West Tampa, FL, Insurance Claim Lawyers

Most people have insurance policies, but many don’t know what they cover. For example, almost everyone who drives has a car insurance policy and expects it to cover them in a car accident. However, they might not realize that it probably also covers them if something is stolen from their trunk while they are out shopping. 

Similarly, few people with homeowner’s insurance realize that their insurance covers property in a child’s dorm room if they still live at home while not at school.

Conversely, people often believe insurance covers things that aren’t covered. If your bike is stolen from your garage, you can’t make a claim on your car insurance. You might be able to make a claim on your homeowner’s insurance, but not everyone knows that.

There are many reasons that people don’t know exactly what their insurance covers. A big one is that insurance agents don’t have a lot of motivation to help their clients understand their coverage. 

If a person doesn’t know they are covered, they are less likely to try to make a claim or to object if a claim is denied. Insurance companies make less money when customers actually understand their policies.

West Tampa, FL, insurance claim lawyers at Morgan and Morgan will help you understand exactly what your insurance policies cover. Many clients are pleased to discover that they are covered in ways they didn’t realize. Some have insurance coverage they weren’t even aware of (possibly through their job). 

Just knowing what your policy covers can result in significantly more compensation from your insurance over the years.

Insurance companies are required to act in good faith. This means that they have to meet the terms of the insurance policy, make unbiased determinations, and not drag out the claims process unnecessarily. Despite this requirement, many insurance companies act in bad faith when nobody is monitoring them.

Failing to Fulfill the Terms of an Insurance Policy

There are hundreds of ways that an insurance company can fail to fulfill the terms of a policy. 

For example, suppose that you have a car insurance policy stating that the insurance company must pay for towing up to 50 miles to a repair shop of your choosing after an accident. If the insurance company is willing to pay only for towing to the nearest repair shop, it is violating the policy.

These types of violations happen all the time, usually because policyholders aren’t familiar with the details of the policy. Small infractions like this save money for the insurance company and policyholders don’t know to object.

Making Biased Determinations

Your insurance company is supposed to determine without prejudice issues like fault. In reality, the investigator is almost always looking to prove that the insurance company isn’t responsible for paying compensation for the insured event. 

For example, in a car accident, the investigator will usually try to determine whether the other party was at fault in states where the insurance of the at-fault party must pay.

A biased determination is likely to result in a denial of your claim. The insurance company can use the cherry-picked evidence from the investigator to deny your claim or pay you less than you deserve. Oftentimes, the evidence that supports your claim is out there, but the investigator simply ignored it or avoided finding it.

A Florida insurance claim lawyer will fight a biased determination by doing their own investigation. Your attorney collects evidence that supports your claim and presents it to the insurance company to contradict the biased findings. 

Usually, this is enough to get an insurance company to offer you a fair settlement because the company knows that evidence can be used in court to support a lawsuit.

Delaying the Claims Process

The longer an insurance claim process takes, the more likely you are to either give up on your claim or accept a lowball offer to make it go away. Even if the insurance company eventually has to pay you every dime you deserve, the longer it has that money in the bank, the more money it can make from interest or investments. 

In short, the insurance company has every incentive to drag out the process for as long as possible.

When an insurance company illegally delays the claims process, especially if it does so to pressure you or retaliate against you, you need an experienced insurance claim attorney representing you. 

Morgan and Morgan's attorneys will do everything they can to speed up the process. And even if they can’t speed it up, they can use evidence of delays to get you more money at the culmination of a trial.

Even if you don’t end up hiring a lawyer, you should speak to an attorney the moment you realize you need to make an insurance claim. 

Morgan & Morgan insurance claim attorneys will evaluate your case for free. The information you gain from that evaluation will help you make an educated decision about whether you should file a claim and how to make that claim.

Your insurance company may increase your premium after you file a claim. It depends on the details of your policy. 

Many insurance policies include specific clauses that prevent an increase in specific circumstances, but unless you are paying attention closely, your insurance company might ignore those clauses. Your insurance claim attorney can help you understand those details better.

You should speak to a Morgan and Morgan insurance claim attorney immediately. Our law firm has offices in every state in the country. We can assign attorneys from the state in question to handle your claim. At the same time, you can speak to a local attorney to keep informed of the progress of your case.

It is best to speak to a lawyer before you make your claim. But if you already made a claim and got denied, Morgan & Morgan can still help with your appeal.

The process of appealing a denial isn’t much different than the process of making a claim in the first place. Investigating your claim will be a little more difficult because of the time that has passed, but our attorneys have experience investigating appeals cases.

You should only accept a settlement offer from your insurance company if your lawyer has approved the offer. Insurance companies will often make lowball offers that are paired with agreements to not sue at a later date. If you agree to this and then realize you didn’t receive enough money, you may not have any remedies available to you.

Your insurance claim attorney will examine any offer and determine whether it is fair. If it is a fair offer, your lawyer will recommend it. 

You have the right to accept or deny the offer no matter what your attorney says, but just remember that your attorney is required by law to work in your best interests. The insurance companies are not similarly constrained.

When you are choosing an insurance claim attorney, there are a lot of factors you will want to consider, such as:

• Where the attorney is located
• How long the attorney has worked in the field
• How successful the attorney has been
• What past clients say about the attorney

But there is one important factor that you should never ignore. Does the attorney truly care about your well-being? 

Morgan and Morgan insurance claim attorneys aren’t just successful attorneys in their field. They are caring and compassionate and want to help people who are being taken advantage of by insurance companies and corporate lawyers.

If you need to make an insurance claim in West Tampa, FL, don’t let yourself get taken advantage of by your insurance company. Contact us today to get a free case evaluation and help from an insurance attorney who cares.