Posted by rozeklawoffice on February 19, 2010 under Car Accidents, Insurance | 
Question: I was in a minor car accident yesterday in the parking lot at a Milwaukee gym. My car crashed into another car while I was backing up. The damage to both cars appears minimal and all of the people in the other car told me that they were not hurt. I am worried that my car insurance rates will go up if I report the claim. Would you recommend settling with the other driver and not reporting the incident to my car insurance company?
Answer: While it may be tempting to not report the minor car accident to your insurance company, especially if you have had an accident before, not reporting it to your insurance company is a very bad idea.
Everyone makes mistakes. Not immediately reporting the claim means that if a couple of months from now the person whose car you crashed into begins to claim that the damages to his vehicle were greater than what you witnessed and also begins claiming that his neck pain has not gone away, you will find yourself having to defend the claim on your own.
If your insurance company first hears about this claim a few months after it happens, it will probably deny coverage to you because of late notice. You will then have to either try and defend yourself in court or hire a milwaukee car accident lawyer on your own dime; either way is probably going to be expensive for you in the end. If you report the claim promptly, the insurance company will defend the claim and bear the expense, even if the claim is frivolous.
In short, I would recommend reporting the claim. Better to be safe than sorry.
Tags: car accident claim, car insurance and fender benders, fender bender accident, insurance company late notice, insurance rate increases due to minor car accident, milwaukee car accident, milwaukee car accident lawyer, minor accident in milwaukee, minor car accident, reporting feneder bender, reporting minor car accident
Posted by rozeklawoffice on February 13, 2010 under Insurance |
The American Association for Justice ranked Allstate insurance as one of the worst insurance companies, stating that they utilize the following 6 strategies to lower their payments to injured individuals and increase profits:
1. Deny Claims 2. Delay Until Death 3. Confuse the Customer 4. Discriminate by Credit Score 5. Abandon the Sick 6. Cancel Scheduled Calls
Allstate built its business on their moto “Your In Good Hands” and continued to operate responsibility until Sears Roebuck restructured and spun off (sold) the insurance company. In the early 1990s, Allstate retained the consulting firm McKinsey & Company who led Allstate to change their business model from one that served its policyholders to one that served its shareholders.You might recognize the consulting firm, they are the same one hired by Enron. A few years later, policyholders began experiencing excessive premiums combined with drastically reduced claim payments.
A book written by David J. Berardinelli states that Mckinsey & Company recommended that Allstate immediately reduce claim payouts by 5% to 15%. They knew that 80% of claim payments paid by the insurance company were for small to mid-sized claims worth between $1,500 to $15,000. The recommendation was to pay a little less ($3,000 average) on millions of claimants which would add up to huge profits for the shareholders. Instead of paying legitimate claims fairly and in a reasonable time frame, they would reduce payouts on every case and use stall tactics to try and avoid actual payment. Once implemented, policyholders began experiencing excessive premiums combined with drastically reduced payments on fair claims.
Many other insurance companies have followed suit, raising rates to unreasonable levels, dropping policyholders altogether, and minimizing payouts of fair claims.
Meanwhile, these companies are enjoying record profits. In 2004, malpractice insurers’ total premiums were three times higher than the insurance company payouts. Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the insurance industry has made an unprecedented $169 billion in profit.
Does it make sense that the insurance industry is the only other industry, besides Major League Baseball, that enjoys an exemption from federal anti trust laws? This allows insurers to collude together to the determinant of the consumer.
For more information on how insurance companies deny and delay claim payments, order a free copy of A Consumer’s Guide to Personal Injury Claims in Wisconsin.
Posted by rozeklawoffice on February 12, 2010 under Insurance, Personal Injury Cases |
We have all been in the situation of purchasing insurance, trying to read the fine print, ask the right questions, and eventually feel overwhelmed enough to sign on the dotted line. Fortunately for most of us, we never have to make a claim and therefore, never really need to know what is in the fine print. But, be careful. Insurance companies are in business to make money and oftentimes what you think will be covered by your policy, really isn’t.
A recent personal injury case illustrates this insurance coverage deception. A man who had been involved in an accident in a rural part of the state, had to be transferred to the hospital by a “flight for life” helicopter. Although he suffered many injuries, the prompt medical evacuation by helicopter ultimately saved his life.
When submitting medical bills to the insurance company, the med evac bill was denied! Although the policy covered “flight for life” services, the fine print stated that the evacuation had to be pre-authorized, and the service provider (ie., the helicopter) had to be arranged by the insurance company. This virtually means that in this life and death situation, if the man wanted to be sure that his insurance would cover the evacuation service, he would need to lay there injured for hours until the insurance company got pre-authorization and then called a service provided to enter into a contract to pick him up and bring him to the hospital.
Does this make any sense to you?
For more information on insurance company deception and minimization of personal injury claims, order your free copy of a Consumer Guide to Personal Injury Claims in Wisconsin
Posted by rozeklawoffice on January 28, 2010 under Car Accidents, General, Insurance, Wisconsin Law |
If you have gotten away with not having insurance to-date as a Wisconsin driver, your time is up. Starting June 1, 2010, the State of Wisconsin will finally join the 48 other states that require all auto owners to have insurance on every vehicle that they own. If you do not have insurance as of June 1st, you could be slapped with a $500 fine. Worse yet, if you have an accident and have not yet gotten auto insurance, your license could be suspended and you may have to pay for all of the damages AND buy insurance before you can get your license back.
The minimum required coverage will be $50,000 for an injury or death of one person, $100,000 for injury or death of to or more persons and $15,000 for property damage. In addition, drivers will need to purchase uninsured motorist and under-insured motorist coverage in the amounts of $100,00 per person and $300,000 per accident.
Although these are the minimum amounts of coverage that are legally now required, it may be wise for some individuals to consider purchasing more. For instance, if you have a ton of personal assets, you will want to protect them as they would be at risk if you were in an accident and found to be part or all of the cause. If you have substantial assets, you may want to consider buying an “umbrella” policy. This type of policy provides additional insurance protection above the limits of your first level of insurance coverage. Insurance companies are required by law to offer to sell you additional uninsured and under-insured motorist coverage like the umbrella policy. If you do not want the coverage, you must reject the offer of coverage in writing.
The rate of your insurance quote will be based on where you live, what car you drive, how old you are, and your driving record. If for any reason you believe you are being denied coverage unfairly, you should make a formal complaint to the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance online at oci.wi.gov.
For more information on Wisconsin Law and Personal Injury
