Insurance Companies

Whatever one’s opinion is of insurance companies these days, there is little doubt that they play an intricate role in our modern society, especially in the personal injury context. Because this is a personal injury blog, this article focuses on insurance companies in the context of personal injury. On the plus side, insurance companies pool the resources of hundreds of thousands or even millions of people and businesses via the premiums they collect. Insurance companies then use these pools of funds to compensate people when they or their personal property have been damaged by someone’s negligence. Without this pool of funds (without the insurance industry), people suffering from personal injury would most often be left with little recourse for compensation. This is because most people and even businesses lack the resources to compensate people fully. It’s important to understand that the vast majority of businesses that people frequent are not large corporations that can fork out millions of dollars when someone suffers a catastrophic injury in their store. Even those individuals and corporations that do have the resources to compensate you maintain insurance policies so that they can reduce their risk of catastrophic loss or loss of their own personal assets. In short, insurance companies allow normal people as well as big corporations to spread their risk. When most people think of insurance, they think of their auto and home insurance policies. Drivers are required to have auto insurance, and it’s impossible to get a mortgage without it.

Auto and homeowner insurance are not the only things that come to mind for most people when they think of insurance companies. Insurance companies, much like big corporations, tend to be thought of as villains. Insurance companies are private companies in a highly competitive industry and like any industry, the driving force behind their operations is the profit motive. While they are heavily regulated, the profit motive remains the driving force behind their very existence. The only way for insurance companies to increase their profits is to maximize their premiums that they charge their insureds and minimize the amount they pay off in insurance claims. Therein lies the rub, and the reason they are so hated.

This article is not intended to further the “villain” mystique when it comes to insurance companies. However, the one thing that all experienced personal injury lawyers will tell you is that “insurance companies are not on your side”. This is absolutely true. Being on your side necessarily means lower profits.

When someone calls an insurance company after being injured the insurance representative, usually an insurance adjuster, will generally be very nice, especially if they get the sense that they could make a deal with you before you seek the advice of an experienced personal injury lawyer. They will listen to you patiently and eventually make you an offer. Another absolute truth is that the offer will always be the bare minimum the insurance company wants to pay. In fact, more often than not, insurance companies will tell you that you have no claim. The worse your injury, the harder they will fight. Personal injury lawyers are familiar with the litany of reasons why insurance companies say they can’t help you: you missed the deadline to renew your policy; the insured’s policy is void because they lied on their application; the policy was canceled because of a late payment; the driver was excluded from the policy because they lived in the same house as the policy holder; it was your fault; it wasn’t our policy holder’s fault; you had a preexisting condition that is the real cause of your injury; your claim is fraudulent; or you’re too late. While sometimes an insurer can be right, the list of excuses not to compensate you is endless, and you will need an experienced personal injury lawyer fighting for you. You can be sure that insurance companies have lawyers on their side fighting for them. This is all true even when the insurer is your own insurance company. If you are at fault, your insurance company is now trying to minimize both its compensation to you for your injuries and to the other injured person (or persons) for their injuries.

The good news is that experienced personal injury lawyer know how to fight for you. They take on insurance companies all day every day. Personal injury lawyer also play a key role in our society. They balance the equities between the public and the insurance industry by rejecting lowball offers, rejecting claims that policy terms don’t cover you, fighting for the maximum policy limits and fighting at trial in order to obtain maximum compensation.

There is one simple rule when it comes to making a claim against an insurance company: Do not proceed without the assistance of an experienced personal injury lawyer. Whether you have suffered a catastrophic injury, the loss of a loved one, or broke your arm, at Rad Law Group we have decades of experience fighting insurance companies and we are eager to continue the good fight. Remember that there are important deadlines that you cannot afford to let slip by. Call San Jose’s Rad Law Group any time at (408) 241-5300 or any other lawyer without delay to make sure that your rights are protected. But whatever you do, don’t trust the insurance company. While their role remains important in our society, their profit motive guarantees that they will not act in your best interest.

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