Despite the marketing they do to make you think that they care, many insurance companies will use every trick in the book to delay paying your claim. In fact, some of America’s biggest and most well-known insurance companies regularly and purposely delay payments, deny claims with for no legitimate reason, and even wait for policyholders to die so that they don’t have to pay claims.
It is important to become familiar with these age-old, delay-and-denial tactics, so you can identify if and when your insurer is using them against you in your own claim.
5 Common Tactics Adjusters Use to Avoid Paying Out on Insurance Claims
Here are some of the most common tactics insurance adjusters use to delay or outright deny paying on your insurance claim:
- Denial: Denying claims is one of the easiest and fastest ways for insurance companies to boost their bottom line. The practice of “just say no” to claims is seemingly ingrained in some insurance companies’ culture.
- Discriminate by credit score: Few people realize that your credit score affects your insurability, what you pay for insurance premiums and can even prevent you from obtaining insurance altogether.
- Delay and obstruct claims until the claimant gives up or dies: For many policyholders who purchased long-term care insurance, getting the insurance company to pay has been a nightmare. Customers report having to call insurance companies multiple times and resending documents multiple times. Companies then say that you filed your claim too late and will deny the claim, knowing that the policyholder will either give up and go away or is old and frail and will die soon.
- Retroactively cancel policies: Obamacare effectively prevents insurance companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions. Now, some insurance scour coverage applications and medical records to find insignificant inconsistencies, claiming application fraud and then cancelling coverage.
- Cancel policyholders for simply making a call about a claim: Learning that making a call about a claim might put them in a worse situation surprises most policyholders. If you have a claim for property damage, but decide to pay for the damage yourself, the insurance company may treat your inquiry as a claim and try to cancel your coverage.
This Really Is a Case of David vs. Goliath
The insurance industry in the U.S. has amassed assets worth trillions of dollars and pays its CEOs more than almost any other industry. One big reason they can accumulate so much wealth is because they cut back on or completely deny payments to their policyholders. The reason for this is simple: a lone policyholder has an uphill battle facing a corporate insurance company. That is why it becomes so important for individuals to seek legal help when dealing with insurance companies.
If You’re Getting the Run-Around From Your Insurance Company, We Can Help
Contact us for help filing for the benefits you deserve from your insurance company. We have years of experience helping people who have a rightful claim to their policy benefits.
