In theory, insurance is simple: you pay your policy premiums in full and on time, and in return, the insurance company provides you with compensation for covered losses if you ever need to make a claim for property damage or a personal injury. In practice, though, the opposite is often true: you do everything right as a policyholder or claimant, and the insurance company stonewalls, aggravates, and even outright misleads you in order to maintain their own profits at your expense.
Importantly, though, just because dealing with insurance companies in a Reno personal injury claim is often a pain does not mean that it is impossible to get a positive result from insurance negotiations, especially if you have help from seasoned legal counsel. With a capable personal injury attorney from Shook & Stone on your side, you will be able to navigate around common procedural pitfalls and maximize the money you are able to obtain.
What to Expect from Insurance Adjusters After an Accident
The most important thing to keep in mind about insurance companies is that, despite what all their advertisements seem to say, they do not have solely your best interests at heart. Put bluntly, these are for-profit companies that earn those profits by taking in premiums without paying out the same amount of money to claimants or policyholders. That means these companies can and will do everything possible to poke holes in valid claims and keep as much of that premium money for themselves as possible.
With that in mind, you should always be truthful when you are dealing with insurance companies as part of a Reno personal injury claim; but you should also be careful not to:
- Provide information they do not directly ask for
- Speculate about things you cannot prove
- Acknowledge that you hold any fault whatsoever for your accident if at all possible
You should also understand that quick settlement offers and supposedly helpful release forms are often too good to be true, and you should always discuss your options with a legal professional before signing or doing anything with an insurance claim you cannot take back later.
Protecting Your Best Interests With Help from Legal Counsel
Of course, a skilled personal injury lawyer can do a lot more than just explain your rights and options while you are dealing with insurance companies in a Reno personal injury case. Once retained, legal counsel can also do a lot to prevent the insurance company from even trying a lot of their standard underhanded tactics in the first place.
While many insurance companies are all too happy to take advantage of claimants without legal representation, they often are much more willing to play fair with someone who might take legal action against them if they do not. Because of that, just having a lawyer on your side in the first place can often dramatically improve your chances of getting a favorable claim result, especially compared to what you could likely get on your own.
Learn More About Dealing With Insurance Companies During Personal Injury Claims from a Reno Attorney
Getting paid what you need for accident-related damages you did not deserve is always a challenging experience on multiple levels. Unfortunately, insurance companies often make things even harder than they need to be in situations like this—and without knowledgeable legal representation, you may find that this opposition from your insurer is too much to overcome alone.
Hiring a seasoned personal injury lawyer is the single best move you can make for effectively dealing with insurance companies in a Reno personal injury claim. Call today to learn what our team here at Shook & Stone could do for you.
