There are two different ways of looking at the claims process. One of which is when people come to us right away, and we set up the file and the claim within days or weeks of the accident. The good news about that is we are able to manage it from the very beginning, and the matter is transferred from a regular adjuster to a lawyer-based adjuster. There are some protocols we follow. We open the claim, we keep them updated and we work directly with the insurance company. In terms of a claim process, we put together the client’s medical records, we prepare a demand letter that summarizes the cure or treatment and we submit various bills to the insurance company. If we’re able to come to an agreement, terrific, if not then we have to serve a lawsuit.
The other way cases come in is much more complicated. People often think they can handle the insurance companies and everything will be fine. That is certainly what the adjusters promise at first. What our clients discover is that the insurance company starts to refuse to pay for certain medical expenses, or wage loss, and start to nickel and dime them. The insurance adjuster starts to make comments that things aren’t covered and all of a sudden, what they thought was going to be an easy process, turns very difficult. Chiefly they are being asked to jump through hoop after hoop. What started with a promise that all of this will be easy, quickly becomes continual pressure for more information with nothing coming to fruition and nothing getting paid. We have had people who were being strung along until a week before the deadline to file a lawsuit arrives. We were able to come in, get the file, put the case into a lawsuit and then successfully complete the case. The insurance company just wants to keep you on the hook and keep you strung along until you’re starting to feel desperate, tired and frustrated with the process, so you take a lesser amount.
