insurance companies have an obligation, a fiduciary duty, to pay out only what should be paid out. To do so, they have to conduct an investigation. One of the steps in that investigation is to interview all the parties involved.

It is in your best interest to seek an experienced personal injury attorney and to decide if you want your attorney to either talk to the insurance company or sit in on your talk with them, intervening as appropriate.

With the guidance of a skilled attorney for Personal Injury Cases, you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that we’ll make it look easy. For more information on Personal Injury Law In Indiana, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (812) 359-8007 today.