Denied Car Insurance Claims: What You Can Do

Insurance is meant to be a safety net in life. After an auto accident, you should be able to file an insurance claim, which can help you pay for any damages done to your vehicle or any medical expenses you’ve accrued because of injuries sustained during the accident. While not everything will be paid for or covered by your insurance claim, having that safety net there just in case the unexpected happens can be quite literally a life saver.
Sometimes though, even that safety net can’t be counted on. Especially when your car accident insurance claim ends up much less than what you imagined, or is outright denied.
If this does happen, it’s best not to panic. There are steps you can take going forward, the first of which would be to contact an experienced group of Utah lawyers with years of practice handling cases and situations just like this one.

What You Need When Filing a Claim

In any situation involving an automobile accident, it should be your priority to exchange information with the other driver, regardless of whose fault the accident might have been.
You’re going to want to get their license plate number, an accurate and thorough description of the make and model of their car, their driver’s license information, their full name, and their contact information. A witness to the accident can be incredibly vital to your case as well, so make sure you get the information of anyone who might have seen the accident.
Getting any photographic or video proof after an accident can also be a lifesaver in your insurance claim, so documenting the accident as much as possible can only help you in the long run. Luckily, your cellphone can be just the documentation tool that you need.

Denial of an Insurance Claim

You could do everything correctly in your insurance claim, properly filled it out and submitted all the pertinent information required, and your claim could still end up denied. Or worse yet, having the compensation you were told you were owed greatly reduced.
Either way, appealing your claim should be your next step going forward. This will be the only way to receive the compensation you are owed and will be something an experienced team of lawyers can help you with.

Reasons For a Denied Insurance Claim

Though it can appear random as to why your claim was denied, there is always some sort of reason as to why your claim was denied. There are many criteria for denying a claim, some of which are:
–Your plan did not include coverage for that type of accident:
Insurance policies can live and die on their specificity, so if that accident you suffered is not covered under your insurance policy, maybe something caused by an animal, for instance, you very well may end up having your claim denied.
–You were under the influence:
If you were found to be under the influence or drunk at the time of the accident which you are trying to file a claim for, you will most assuredly be denied, as well as most likely facing legal repercussions for driving while under the influence.
-The accident was not reported quickly enough.
While you might want to wait to contact an attorney before speaking to your insurance company about an accident, there are penalties you could face if you wait too long when filing a claim. If too much time has passed, you could find your insurance claim denied.
-You yourself are not covered under the insurance policy.
In some cases, such as for a young person still under the assumption that they are covered under their parent’s insurance, a claim could be made without your name even under the policy. This could also be done fraudulently, with full knowledge of one’s name not being under the policy.
Either situation will result in a denial of your claim.
-The damage exceeds the limits of your coverage.
If things go well, your insurance policy should cover the damages you received to your vehicle after an accident. However, there’s no guarantee it will cover everything, as it is not an endless fund meant to cover all of your damages.
In fact, if the damages to your vehicle are enormous, or go beyond the parameters of your coverage, your claim could very well be denied.
-The insurance company is trying to save money.
Insurance companies are companies, and at the end of the day they have the responsibility to themselves and their own financial interests, and therefore might either deny your claim on those grounds or short change your claim in order to save money.
In either situation, your claim will not have gone the way you wanted it to. Further steps can and should be taken, steps which you can discuss with a legal team with experience in handling cases like these.

What Our Lawyers Can Help You With

If you feel your claim denial was done on unfair grounds, our team of lawyers can help you through the possibly tangled process of appealing your claim. We will sit down with you and lay out the steps of your accident, and suss out if your insurance company acted out against your well being, or treated you unjustly, and the legal steps that can be taken from that point forward.

The Salt Lake City Team For You

Having an insurance claim denied can be an upsetting, financially frightening situation to find yourself dealing with. After a claim is denied, you might feel unsure of what proper steps to take going forward, to get the money you need to cover the damages to your vehicle.
That’s why you need to talk Siegfried & Jensen as soon as possible after getting an insurance claim denied. We are an experienced team of lawyers in Utah, with over 30 years of dealing with situations similar to these. We can give you the legal help and guidance you need, and help you receive the compensation you deserve.