Your Bloomington personal injury attorney is well aware that some insurance companies commonly employ various tactics when evaluating, negotiating and settling personal injury claims. Some are listed below.

Lost Claim File

An insurance adjuster may put off the attempts your Bloomington personal injury attorney makes to discuss your claim’s value by alleging the claim’s file is lost or inaccessible. Quite often insurance adjuster claim files are stored in a centrally located filing area where only a small number of people have access to them. Therefore, in a busy claim office, the file might actually be misplaced or lost. However, your Bloomington personal injury attorney has no way of ascertaining if this is the situation in your case or if the adjuster is stalling for time.

“Head in the Sand” Method

Your Bloomington personal injury lawyer knows some insurance adjusters act like an ostrich and figuratively “stick their heads in the sand.” In other words, they ignore your attorney by neglecting to return telephone calls or respond to faxes and letters. While this could be the result of the adjuster’s inability to handle a large caseload, it could also be his or her deliberate attempt to stall. If an adjuster is uncomfortable around your lawyer or if the adjuster is unprepared to make decisions regarding your claim value, he or she may purposely disregard your attorney’s requests.

Reservation of Rights

If there is any question concerning insurance coverage, an adjuster may put off making a settlement offer and instead mail a reservation of rights letter to the policyholder. This letter gives notice that the company reserves its right to deny coverage down the road because the policy may not cover certain losses. Accident attorneys should pressure adjusters to state in a timely manner whether the loss is covered or not in order to avoid this situation.

Obtaining Legal Counsel

If you would like to discuss your claim’s value with an experienced and competent Bloomington personal injury lawyer, please contact the law firm of McCarthy Rowden & Baker at 800-373-6050 to schedule a free consultation.