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All drivers in Ohio are required to carry auto insurance. If you’re caught driving without insurance, your car can be impounded, and you’ll receive a citation. After paying your insurance premiums for years, it’s frustrating to learn that your claim hasn’t been covered. Cincinnati accident lawyers meet with clients all the time who feel they have been wronged by the insurance company. The good news is that your attorney has the necessary experience to get you the best possible outcome.
Most Smaller Claims Are Paid
For people who suffer minor injuries, there’s a good chance their claim will be paid. It’s the plaintiffs that have the larger claims that end up needing legal representation. At the same time, unless your claim was a certain amount, there would be no point in taking legal action. You wouldn’t need an attorney for a claim that is only a couple of thousand dollars. It wouldn’t be worth your Cincinnati accident lawyer’s time to fight over something that small.
Did the Insurance Company Say You Didn’t File the Necessary Forms?
In an ideal world, the insurance company tells your attorney that your claim was denied because you didn’t fill out the necessary paperwork. Unfortunately, if it were that easy, you probably would have resolved it long before calling an attorney. This means that there’s a good chance there is a substantive reason for being denied. Your attorney will need to review the facts of your case and determine what sort of action you need to take.
Show Your Cincinnati Accident Lawyer the Letter of Denial
In order to know what you’re up against, your Cincinnati accident lawyer needs to see a copy of the denial letter. This letter will either spell out the reason for denial or it will provide a code and reference for the reason. Thankfully, your attorney has been handling cases like yours for years, so they won’t be intimidated by the big insurance companies.
Once they know the reason for denial, they’ll talk to you about what your next step needs to be. If they don’t feel you have a strong enough case, they’ll let you know. If, on the other hand, they feel your case has merit, they’ll likely recommend that you file suit.
What Are the More Common Reasons for Denial?
As mentioned above, most small claims are paid by the insurance company. They don’t want to waste time and money fighting a small claim. If they spend more money defending a claim than it would cost to pay it, that’s bad business. For some of the larger or more complex claims, it may make more sense for the insurance company to deny the claim and take their chances down the road.
Some of the reasons they may give for denying your claim include the following:
- The insurance adjuster believes you caused the crash
- They don’t believe you suffered any real injuries
- You have a history of bad driving
- You have a history of filing auto accident claims
- They believe you had a pre-existing condition
- You didn’t provide the proper paperwork in time
If it’s just a matter of paperwork, your Cincinnati accident lawyer should be able to resolve that rather quickly. For any of the other reasons, it’ll take a lot more to resolve it. You’ll more than likely need to file a lawsuit to get things moving in the right direction.
An Experienced Cincinnati Accident Lawyer Can Help
When people get a letter of denial from the insurance company, they do one of three things. Some people panic and start making phone calls to the insurance company. Others take the letter at its word and take no further action. They assume the decision is final and they make no effort to appeal their claim.
There is also a group of people who pick up the phone and call an experienced Cincinnati accident lawyer. They’ll take over and reach out to the insurance adjuster. They’ll find out why the claim was denied and see what steps they need to take to resolve it. Ideally, it’s just a matter of filling out missing forms.
If it’s something more serious, they’ll file a formal appeal. This is often just a formality. There’s a good chance you may have to file a lawsuit. If that’s the case, you are much better off having a seasoned Cincinnati accident lawyer by your side. All you need to do is call and schedule your free, initial consultation with our office.
