Imagine yourself in this scenario:
You’re going about your business as usual, running a quick errand on a relatively quiet day when, suddenly, an oncoming truck crosses into your lane and collides with your car. You are left comatose and seriously injured, with broken bones and collapsed lungs. You will require at least a few months of constant medical care.
Oh, and the insurance company is denying your claim.
60-year-old Ethel Adams of Seattle, WA doesn’t have to imagine the scenario because she had the misfortune of living through it. The company claimed that the driver who struck her vehicle did so in an act of deliberate road-rage, thus negating the “accidental” nature of the accident. Ethel’s hospital bills were accumulating, she was unable to return to work because of her injuries, and her insurance company had left her high and dry.
“The insurance companies say they’re here to protect people,” said Adams while she was fighting with Farmers, “but then when you need them most, they do something like this.”
Some of the biggest insurance companies in the industry, such as Allstate, State Farm, and, in this case, Farmers have proven to be vicious claim fighters in order to boost their bottom lines. Farmers even had an employee incentive program in place called “Quest for Gold” that offered prizes such as gift certificates, mini-refrigerators, and pizza parties to adjusters that met their low payment or non-payment goals. State Farm, in the mid ‘90s even committed fraud to deny claims after a serious earthquake, forging signatures on earthquake coverage waivers.
Ethel Adams’ story eventually had a happy ending after media attention created public outcry and an intervention from the state insurance commissioner. Unfortunately this is not the case for countless others who find themselves with a legitimate claim being wrongfully denied by an insurance company. If you find yourself in such a situation it may be time to hire a competent attorney to fight for you.
