If you are involved in a scooter accident, the first thing you should always do is get immediate medical attention. You should also file an insurance claim to recover damages. While these claims are often straightforward, the insurance company might refuse yours. It can be confusing, overwhelming, and frustrating when this happens because you should not be dealing with this while recovering from your injuries.
The good news is that there are concrete steps you can take if an insurance company refuses your claim. A personal injury attorney can help you with this process, providing crucial guidance to ensure the best outcome. In this article, we will explore these steps so you can understand them better.
Why Do Insurance Companies Refuse Accident Claims?
Every insurance company wants to be as profitable as possible. They ensure profits by having as many clients as possible while paying as little as possible in claims. For this reason, insurance companies, including yours, will try to find ways to refuse a claim or outright deny it.
Find Out Why Your Claim Was Denied
Before thinking about what to do next, you should find out why your insurance company has denied your claim. Every insurance company uses specific criteria to determine whether a specific type of accident is covered. If they deny your claim, they are supposed to provide you with a reason for their denial.
One of the most common reasons for a scooter accident claim denial is the insurance company not covering that type of accident and the injuries or damages sustained. For example, they may determine that your accident does not fall under collision or liability coverage.
Another reason is failure to file on time. There are strict deadlines for filing insurance claims, and they are noted in your insurance policy. Not keeping to these deadlines when filing could lead to the insurance company denying your claim and pointing to the terms in your policy that say they can do so.
These terms are typically hidden in the fine print, so you should always read your insurance policy carefully before signing it so that you are not surprised by a clause you did not know about when you file a claim.
The insurance company can also deny your claim if you do not provide sufficient evidence to support it. Besides getting medical attention and contacting a personal injury law firm following a scooter accident, you should also collect enough evidence. Photographs and video evidence work well, but you should also collect eyewitness statements to strengthen your claim.
Any misrepresentation or omission of facts will also lead to the insurance company refusing your claim, as will filing a fraudulent claim. Lastly, your insurance policy might have lapsed, meaning the insurance company is under no obligation to provide coverage or honor any claims.
Once you understand the reason for the refusal, you can discuss the refusal in detail with your personal injury accident lawyer so they can tell you what your options are.
File an Appeal
Before filing an appeal, you should document all communications you have had with the insurance company through this process. This documentation can be crucial in establishing critical facts, such as the insurance company admitting the refusal.
Second, read your insurance policy carefully to understand details like coverage, limits, terms, and exclusions. If you must, call the insurance company and ask for clarifications on what you do not understand.
Once you do the above and believe the insurance company has made a mistake in refusing your scooter accident insurance claim, you should file an appeal. This is a formal request sent to the insurance company asking them to review the refusal and reconsider your claim.
Every insurance company has different appeal processes, and you can ask your insurance provider what they are. The company might ask you to provide additional evidence or details to support your claim and show why the company should reconsider it. You may also be required to submit a written appeal or statement, provide additional medical records and documentation, and attend a meeting or hearing to discuss the appeal.
While the appeal process will likely be complicated and time-consuming, a successful resolution where your claim is accepted will be worth it.
File a Bad Faith Lawsuit
Bad faith insurance practices are where an insurance provider acts unfairly or unlawfully when handling a claim. Some ways in which the company can act in bad faith include denying a payment without just cause, delaying it or misrepresenting its policy terms.
If you believe this has happened in your case, you are within your rights to file a bad-faith and/or a breach of contract lawsuit. Before doing this, you must gather evidence that the insurance company has acted in bad faith and that their actions have led to harm. Since these lawsuits can get complicated, you should hire top personal injury attorney to help you.
You have different options when your insurance company denies your scooter accident insurance claim, including appealing the refusal, filing a bad faith lawsuit of breach of contract lawsuit. Regardless of your choice, you should hire an experienced personal injury attorney to provide expert guidance and representation.
Contact our legal team at What’s My Case Worth to discuss your case and the next steps.
