Just look at CEO compensation for these no down payment car insurance companies, and you will understand that profit is their primary motive. Rodney d young auto insurance, which offers very cheap car insurance no depositand other seductive options, is the worst of the worst when it comes to dirty insurance tactics and lowball settlement offers, but Rodney d young insurance is not alone. Forbes notes that insurance executives make an average of $7.9 million annually.
How then do these insurance companies make all of this money? You guessed it…they first give their insured, for instance, very cheap car insurance no deposit while driving up premiums, and later they deny and minimize the amount that they have to pay in claims.
You could get no down payment auto insurance get lucky to find out you need to pay more than expected. Therefore, a reliable auto insurance company is required. I have seen dirty insurance tactics every day since I started exclusively representing injury victims 14 years ago. I have seen every trick in the book. After insurance companies make you believe that you need to buy now pay later car insurance quotes, they do not protect you adequately. So far, I am going to give you those tricks so that you will not fall prey to the insurance adjuster. You may not need a lawyer for your car accident case, but you need to know the system. Here are the main things insurance companies do to shortchange clients:
- The Quick Settlement. You took a positive step to keep your financial situation balanced, so do not step back taking a quick settlement with the insurance company. This is a tactic to pay you as little money as possible without you knowing the full extent and nature of your injuries. It is also a tactic to stop you from hiring a personal injury lawyer to assist you with your case. Adjusters know that the involvement of a lawyer leads on average to 3.5 times higher settlement amount.
- The Nice Adjuster Who Wants to Help. Repeat this (silently to yourself) every time you speak with the adjuster: “The adjuster is not my friend.” This is 100% true 100% of the time. He will have two goals: to deny or minimize your claim. They are going to try to figure out ways that you were at fault for the accident. They are going to ask you how you are feeling in hopes that you will tell them you are “OK” or weren’t hurt in the accident. They are going to be nice and tell you lies like, “We can just handle this together,” or, “You don’t need a lawyer.” They may “accept liability” and then lowball you when you don’t go see a lawyer or get the right medical treatment for your injuries. If you do one thing, be extremely suspicious of any insurance adjuster that tries to play nice with you. I’ am not giving you permission to be a jerk to the adjuster, know their goals.
- Insurance Company Spying. Undoubtedly, your insurance company took into account some personal information about you to decide if they would grant you with the first payment options, $20 down payment car insurance, and the appropriate monthly rate for you. In this same way, after your accident, they are going to spy on you to claim that you are not injured in the accident. They may send private investigators to your house or business. If you are requesting a severe back injury, they may try to catch you outside doing yard work or lifting heavy objects. BEWARE, your social media is under attack. If you have a Facebook page, make it private. Don’t talk about your injuries and the accident on social media. Be very careful about your posts and do not put anything on social media that may be subject to interpretation (like a picture of you dancing at your cousin’s wedding).
- Delay, Delay, Delay. Adjuster’s slow play is another trick used to frustrate injury victims. They may not return your call for a week; they may not return your call at all. As well as they probably know that you look for $20 down payment car insurance, to balance your regular low incomes, now the insurance company knows that you are probably in a tight financial bind after the accident. So, they will use any excuse to delay your claim in the hopes that you will become frustrated and take their first lowball offer. They also may string you along by “accepting liability” and then lowball you when the time comes to settle.
- Requesting Too Much Information. Delay’s first cousin is the request for additional information. Surely you didn’t have to fill out as many forms to get very cheap car insurance no deposit as you will have to do for the adjuster to evaluate your claim. Adjusters will need you to get more information than is necessary. Once you send data, the insurance adjuster will ask you for some other piece of trivial information, and on and on and on. For this reason, I am only willing to provide accident report; of vehicles and injuries; all medical records and bills related to the accident; and lost wage information, like a letter from an employer or copies of pay stubs in a typical settlement demand. That is all that an insurance adjuster usually needs to know to evaluate a claim.
- Recorded Statements: You do not have to give a recorded statement or written statement (no forms!). I can count the number of times on one hand that I have let my insured provide a recorded statement to the insurance company of the at-fault driver. Even then, I made sure that the statement was later inadmissible. You don’t have to give a recorded statement, and it will most likely hurt you if you do. NOTE: If you are dealing with your own insurance company to get benefits after the accident, then you have a duty to cooperate, which may mean giving a statement or signing paperwork for your own insurance company.
- Copay Settlements: Here is a nasty little insurance trick. The insurance company may try to settle with you by reimbursing you for the copay or co-insurance that you had out-of-pocket. Here’s how it goes with Rodney d young insurance: the insurance company asks you if you have health insurance, then the adjuster tells you to go ahead and use that health insurance and she will give you a settlement to reimburse you for all of your out-of-pocket costs. Here are the problems with this scenario: number 1, the insurance company is on the hook for all of your medical bills, whether you have health insurance or not. The adjuster is attempting to severely diminish the value of your claim by offering to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses. Number 2, the adjuster didn’t tell you that your health insurance company has a right of reimbursement for anything the at-fault driver’s insurance pays to you. You may get a settlement of your out-of-pocket expenses and then turn around and be forced to give every penny of that money back to your health insurance company. The adjuster isn’t going to tell you these facts.
- Disputing Medical Treatment. This is a favorite tactic of the insurance company in pre-lawsuit negotiations and litigation. An insurance adjuster with no medical training will nickel and dime the medical charges in an attempt to provide a lowball settlement offer. When caught, they will blame the “computer” that analyzed your medical treatment. Then you get angry for having searched for “very cheap car insurance no deposit near me” and having selected that insurance company among many others that you may have chosen.
- Misrepresenting Insurance Policy Limits: The insurance adjuster is not under an obligation to disclose its insured’s insurance policy limits to you (unless you file a lawsuit, at which time they will be forced to do so). Even if you are happy because you managed to get instant auto insurance no down payment, everything could change after a car accident. Especially if you are seriously injured in the crash, you need to know every source of insurance available. Beware when the insurance adjuster makes a policy limits settlement offer. You need to get a certified copy of that policy and an affidavit from their insured that he or she does not have any additional coverage. Let me give you an example. My firm represented two individuals who were seriously injured in a rear-end collision. The at-fault driver had a $500,000 individual policy that was offered to settle the claims. We filed a lawsuit, thinking that the at-fault driver (who was a wealthy businessman) had additional coverage. We were able to discover an additional policy of $10,000,000. Instead of the $500,000 offered, we ended up settling the case for substantially more (millions) than the initial amount.
- Taking the First Offer. Auto insurance premiums can be extremely expensive; so, if you were lucky enough, then do not let them crush your luck: do not accept the insurance company’s first offer after the accident. It is almost certainly not their final offer. The only first offer I have taken was once when Rodney d young insurance company offered to pay their insured’s policy limits to settle a claim. For this, I always recommend a lawyer. You probably aren’t that experienced in negotiating on a day to day basis. We go to the grocery store and pay the price on the milk carton. Just know that this isn’t the grocery store and negotiation is expected.
- Failing to Disclose Hospital Liens and Other Medical Liens: Maybe you thought that having $20 down payment car insurance or another that meets your expectations, you would have all of your auto insurance problems solved. However, after an accident, the adjuster probably won’t tell you that you may have to pay back a hospital lien or your health insurance company. They will offer you a global settlement. Then when you get the settlement check, you may be surprised to know that the hospital where you went to the ER is also listed on the check. When you settle, you have to make sure that all valid hospital liens and health insurance company liens and interests are satisfied. I could write an entire book on this topic alone. Negotiating these liens is among the top reasons you need to hire a lawyer (a good one that knows what they are doing) if you have a significant injury claim. It is incredibly complicated, and you probably need a law degree to figure all of it out. But if you chose to ignore this advice, before you sign the release, at least ask the adjuster if they are on notice of any liens to the settlement and how much. Then, call the hospital or health insurance company claiming alien and try to work out a discount.
So, no more searching for “very cheap car insurance no deposit near me”… just do not ever accept being told, “You do not need a lawyer.”
