3 Things That Delay Personal Injury Settlements | Kisling, Nestico & Redick
Kisling, Nestico & Redick, LLC Hurt in a Car? Call KNR.
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KNR Legal
Date posted
 
March 5, 2021
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It may take some time to negotiate a settlement if you’ve been injured through no fault of your own. If the accident was complicated and your damages are substantial, various issues may work out before both sides reached an agreement. But that may just be the beginning.

Large insurance companies are known to drag their feet and get the compensation you need. It’s usually best to work with an experienced personal injury lawyer.

At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, we deal with insurance companies every day so accident victims can focus on getting on with their lives. We know when delays are legitimate or stall tactics intended to frustrate people. Let us fight to obtain the maximum compensation for your claim.

If someone else caused your injury, call us at 1-800-HURT-NOW or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free, confidential consultation.

What Is Delaying Your Settlement?

Insurance companies want your claim to go away or pay out as little as possible. And while a two or three-week delay is not unusual, failing to resolve legitimate personal injury claims promptly puts you and your family at risk – financially and medically. A month might be an acceptable time frame if there’s a legitimate reason, but beyond that, the company could be intentionally slowing the process down. If you suspect that an insurance company is not taking your claim seriously, contact a lawyer right away.

Here are the reasons for most insurance claim problems:

1. Company Bureaucracy

Most insurance companies are multibillion-dollar organizations. Some of them operate around the world. They want to be profitable so that upper management will get bonuses, and stockholders will get good returns.

Insurance companies make money by charging premiums, investing them, and getting returns from those investments. Claims are a cost; the higher their costs, the lower their profits.

Insurance companies have many internal procedures to reduce their costs, including paying claims. Your adjuster and others will review the settlement agreement and ensure their policyholder and the company are protected. Next, it goes to another department that sends the funds.

2. Human Error & Circumstances

Insurance claims and lawsuits are human-powered. We all have problems from time to time that take us away from what we should be doing.

  • You may not have signed and returned settlement documents in a timely way
  • The claims adjuster and or supervisor may have taken time off for vacation, an illness, or a family matter. They may not be very organized or do their jobs very well
  • If a natural disaster or some catastrophic event happened, the insurance company might focus on dealing with that, leaving fewer people to work on car accident claims

3. Insurance Company Bad Faith

If the insurance company is needlessly making you jump through one hoop after another, there may be grounds for a bad-faith lawsuit.

A valid bad faith claim could cover their failure to pay the settlement within a reasonable time, but you would need to show more than incompetence, sloppiness, poor judgment, or negligence. You must show evidence of a dishonest purpose, intentional wrongdoing, or fraud. An insurance company found liable may pay substantial damages, but these cases are usually difficult to prove.

Contact KNR Today

If you agree to settle, we will be in constant contact with the insurance company to know its status. Without payment, your case is still active. We can continue to litigate your case, forcing the insurance company to choose between spending more to defend your claim or concluding the agreement. If the company’s conduct goes beyond mistakes, we can pursue a bad faith case.

Kisling, Nestico & Redick attorneys get our clients through the insurance claim process. We not only know accident law, but we also know the insurance company’s legal obligations to you. With over four centuries of combined legal experience, KNR has helped obtain countless favorable settlements for thousands of clients across Ohio.

Call 1-800-HURT-NOW or fill out our online contact form today for a no-cost consultation.