| Making
a Claim Against An Insurance Company
The
decision as to whether or not to bring a claim is an individual
one which may vary with the particular facts surrounding each
different automobile accident. However, there are many factors
which you must consider before making a claim against an insurance
company.
In addition to knowing how to make a claim, you must consider
whether the claim is still within the statute of limitations.You
must also consider whether your insurance company may decide
to drop your coverage or increase your premiums. You should
also consider whether the potentially recoverable damages
are worth the time, effort and expense of bringing a claim.
Understanding how insurance company adjusters handle and
process automobile accident claims is also important in deciding
to pursue your case. Of course, you can always hire an attorney
and let him make all the decisions. In a case involving a
serious accident or injury, the decision to hire an attorney
is a "no brainer."
It is the smaller accident with very minor injury and property
damage that makes the decision to pursue a claim a more difficult
one. And, as you might guess, not every claim requires the
intervention of an attorney.
All states have a statute of limitations which prevents a
claim from being filed after a certain time period. This time
period varies from state to state, but generally, the shortest
time period to institute a claim is one year from the date
of the accident. Louisiana, for example, has a one year statute
of limitations for filing an automobile accident lawsuit.
Other jurisdictions, like Texas, have a two year statute
of limitations for automobile accident claims. Thus, if you
are beyond the statute of limitations for bringing the claim,
you cannot bring the claim even if you decide that you want
to pursue it.
If you are within the statute of limitations, the next factor
to consider is your damages and injuries. Minor injury cases
can be settled without instituting a lawsuit. However, imjuries
which at first seem minor, may turn out to later be major,
as in the case of a back strain that later is diagnosed as
a herniated or ruptured disc. Make sure the injuries are minor
and your recovery is either complete or near complete before
definitively deciding not to pursue the case.
All to often, an accident victim settles a case or allows
the statute of limitations to pass without filing a claim
and it later turns out that their injuries are severe with
no chance of recovery. Thus, the medical care and your recovery
should dictate the course of your decision in this regard.
Finally, other issues, like increasing premiums, exposing
your life and background in a lawsuit, and the expense of
filing a claim should also be taken into account in minor
injury cases.
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