If the recipient of such a denial were to need money for economic or physical damages, a lawyer’s help could prove beneficial.
Typical reasons for a denial of settlement
Administrative inconsistencies
–Questions about an employee’s verification; proof of the claimed salary
–Material on completed form placed in the wrong section of the same document
An absence of necessary information in the filed documentation
Actions that could be taken by a lawyer
• Review the submitted paperwork, looking for missing or incorrect information
• Concentrate on an analysis of details about the reported injury
• Seeks answer to this question: Who was at-fault
• Help with composition of a demand letter
• Send insurance company a request for statement, one that has offered a reason for the denial
Sometimes a denial represents a bad faith action on the part of the insurance company. What evidence could support a charge of “bad faith”?
Lack of consistency in references to problems with the submitted material: A lawyer’s request for the reason for the denial should help to expose the extent of such inconsistencies.
Failure on the part of the insurance agency to pursue a more thorough investigation, after having denied agreement to settle.
Refusing to accept any calls from the claimant that has been sent notice of the denial
The message that would be linked to introduction of a lawyer’s assistance
The claimant’s access to an attorney’s assistance would tell the insurer that the same claimant was ready to pursue a lawsuit, if necessary. Insurance companies do not like to become the target of a lawsuit. Consequently, the insurer would probably encourage the adjuster to seek a fair settlement.
Possible challenges for an attorney that has been hired by someone that has been denied the terms reached during pre-settlement negotiations
The attorney’s analysis of reports on the claimant’s injuries could prove challenging, if the claimant had failed to schedule and attend regular appointments with a physician.
Personal Injury Lawyer in Richmond Hill urge their clients to keep careful records. However, lawyers that got hired following denial of negotiated terms had no earlier influence on those claimants that had just become clients.
If an attorney hoped to charge an insurer with “bad faith,” he or she should have some form of evidence. However, if a client had failed to record the number of times that he or she had tried to contact someone at the insurance company, then a piece of useful evidence would be missing.
That same argument would apply to any attorney’s attempt at using inconsistencies in references to paperwork problems as evidence of “bad faith.” That evidence would not exist, if the client had failed to record details, about the number and nature of the repeated inconsistencies.